Pati's hearing loss was first diagnosed as a teenager and progressed rapidly as a young adult.  She was fit with hearing aids immediately after diagnosis and she learned adaptive strategies on her own in order to graduate from the University of Oklahoma even as her hearing was continuing to deteriorate.  Because of all that she had learned on her own and the struggle she had to obtain information about hearing loss and the impact on so many aspects of her life, she was instrumental in starting what was formerly the Self Help for the Hard of Hearing local chapter in Oklahoma City nearly fifteen years ago.  After the birth of her second child, Pati had a very significant shift in her hearing and she was no longer able to talk on the telephone and communication breakdowns increased.  Although the thought of surgery was not high on her list, Pati began exploring the possibility of a cochlear implant.  I actually first met Pati at a meeting of SHHH where I was invited along with our cochlear implant audiologist to discuss the current research regarding outcomes with a cochlear implant.  She was responsible for obtaining the speakers for the group and always sought to have the most current issues being addressed.  Pati had her first cochlear implant in the fall of 2002 and I was fortunate enough to have been the speech-language pathologist who had the delightful privilege of coaching her and her family in the journey of learning to listen again.  I learned more from her than she ever learned from me and every week was filled with laughter, listening and a woman with more determination and courage than I had experienced previously.  Upon dismissal from therapy because she was now listening again on the telephone, it became clear to everyone that Pati had a tremendous gift and her empathy and compassion as well as her drive were attributes we felt each of our patients could benefit from.  Reluctant at first, Pati joined the Hearts for Hearing team as a very part-time employee who volunteered regularly at the Hearing Helpers Room.  She is now a full-time member of our team and yet she continues to give back as a volunteer to the Hearing Loss Association of America and was instrumental in attracting the national meeting to Oklahoma City and facilitating the conference’s success.  Pati had a second cochlear implant in January, 2009 and jumped back into therapy in order to be the best listener she could be.

Pati Burns is truly an extraordinary person.  She has contributed consistently over the last 20 years to the community of those touched by hearing loss both locally and nationally.  She has served as both as Secretary and President twice of HLAA.  Her energy abounds and she has made Hearts for Hearing a better place to work because of her ability to feel with our families in a way that only someone who has “walked in their shoes” can.  Pati does an amazing job of balancing all that she achieves at work with being a wife and mother to two teenage sons who have grown up as incredibly sensitive young men because of all that their mother has taught them.  She continues to volunteer as a Bionic Ear volunteer and shares her story with other potential cochlear implant candidates across the country.  Additionally, Pati helped set up an assistive listening device room where individuals with hearing loss can come to learn about equipment and to this day, she serves as a volunteer in the Faye Donaldson Hearing Helper Room.  Pati has written grants to obtain funding for CART for the monthly meetings of the HLAA meetings and never turns down a request from our team to participate as a volunteer for research studies as they are available.  

Pati daily changes negative perceptions of hearing loss.  When patients argue with us that she does not have a hearing loss because much of her day is spent on the phone and because she jumps in and out of conversations, it is clear that there is no better model for what an individual with profound hearing loss can accomplish.  Her work ethic and her willingness to do hard work to improve as a listener after receiving her first cochlear implant was very humbling for me, because I was asking her to do things that had become impossible for her through listening.  To think that she was going to be able to listen without relying heavily on speech reading was an outrageous concept to her, but she trusted me enough to believe and worked hard enough to achieve.  She is kind and compassionate but also challenges patients to avoid being a victim and as I said earlier, she has taught all of us more that we have ever given to her as professionals in this field of hearing health care.