The Family Hearing Aid Center, with locations in McAllen and Mission, is the only independently-owned Doctor of Audiology practice in the Rio Grande Valley. With a rich 26 year history, the Family Hearing Aid Center serves the hearing needs of all ages, from newborn to geriatric, and it provides services for the entire family that include comprehensive audiological evaluations and all facets of the assessment, fitting, repair, and maintenance of hearing aids and assistive listening devices. The Family Hearing Aid Center has developed a solid reputation for quality care over nearly three decades and is known by name as well as excellence. The broad scope of this practice aims to educate the Valley’s population on the health of hearing.
Dr. Edieberto Palacios is a Doctor of Audiology at the Family Hearing Aid Center. He has earned his Au.D. degree, Doctor of Audiology, the highest degree in his profession, and is qualified to provide the most current diagnostic services and treatment of hearing loss.
“The Family Hearing Aid Center is the only practice of its kind here in the Valley, and we are honored to serve Valley residents with the best treatment possible for the health of their hearing,” Palacios testifies.
Dr. Palacios brings to the table the latest state-of-the-art testing and hearing aid technology to local residents. In 2003 alone, as part of Texas Early Hearing Detection and Intervention, TEHDI, the Family Hearing Aid Center performed more hearing tests on infants than any individual practice in the state of Texas. He currently receives referrals from pediatricians, family practitioners, state and federal agencies, hospitals, speech language pathologists, and private companies.
“We also receive many referrals from existing patients. Word-of-mouth means we’re doing a great job,” Palacios affirms.
Dr. Palacios is a native of Pharr. An interest in healthcare led him to pursue and graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Pre-Med/Biology from Illinois Benedictine College. Most of his classmates pursued careers in medicine, dentistry, and biomedical research, but Palacios was the only student who wanted to be a Doctor of Audiology.
“For fun, I’d read books and research articles on the science of sound. I would measure the sound-pressure level of loudspeakers and study acoustics. I was lucky enough to figure out that I was born to be an Audiologist. After I received my bachelor’s degree, I applied and was accepted into the Doctor of Audiology program at Gallaudet University. I thought what better way to learn about hearing and disorders of hearing than at the world’s leading university for the deaf,” Palacios recalls.
Gallaudet University, in Washington D.C., is the world’s only university that tailors its programs to fully accommodate the deaf and hard of hearing. After his years on a Deaf campus, Palacios became fluent in American Sign Language. He earned his Au.D. degree, and President George W. Bush personally signed both his doctoral and masters’ degrees.
“Having the President’s signature on my diplomas is an honor. But I am also proud of the fact that the Family Hearing Aid Center has provided audiological services to the McAllen Regional School for the Deaf for close to thirty years,” Palacios states.
Dr. Palacios interned at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. He completed his residency with the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C. As he worked hard at his craft developing his unique body of knowledge, Palacios began to think of the hearing needs of the residents of the Rio Grande Valley, and he decided to return home and improve the quality of hearing for the Valley community, including its Veterans. His mission is put into practice each day he steps into the Family Hearing Aid Center.
When it comes to the health of your hearing, you have the option to trust this vital sense to a professional who can assess your personal needs and provide you with a medical perspective and appropriate plan of action for treatment. Because, at the Family Hearing Aid Center, the doctor is in.
The Family Hearing Aid Center is located at 309 W. Nolana Avenue #1W in McAllen and at 2027 East Griffin Parkway in Mission. To schedule an appointment at the McAllen location, call 956.630.4327 (HEAR), or call 956.580.4003 for the Mission location. For more information, visit their website at www.FamilyHearingAidCtr.com.
