Jennifer Schaal-Sampson, AuD

Dr. Jennifer Schaal-Sampson became the owner of American Family Hearing in 1995 as a young audiologist with a vision. She took her new practice and upgraded it with advanced diagnostic and hearing aid fitting techniques, and for the past three decades (and counting), she's worked to keep it cutting-edge and on top of the latest advancements in hearing aid technology.Dr. Schaal-Sampson was drawn to the field of audiology because it combined two of her passions: working with people and working with technology. She likes to joke that deep down she's an engineer who enjoys playing with new gadgets. And she can't imagine herself doing anything else — she feels privileged to get to help people communicate better with their families and the world around them. She loves that her job is about fixing things, whether that's fixing communication between people or fixing hearing aids.Dr. Schaal-Sampson is a graduate of Rutgers University. She received her master's degree from George Washington University and her Doctorate in Audiology from the University of Florida. Dr. Schaal-Sampson was an adjunct faculty member at the College of New Jersey. She is the president of the New Jersey Hearing Aid Dispensers Examining Committee responsible for testing and licensing hearing aid dispensers in the state. She is a longtime resident of East Brunswick, where she lives with her school teacher husband, two kids, two dogs, and two cats.Why do you feel Best Practices are critical for optimal Hearing Aid performance?"The only way to determine if an investment in a hearing aid is providing the desired results in through comprehensive pre and post fitting testing.  A new car can look great, but if the speedometer does not work, you can never tell how fast you are going.  You can kind of tell based on the cars around you, but you never really know your speed.   Too slow and you do not get there in time.  Too fast and you can cause and accident.  Just like measuring speed on the odometer,hearing aid measurements are extremely important to determine the aids function."Why did you feel compelled to join the Dr. Cliff Approved Provider Network?"While best practices in audiology have existed since its inception and I have been performing REM since the 1990’s, one part that was always missing was public knowledge of what we do.  I have been dying for our national organizations to reach out to the public and explain the importance of a professional evaluation and fitting.  Dr.Cliff is the first to reach a national audience with this information and explain it to the consumer.  I am happy that patients are now coming in with an understanding of who I am, what I do and why it matters." What do you like best about Audiology?"I love hearing aids. I love what they do.  I love how they do it.  I like the fittings,adjusting and streaming.  I love how I am improving patient’s quality of life." What was your journey to becoming an Audiologist?"I grew up in a family with a great great aunt who was born in the 1890’s and was deaf.  She was a deaf/mute and she never acquired language. She would squawk and hit us to get our attention, but she was amazing in her ability to get her needs met.  I grew up fascinated with deaf people.  In undergraduate at Rutgers University I completed my degree in speech and hearing, but never set foot in an audiology clinic until I was on my search fora grad school.  When I toured the clinic at GW, I realized all the cool stuff I learned about in my audiology class, I would actually get to use.  I was thrilled!  As soon as the AuD became available, I returned to school for that. I really think the combination of technology and communications has always driven me in this profession."  ‍‍