MA CED LSLS Cert. AVEd
Mariana is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she received a BA in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from the University of Buenos Aires in 1999. After finishing college, she settled in St. Louis, Missouri, United States with her husband; where she continued her professional development. In 2000 she obtained a scholarship from the Oberkotter Foundation, with which in 2002 she completed her Masters in Early Intervention in Deaf Education and the career of Teacher of the Deaf, as well as Teacher for the Deaf at Fontbonne University. In 2006, she obtained the certification as a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist - Auditory-Verbal Educator (LSLS Cert. AVEd).
From the year 2000 to 2018, Mariana worked at the Moog Center for Deaf Education in St. Louis, Missouri, United States; first as a classroom assistant, and since 2002, providing early intervention to children with hearing loss and their families (0-5 years). Through the Moog Center, she acted as a consultant for two centers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Lima, Peru. In the year 2018, Mariana co-founded and created Escuchar sin Límites, a web page dedicated to supporting listening, spoken language, and cognition development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing through family empowerment, professional training, and access to information in Spanish. The opportunity of working in the United States and in Latin America, allowed Mariana to experience the disparity of access to resources and information available to Spanish speaking families and professionals, who support the development of people with hearing loss to the maximum of their potential, so they are active and full participants in their society.
Mariana serves as a member of the AGBell Academy's Certification Committee since 2018, and the AGBell Academy's Board of Directors since 2021.
In her spare time, Mariana spends time at home, travels, or visits her family and friends in Argentina. She enjoys the outdoors, hiking, skiing, walking, and paddleboarding. She currently resides in Düsseldorf, Germany with her husband, Sebastian, and their four sons, Santiago, Matías, Nicolás, and Tomás.
Mariana generally works Monday – Thursday typically between 8am and 12pm.
Email: mariana.helbig@avuk.org
Pronouns: She/her