News and Stories

It’s a challenging time to be a fundraiser but Jim Green, Hear and Say’s Senior Fundraising Officer, is known for his innovative and positive outlook. Jim has provided insight into what’s shaped his career and what he is excited for in the future of fundraising.   What lead you to become a fundraiser? Right now I’m asking myself the same thing! Seriously though, it’s an opportunity to achieve genuine impact by building a community of support around a cause. I believe fundraising is merely an outcome of good community engagement. I worked in special education for ...

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have a Listening and Spoken Language therapy lesson online? These sessions are the reality for around 50 of our families living regionally or even overseas, enrolled in our Telepractice program. In the wake of COVID-19, many of our families traditionally supported through our in-centre services have also transitioned to Telepractice as an effective, easy alternative to their typical lessons. We recently spoke with Robyn, mother of three-year-old Kyle who has profound hearing loss and wears cochlear implants. A Brisbane resident some years ago, ...

It was a special morning over the summer holidays at Hear and Say, when a group of young adults took to the floor to present their personal stories about living with hearing loss. The presentations formed part of the three-day Hear to Live workshop, a group social skills program run for young people aged 16 and over focused on building self-confidence, resilience and independence. Sixteen-year-old Ruby was one of the participants who shared her journey with hearing loss. She spoke to an enthralled audience of other attendees, as well as clinicians who had known Ruby since she was a ...

Lilly is an energetic three-year-old who loves to play dress-ups, and her colourful world of make-believe is filled with lots of singing and chatter – a possibility her parents wished for her right from the moment they discovered Lilly’s hearing loss at birth. “When we received the ‘refer’  result from the newborn screening clinic we were initially quite surprised. Choosing an Early Intervention program seemed like such a big responsibility when we had no experience in this area,” said Casey, Lilly’s mum. “When we first met with Hear and Say we were reassured to hear ...

We’re facing unprecedented times, and the safety of our community during this evolving COVID-19 outbreak is our top priority. We will continue to keep you updated via our website. As you can imagine the COVID-19 global pandemic has already begun to affect our Hear and Say community, which will undoubtedly impact our financial viability. Your support is ascritical as ever. Whether this is by helping us to raise awareness through our social media posts, or making a donation if you can, every little bit helps in these challenging times. 1. Sound Outcomes The Sound Outcomes: First ...

Just over six months have flown by since Scott received his cochlear implant, and his parents, Cat and Doug are thrilled by the strides their almost two-year-old son is making. “When Scott’s hearing loss was first diagnosed at birth, we assumed he wouldn’t have any issues because he still had hearing in one ear,” said Cat. “It was over the next couple of months we learnt  that children with a one-sided hearing loss can actually struggle significantly especially when they reach school-age, which led us to look into options and then to Hear and Say,” said Cat. Today, ...

A child’s first day of Prep is a momentous day for all parents, but for Renee and Toby this was truly a milestone to celebrate their family’s journey. When their eldest daughter, Evie was born, they found out their little girl did not have a fully developed right ear. Evie had two rare conditions known as microtia and atresia, and now five years old, wears a bone conduction hearing aid. “From the moment we walked into Hear and Say we were welcomed with open arms – we received so much information, and our worries were immediately put at ease,” said Renee. “We attend the ...

It was a milestone worth loudly celebrating when our Hear to Learn School Hearing Screening program reached its 50,000th student (or 100,000th ear) screened in February. Oakleigh State School in the Brisbane suburb of Ashgrove saw the first student screened during the program’s pilot in 2015. It was back in those very same schoolgrounds where preppie, Harvey became the 50,000th student to receive screening through Hear to Learn. Across the 288 schools visited throughout Queensland in the last five years – many with repeat visits – an average 23% of students were found not to be ...