News and Stories
When the weather’s heating up, keeping cool often means taking a dip in the pool. For children with hearing loss learning to swim, there are some extra considerations for parents and instructors to take note of to keep everyone safe and having fun in the water. Teaching swimming to kids with hearing loss – 10 top tips Keep hearing devices on: If possible, ensure kids’ hearing devices are kept on during swimming lessons. Cochlear implants can be worn in the water with a waterproof accessory; most hearing aids can’t be worn swimming unless waterproof. Families should ...
At the core of Hear and Say – as with all First Voice centres – is the importance of connection and communication. With the world having reached the unenviable milestone of over 18 months since the pandemic began, Hear and Say’s Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) team is now a well-oiled machine when it comes to supporting families through a lockdown. Although in thankfully shorter-lived phases as compared with southern counterparts, this unprecedented era of physical Hear and Say centres having to temporarily close has necessitated swift action and innovation to avoid compromised ...
Have you noticed you’re constantly repeating yourself to a loved one? Is the volume of their television, radio or tablet often blaring? One in two of us know someone with a hearing loss (The State of Hearing Report, 2019), yet we know it can take up to 10 years to do something about hearing issues after they notice a change (Davis et al., 2007). Hearing loss can have wide-reaching effects not only for the person experiencing it, but also for their family, friends and colleagues. Bringing up the topic with a loved one can be a sensitive conversation, particularly if you think it may ...
With a career spanning five decades working with children who are deaf or hard of hearing, Jackie Brown’s personal hearing loss journey later in life still came with its own set of adjustments. “I’d had a hearing test about 20 years ago, and noticed my hearing of high frequency pitches – such as the ‘s’ or ‘f’ sounds when someone was speaking – was gradually starting to taper off,” recalled Jackie. For about 15 years the grandmother-of-seven happily wore hearing aids, until she started to notice these were no longer giving her enough clarity across all the sounds of ...
For people with hearing loss, assistive technologies can offer great additional support to ensure they can hear and communicate as well as possible. Such devices may be funded under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for those under the age of 65, however there is plenty of information to first be navigated. Hear and Say’s dedicated NDIS team helps explain below. What’s assistive technology? Assistive technologies help you to complete daily tasks more easily or safely, and/or help you to do something you couldn’t otherwise due to your disability. This includes ...
It’s the classic science experiment that’s been thrilling students for decades: turning everyday pantry staples into an erupting volcano. For Townsville’s six-year-old Thomas, the fizz and crackle of the mock explosion was heard loud and clear, thanks to the hearing aids he wears. “The results of Thomas’ hearing tests in the hospital when he was born came back as a big shock, as we have no family history of hearing loss,” recalled Thomas’ mum, Samantha. “Although I work in the health field as a physiotherapist, we still found it a daunting process looking at a long ...
In Australia, over 300 babies are born with hearing loss each year. While there can be many reasons why a newborn doesn’t pass their in-hospital hearing screening, all babies who receive a “refer” result require further investigation. The main test a specialist paediatric audiologist will perform at this follow-up appointment is called an Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test – a safe and painless diagnostic assessment. During an ABR, the audiologist places small headphones and electrodes – little sticky tabs – on the baby’s head, to record responses from the baby’s ...
Classrooms are noisy and tiring environments especially for children with hearing loss, which can significantly impact their ability to learn. Check out these tips for fostering an optimal setting for listening and hearing in the classroom – and remember, good practices for students with hearing loss typically translate to great practices for everyone! Ensure the room is as quiet as possible: Consider fans, background music, noisy thoroughfares and machinery, which all impact a child’s ability to hear clearly. It also makes it harder to concentrate. Reduce echo in a room by having ...
Just a few minutes of searching the words ‘hearing aids’ online can present a minefield of information. “The sheer amount of information available to us online today is often overwhelming, and it’s unsurprising that this can put people off taking that step towards improving their hearing,” said Hear and Say Audiology Manager, Julie Decker. “There are so many hearing aid manufacturers and many different models, so finding the best hearing aids for your personal circumstances means a ‘one size fits all’ approach isn’t going to work in most cases.” To work out the ...
Tinnitus is one of the most common ear-related issues, and yet many are left fearing that there’s little to be done about it. This was the case for Jose Silveira who for years was unaware treatment was available for the constant ringing he had in his ears. “I have endured tinnitus for over a decade, and kept being told by various GPs that nothing could be done,” said Jose. “I knew I also had some hearing loss, after nearly 20 years of driving a bus with the window open. In recent years the ringing got a bit worse and really began to impact the things I love doing, such as ...
Maia’s Story
At 9.10pm on 24 October 2013 our beautiful daughter Maia was born.
The moment of elation was short-lived as we immediately noticed her left ear was missing. I frantically looked to the medical team around me for answers but received none.
Panic set in as we waited 4 days in hospital for an ENT to explain her condition, by which point we already had all the answers from Simone, who runs the Microtia and Atresia Program at Hear and Say.
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