Hear and Say was founded by Dr Dimity Dornan AO in 1992 with only 6 children. Currently, the organization provides programs and services to over 600 young adults, children and families across 6 centres plus e-Audiology and e-Auditory-Verbal Therapy programs for remote and rural areas.
Hear and Say is a non-profit organization and has to raise over $10,000 every year, for up to 5 years, towards teaching just one child having hearing loss to speak and listen. It is a constituent of First Voice, the state voice for member outfits whose basic focus is to provide of spoken and listening language therapy type of services across New Zealand.
The goal is to assist deaf children to listen, speak and hear so they may be able to attend a regular school, get broader career choices and fully participate in the larger hearing community. Hear and Say does interfacing of state-of-the-art hearing advanced technology (such as digital hearing aids plus implantable technology like cochlear implants) together with the scientific Auditory-Verbal Therapy methodology. Hear and Say is committed to employing clinical research towards measuring outcomes.
Early Intervention
Hear and Say offers early intervention for the treatment of your kid's hearing loss utilizes the Auditory-Verbal Scientific Approach. We begin by seeing the kids from as soon as they get born, to the time that the kid starts compulsory schooling.
The nature and incidence of the support needed will vary from child to child. Your child's needs are compared and assessed with his/her normally hearing peers towards determining the intervention that is needed to aid them to attain their spoken language and listening potential.
Typically every child will get their own Individual Education Plan (IEP) grounded on the developmental milestones of normally hearing kids to aid parents and the Auditory-Verbal Therapists for the selection of appropriate goals that are in line with each kid’s age and stage of growth and development.
The parents will get comprehensive reports regularly outlining the progress of their child across all areas of their growth, including cognition, speech, language 'fine motor, gross motor, social skills and much more.
Audiology Services
Hear and Say got a specialist Assessment Clinic at Brisbane Centre for Paediatric Diagnostic Hearing. The skilled Audiologists also do visit the regional centres and are accessible for trouble-shooting and consultation.
The variety of services offered includes:
- The Cochlear Implant Program
- Middle Ear Implants
- Assessment of Paediatric Diagnostic Hearing
- Parent and Teacher education, consultation & counselling
The Cochlear Implant Program
Whenever a family opts to explore the option of a getting cochlear implant, their kid will undergo a wide-ranging medical, Auditory-Verbal Therapy and audiological evaluation. The therapy assessment entails functional listening evaluations and formal language and speech testing. The data collection offers information for evaluating whether the child is an appropriate candidate for the cochlear implantation and every child get assessed on an individual basis.
The Cochlear Implant Operation
The operation involves an overnight hospital stay and your kid will leave wearing a head bandage that has to stay on for a couple of days. The ENT Specialist can supply all the information needed to make sure the parents are completely informed on what they could expect.
Auditory-Verbal
Therapy Auditory-Verbal Therapy is a parent-based therapy whereby the parents of the child are instructed to teach their kid with a hearing loss to speak and listen. It teaches the parent/s on setting up a listening environment that promotes learning whereby their kid may develop spoken language by making use aided hearing.
The eAVT Program
Hear and Say's eAVT Program is available to families that aren’t able to access the Auditory-Verbal Program through the centres around Queensland as well as Brisbane, Cairn, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville or Toowoomba.
Microtia and Atresia Support Centre
This Centre, also known as AMASC is one among of Hear and Say's numerous initiatives towards supporting families of children having a hearing loss. The program purposes to offer resources, information and support to those families of children specifically diagnosed as having Microtia or Microtia and Atresia.
Social Skills Program
Hear and Say operates a series of programs on social skills helping develop the child's socialization skills and confidence.
School Hearing Screening Service
Hear and Say provides in-school hearing screening, make sure the best environment for children learning.
Education Support Program
This is for children having hearing loss utilizing Listening & Spoken Language in accessing mainstream education. Hear and Say offers an assortment of consultative services to tertiary institutions and school to aid students having hearing loss in accessing the school curriculum and attain their education goals.
Parent Education
Regular parent information and education sessions are deemed to be a crucial element of Hear and Say's program. All the caregivers and parents are always encouraged to attend.
Getting Involved
There are several methods of getting involved with Hear and Say and helping a child that is deaf to listen, hear and speak.
- Donating
- Sponsoring a child
- Pledging your support
- Making a bequest
- Giving through Payroll
- Donating in lieu of gifts
- Volunteering
- Supporting events
- Conducting own events
