The ninth Power of Speech event at Parliament House recently brought together member organisations of the First Voice partnership and politicians to hear from children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
First Voice advocates for world-class early intervention services that give children who are deaf or hard of hearing the opportunity to listen and speak.
Six children – Henry, Charlotte, Emily, Tim, Kyden and Billy – from across Australia and New Zealand representing First Voice member organisations gave presentations about their lived experience.
Their presentations demonstrated the power of early intervention and showcased the positive outcomes possible with cochlear implants.
The event, in early July 2024, also challenged perceptions among decision makers of what’s possible for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
In front of an audience that included Mr Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Aged Care, 10-year-old Tim from Melbourne described his and his family’s journey with hearing loss and the power of his support team from NextSense not-for profit organisation.
‘NextSense helped in lots of different ways. They visited me at home and checked whether I was making progress with my speaking and listening and they helped my Mum and Dad to make the best decisions’, Tim said.
Tim has two cochlear implants and received early intervention services from NextSense. He attended NextSense kindergarten at Blackburn which provides tailored support for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and prepares them for mainstream education.
He has positive memories of his time at NextSense Kindergarten and spoke about the importance of representation.
‘I made my first best friend there. He also wore cochlear implants and I spent most of my days with lots of kids who did, which made me feel good as I wasn´t the only one’, Tim said.
Tim is thriving at his local mainstream primary school, is excelling in spoken and written English, speaks German fluently and loves singing in his heavy metal band, Acorn Rush.
NextSense chief executive Mr Chris Rehn said: “The high-quality wraparound support received by children like Tim has already helped them travel this far but it will continue to reap rewards for them long into the future.
“There is a lot of evidence to show that the earlier you intervene with speech and language development for a child with hearing loss, the better their outcomes will be, and putting family at the centre of care is very important.”
Other speakers included Minister for Health and Aged Care Mr Mark Butler, First Voice chair Mr Mark Fitzpatrick, Shadow Minister for Health Ms Anne Ruston, Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth Dr Anne Aly, master of ceremonies Ms Megan Marotti and Cochlear CEO and president Mr Dig Howitt.
Hearing Health Sector Alliance chair Ms Jane Macdonald and deputy chair Ms Leanne Emerson represented the alliance at the event.
NextSense not-for profit organisation is Australia’s largest non-government provider of health, disability, education and cochlear implant services for children and adults with vision or hearing loss.
