26July2017

Debate that never ends

Children who do not have good language and phonologic will
not have good literacy. And, if you want a child to learn to
read in English, they need to have good English language
skills. Sign language skills do not necessarily mean English
literacy skills.

One in two farmers risk premature

hearing loss
Tractors, workshop machinery, firearms and livestock noise
are some of the most common causes of premature hearing
loss. Many farmers know that they are losing their hearing,
but do nothing about it.

Peter Cipollone is the Italian voice of the

deaf community in Australia
I grew up very tough and saddened by the level of
discrimination, but that, in many ways, was wonderful
preparation because it made me incredibly passionate.

Australian Deaf Games

With only 6 months until the Games, plenty of sports will be
on offer. Albury Wodonga NSW, 20-27 January 2018

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land, community, sea, and waters where we live and work. We pay our respects to
elderspast,presentandfutureandvaluethecontributionsIndigenousAustraliansmakeinoursociety.Weacknowledgethechallengefor
IndigenousleadersandfamiliestoovercometheunacceptablyhighlevelsofearhealthissuesamongfirstAustralians.
The debate that never ends
By Jane Madell

92% of children with hearing loss are born to families with normal hearing who do not know sign
language. When they have a child who is born with a hearing loss, they are overwhelmed with
information and decisions about how to make decisions for their child. Unfortunately, parents do
not always have all the information they need when they are making decisions.

Spoken language and sign language and the effect of language and literacy
Everyone seems to be sure that they know exactly what is the best method to educate children
with hearing loss. The problem is that everyone has a different answer. Obviously, the same
answer is not the same for every child and for every family but that has not prevented us from
acting as if there was only one right answer. Each of us will provide the best possible language
modeling for our children if we communicate in the language we know well. Each child is different
and what works for one will not work for all. Children born into families with deaf parents who
are fluent signers are in a different situation than children born to families with normal hearing
parents who do not know sign language at the time of diagnosis. While families who are fluent
signers will be able to provide their children with good language, families who dont sign will not.
Think about how it is to learn a new language. I am trying to learn Italian. I feel sorry for any
child who has to learn Italian from me.

But there is an additional issue and that is literacy. Language learning is critical for developing
literacy. Children who do not have good language and phonologic will not have good literacy.
And, if you want a child to learn to read in English, they need to have good English language
skills. ASL (ed: American Sign Language) skills do not necessarily transfer to English literacy skills.

The Geers study

Ann Geers is a well respected clinician and researcher as are her co-authors. Geers has published
extensively. Her most recent paper was just published in Pediatrics. She evaluated the
relationship between early sign language exposure and cochlear implant benefits. The article
reports that most children with hearing loss learn spoken language and that most children with
hearing loss are born to parents who have normal hearing and do not know sign language.

The debate that has been raging for as long as I have been in this field (more than 50 years) is
whether parents should be encouraged to learn sign language and to teach their deaf children to
sign. This study evaluated parents use of sign language before and after cochlear implantation
and the influence of parents sign language use on speech recognition, speech intelligibility,
spoken language, and reading outcomes.

Three groups of children with CIs from a national data base who were matched for demographic,
auditory and linguistic characteristic but differed in duration of early sign language exposure
provided in their homes were compared through elementary school grades.
Children without early sign language exposure achieved better speech recognition skills over the
first three years after implantation and were statistically significantly better in spoken language
and reading near the end of elementary school then children who were exposed to sign language.
Over 70% of children who had no sign language exposure had age appropriate spoken language
compared to only 39% of those exposed to sign language for 3 or more years. Early speech
perception predicted speech intelligibility in middle school years.

All three groups received reading comprehension scores similar to hearing peers in early years but
those without sign language exposure exhibited a statistically significant reading advantage over
the long term sign subjects. For children with no sign language exposure only 11% were delayed
in early elementary years increasing to 23% in late elementary years. For children exposed to
sign language in early years, the percentage of children with less than average reading scores
increased from <20% in early elementary years to >50% in late elementary years.

This article clearly provides the most compelling evidence that there is no advantage to early sign
language use. Children whose families used spoken language only, had better auditory speech
recognition and more intelligible speech than children whose families used sign language. Even
short term sign use resulted in poorer speech intelligibility in elementary school. Even children
whose families who used sign language minimally had poorer outcomes then children not exposed
to sign language.

My conclusions
Most parents of children with hearing loss do not know sign language and the process of learning
sign language, just like learning any other language, is long and arduous process meaning that
they will not be exposing their children to good language models during the early years. The
children who are listening exclusively to spoken language have the opportunity to hear good
spoken language models and incorporate this into their speech recognition and spoken language.
Children with poor reading skills have limited employment opportunities. Very significantly, the
reading results alone make a case for using spoken language exclusively by parents.

Newborn hearing screening and improvements in technology have changed the world for children
with hearing loss. When I started in this field children where identified with hearing loss at age 2-
3 years and if they had severe to profound hearing loss they did not do well with hearing aids.
They lost lots of time and many never successfully learned spoken communication but NO MORE.
Babies are now identified at birth and fit with technology in early months. As soon as they receive
technology they are hearing their families speak to them and learning language.

Children who have good listening and spoken language and good literacy skills have opportunities
in life that those who do not have those skills just dont have. Learning sign language later is
always an option but learning it early destroys possibilities. That is the point it only works if
children have early exposure to spoken language.

From Hearing Health and Technology Matters, http://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearingandkids/

The Italian voice of the deaf community in Australia
By Laura Egan for Il Globo

Peter Cipollone received a Medal of the Order of Australia in this years Queens Birthday Honours,
for service to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and to education.

It was very affirming to receive this recognition, he said. Ive worked in deafness for most of
my working life, so its a tremendous honour and I was very humbled.

Mr Cipollone has worked with the deaf community in Australia for 40 years, and has been involved
in almost every development within the community since he joined the Deaf Society of NSW as a
welfare worker in 1997. Since then, he went on to become a senior welfare worker for the same
society, helped establish an adult education centre for the deaf community, worked for the
government providing career advice and job placement assistance to deaf people, and was the
principal of a school for the deaf and hearing impaired.

Mr Cipollone was also involved in the lobbying for access to telecommunications, including the
provision of TTYs and relay services, and was a driving force in the establishment of a retirement
village for deaf people, arguing that they are part of a cultural minority with their own language,
rather than a disabled community.

Where does Mr Cipollones strong connection with the deaf community stem from?

Sometimes people say its because Im Italian and Im used to gesticulating, he laughed.

Mr Cipollone was born in the ancient village of Fara San Martino, located on the foothills of a
towering mountain in Abruzzo. His parents were peasant farmers with very little prospect of
finding regular work, and his childhoods memories are of tough times in adverse conditions. He
lived in a stone house built into the rugged mountainside with a stable housing a donkey, used for
transport, and two cows, used to make money from milk. Snow inundated the area during the
bitter winter months and washed clothes left hanging inside to dry would freeze overnight.

If Id stayed there Id probably be herding sheep today, Mr Cipollone explained.

Instead, his parents decided to venture to the other side of the world in search of a more
promising life, a risky decision which meant no turning back.

Weve had opportunities that didnt exist at that time, and they made an incredible decision, Mr
Cipollone explained.

Mr Cipollone experienced first-hand what it was like to arrive in a new and unfamiliar country,
where he couldnt speak the language, at a time when ignorance and discrimination towards
people from different cultures were prevalent.

I recall very distinctly that things were happening around me that I didnt understand and in
some respects, that parallels life for deaf people, he said. I grew up very tough and saddened
by the level of discrimination, but that, in many ways, was wonderful preparation because it made
me incredibly passionate.

Since retiring, Mr Cipollone has maintained his ties with the deaf community on both a social level
and through his passion for restoration.

Considered a heritage building specialist, Mr Cipollones experience with construction dates back
to when he was nine years old and would come home from school to clean bricks that his father
could then use to add a room to the house.

http://ilglobo.com.au/news/35254/the-italian-voice-of-the-deaf-community-in-australia/#

National Tree Planting Day

Sunday 30 July

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
One in two farmers are at risk of premature hearing loss
By Bridget Fitzgerald ABC Rural

More than one in two farmers will suffer premature hearing loss according to research published
by National Rural Health Alliance.

Chelsea Scott, an audiologist for Australian Hearing said "We hear a lot of complaints that family
members are mumbling," she said. "Tractors, workshop machinery, firearms and livestock noise
are some of the most common causes of premature hearing loss."

Ms Scott is behind a new initiative from Australian Hearing in Victoria taking the hearing testing
booth to local saleyards to make free testing more accessible to time-poor farmers who cast their
hearing health to the bottom of their to-do list.

The visit to Casterton is the second saleyard visit they have made. Ms Smith said the results of
their first visit were alarming. "At the Warrnambool saleyards we tested 19 farmers for hearing
loss. Of those, 14 had hearing outside the normal range," she said.

Ms Scott said many farmers were aware that they were losing their hearing, but did not do
anything about it. She said, despite advances in hearing aid technology, there was still a stigma
around hearing aids. "Some people see them [hearing aids] as a sign of ageing," Ms Scott said.

Pigs can be noisy, and one of the leading causes for premature hearing loss for farmers.

Each state has legal health and safety obligations farmers have to comply with in order to create a
safe noise environment. But only 18 per cent of farmers wear hearing protection, according to
the National Rural Health Alliance.

The Farmsafe website provides information about safe exposure periods to high levels of sound
and offers five methods of reducing noise injury. http://www.farmsafe.org.au/Farm-Noise-
Hearing-Injury
National survey
Thanks to everyone who participated in our recent national survey.

There have been a lot of changes lately that have had an impact on people with disability, their
families and the people who support them changes such as the introduction of the National
Disability Insurance Scheme and changes to how organisations like Deafness Forum are funded.

The information you provided will help us to plan our future activities. We will also use it to
convince funders - such as the government or private trusts and foundations - to give us money
to deliver our activities.

We have been asked to bring all the information together in a report for the National Disability
Insurance Agency. The Agency wants to know what information and support people with
disability want from organisations like ours. We wont share any individual answers. And we will
make sure we summarise everything and just share key themes.

Here is a snapshot of your comments

Community
People need to be more understanding.

Needs to be more education for the general public eg hearing aids do not make your hearing
normal, shouting does not help and the ways anyone's hearing can be damaged.

There is still some bias shown to anyone who is deaf. Need to raise community awareness.

We ALL need to advocate, as the general public are still quite unaware of how hearing loss can
affect social interaction and access to everyday things like going to the movies, public meetings.

Hearing people need EDUCATION about deaf awareness more.

I'm learning Auslan, I believe connection with the Deaf community through learning Auslan for
people with acquired hearing loss can provide much emotional support and build social capital-
should be encouraged more.
Affordability
It should free hearing aids and cochlear implants free to true born deaf people so they can learn
to listen and work in the future... come on...

People don't understand for us to hear we have to buy our own hearing aids. My aim is to finish
university and have a job with a better pay.

Cannot afford hearing aids. Not on pension. Working full time. Have to be face to face for
communication, but this does not always work.

Work
I'm careful not to reveal I have a hearing impairment & wear hearing aids when I apply for jobs or
I won't get a chance.

In the working world, employers give new hearing staff better rankings than deaf experienced
staff who remain in the low rank of positions due to their disabilities.

I would like to see the availability of proper hearing impaired badges. There seems to be nothing
available it would make it easier in the workplace if I had something to wear to remind people
they need to look at me when they speak to me so I am not treated like I am stupid.

Health services
Many hearing health organisations are still catered towards those who are hearing i.e. those who
work there or those who bring their deaf child in. When it comes to making appointments or
accessing information, there is no captioning or understanding of deaf/hard of hearing people who
may need to lipread or use Auslan. If there were to be an announcement over the loudspeakers,
where is the captioning etc?

I suffer badly because of background noise. I would love more information on ways to help with
that. Nuheara I Buds have been recommended but they are way out of my price range so it
would be good to know if I could get assistance with purchasing them.

I have suffered tinnitus for over five years and continue to struggle to habituate. Tinnitus is
ignored as a serious medical symptom and the trauma and angst and the way it has ruined my
inner life has been so destructive and so tormenting, I feel let down by the medical community,
researchers and government.

I felt so helpless trying to get answers from medical processionals and I have somewhat lost faith
in them.
Social and mental impact of communication problems is still grossly overlooked. I am a retiree
and have lived with hearing loss for 50+ years. Hearing loss remains a "hidden" disability.
Current marketing continues to 'sell' the idea that a hearing-aid fixes "all" problems.
Communication is much more than mere "hearing".

Communications access
If my hearing aids do not work for some reason e.g. damage, need repair, battery failure, then I
have a lot of difficulty communicating due to the severity of my hearing loss. The whole ballgame
changes so I am very, very reliant on them. Without them I would be unable to work, hold down
a job or effectively interact with my community.

I want to see compulsory captioning on everything online courses all tv shows and streaming
content Visual alerts compulsory in all buildings just like wheelchair ramps . E.g. Strobe lights.

Infra-red listening systems are increasingly been installed in new infrastructure, but they are
HOPELESS. They are not being used because they draw attention to one's disability. The device
is worn on your chest and requires knowledge to use, fresh batteries and someone who provides
instruction. They quality of sounds is often poor.

Movie and other theatres should be encouraged to either enhance the loop systems or preferably
captions.

Should be captions at the movies and some TV channels. We should be able to read them on tv.
Sometimes they are disgusting and hard to follow. They should be at the bottom of the screen
and not across the middle where they cover the picture. Especially sports where you can't see
what's going on.

There is far too much emphasis on people who use Auslan and not enough regarding the hard of
hearing. All people with a hearing loss cannot be treated the same as they are all different, and
have different communication needs.

Profoundly Deaf people need to access to qualified interpreters without cost for all interactions
including work and business. Hearing aids need to be provided free of charge to people born deaf
regardless of their work or income. Or at least be able to be claimed as a tax deduction.

Not enough interpreters or telecommunication access provisions in the community.

It is very difficult to understand customer service personnel on the phone, their accent is often too
difficult to follow and they talk too quickly.

Of the millions of people with hearing conditions - most don't use Auslan. More captions please.
National Disability Insurance Scheme
I would like to see NDIS better educated about how to communicate with people that are deaf or
hard of hearing. They have no clue.

NDIS sounds great in theory, but the roll out to my area is s long way off and I could certainly do
with some assistance as my disability does impact on my business.

NDIS information seems to be patchy and determining when service is available in our area is
confusing.

Organisations need to be accountable. No point having NDIS if organisations don't want to work
with people with disabilities

Where is ADVOCACY in the NDIS? Do I have to pay for advocacy under my own plan? Where do
I put advocacy in my plan? Why doesn't state and federal governments fund small hearing
disability advocacy and peer support organisations.
Answer: Advocacy is not funded through the NDIS. It is funded by the federal and some state
governments. Dss.gov.au/ndapfinder takes you to where you can search by postcode or suburb
for the closest advocacy organisation.

UK's first sign language poetry slam

Deaf poets have been fighting it out in the UK's first ever poetry slam for users of sign language.

The BBC followed one competitor, 20-year-old Honesty Willoughby from Bristol, through the
process of composing a poem and performing it on the night at the BSL Slam.

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/disability-40670284/uk-s-first-sign-language-poetry-slam
 from Sunday 20 August 2017

Changes from next year

World Hearing Day and Hearing Awareness Week in 2018
World Hearing Day, presented by the World Health Organisation, is scheduled for Saturday 3
March 2018. Hearing Awareness Week in Australia will be brought forward next year to the week
running up to the international day.
\
NDIS supporting students into work
Finishing high school is a big milestone for students. A reason to celebrate and look to the road
ahead. But when faced with the challenging question of what next?, many students with
disability face a tougher path.

That is where School Leaver Employment Support, or SLES, comes in. The aim of SLES is to
assist young people to aspire to employment and to access supports through their plan to set
them up for economic independence.

Newly available to Year 12 students phasing into the NDIS in 2017/18, SLES can be included in a
participants plan. SLES is not a program, but rather it is an individualised approach to funding
employment supports which are considered alongside other supports in a participants plan. This
may include work experience, job skills training and/or travel training for up to two years to assist
participants to become work-ready.

SLES is being rolled out in line with the NDIS roll out across all states and territories. You can
learn more about SLES on the NDIS website, where you can download a range of new resources
and watch videos profiling young people who have benefited from SLES.
https://www.ndis.gov.au/people-disability/sles.html

The Commonwealth Department of Human Services is testing a new website. If you would like to
give your feedback, visit https://beta.humanservices.gov.au/

The Academy of Doctors of Audiology (U.S.) fosters and supports the

professional dispensing of hearing aids by qualified audiologists in
rehabilitative practices. It developed the concept of the Doctor of
Audiology degree and the transition of audiology to a doctoring
healthcare profession. Learn more at http://www.audiologist.org/
Mid-life hearing loss contributes to dementia
One in three cases of dementia could be prevented if more people looked after their brain health
throughout life, according to an international study in the Lancet.

It lists nine key risk factors including hearing loss, lack of education, smoking and physical
inactivity.

Nine lifestyle factors that contribute to the risk of dementia

mid-life hearing loss - responsible for 9% of the risk
failing to complete secondary education - 8%
smoking - 5%
failing to seek early treatment for depression - 4%
physical inactivity - 3%
social isolation - 2%
high blood pressure - 2%
obesity - 1%
type 2 diabetes - 1%

These risk factors - which are thought to be modifiable - add up to 35%. The other 65% of
dementia risk is beyond the individual's control.

"Although dementia is diagnosed in later life, the brain changes usually begin to develop years
before," said lead author Prof Gill Livingston, from University College London. "Acting now will
vastly improve life for people with dementia and their families and, in doing so, will transform the
future of society."

The report, which combines the work of 24 international experts, says lifestyle factors can play a
major role in increasing or reducing an individual's dementia risk. It examines the benefits of
building a "cognitive reserve", which means strengthening the brain's networks so it can continue
to function in later life despite damage.

A major risk factor is hearing loss in middle age - the researchers say this can deny people a
cognitively rich environment and lead to social isolation and depression, which are among other
modifiable risk factors for dementia.

Not smoking, doing exercise, keeping a healthy weight, treating high blood pressure and diabetes
can all reduce the risk of dementia, as well as cardiovascular disease, and cancer. The
researchers say they did not have enough data to include dietary factors or alcohol in their
calculations but believe both could be important.

From BBC News, http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40655566

South Australian Dignity Party MLC, Hon
Kelly Vincent wants Deaf people, and other
people who might need an interpreter, to
serve jury duty.

She has put together a survey to gather

feedback from the community about draft
legislation. The survey questions are for people
who are Deaf and other linguistically diverse
people. It is for residents of South Australia
only. This survey closes on Friday.
Kelly Vincent, member of the SA parliament
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6LCSWLT

2018 Australian Deaf Games

With only 6 months until the Games, the organising committee is working hard to provide the best
experience for Deaf and hard of hearing athletes and spectators from all over Australia.

Plenty of sports are on offer at the Games basketball, cricket, futsal, athletics and touch football.

Albury Wodonga NSW, 20-27 January 2018. More info at http://www.austdeafgames.org.au/

The 2017 National Disability Awards honour and recognise the outstanding achievements of
individuals, teams and organisations that have improved the lives of Australians with disability and
contributed to increased recognition of equality and human rights for all Australians. Nominate at
http://www.idpwd.com.au/award-nomination-form-2017/

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