About the Hear and Say Centre
Christina, a Hear and Say graduate says…
“To me the gift to hear is a treasure, the gift to communicate orally is extraordinary, and the gift to be in the world of sound is amazing … you can only appreciate the magic of sound if you know what it is like to be without it”
The Hear and Say Centre
is a Queensland wide charity teaching young children and babies, who are hearing impaired or deaf, to hear, listen and speak…to communicate with the hearing world using clear, natural speech.
The Centre achieves this by using the modern technology of the cochlear implant or digital hearing aids combined with Auditory-Verbal Therapy (learning to listen and speak)
Receiving a cochlear implant does not give a deaf child instant speech! A child must be taught to understand the sound they hear in order to develop language.
Our therapists work to build a child’s listening and speaking skills from infancy, sound by sound, syllable by syllable, word by word, achieving remarkable speech and communication skills. The first 5 years of a child’s life are critical for language development.
The Centre provides services which enable families to gain the knowledge, understanding and confidence needed as the primary decision-makers, caregivers and teachers of their own children.
Children attend from diagnosis until school entry age, when 94% of the Centre’s children enter mainstream education with their hearing peers. The remaining 6% have additional disabilities.
Queensland wide… Hear and Say is based in Brisbane with regional centres in Cairns, on the Sunshine and Gold Coast coasts, Toowoomba and a unique Outreach Program for remote and rural children. The Centre’s goal is for the children to achieve speech and language skills in the normal range for their age by the time they reach school age so they will be able to attend mainstream schools, have equal opportunities for employment of their choice and full social integration with the hearing world!
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Hear and Say is one of the leading charitable paediatric Auditory-Verbal and cochlear implant centres in the world.
Centre parent says…“We cannot thank the Centre enough for what they have accomplished with our son... they have given him laughter, and most importantly his voice.”
Why We Need Your Help
The Centre’s program is intensive and expensive costing the Centre an average $10,000 per year for each child although parents are only asked to assist by paying, if they are able, a minimum clinical levy equal to 10% of the service they receive. There are currently over 260 children in the program and there is always a waiting list.
Government funding accounts for 14% of the annual costs, parents contribute a minimal clinical levy and the remainder must be raised through the community and the Centre’s fundraising events.
About Hearing Loss
- 2.5 children in every thousand are born with hearing loss in Australia
- Hearing impairment is the most common disability in children.
- Significant hearing loss has a potentially devastating impact on a child’s speech, language, cognitive, educational, social and emotional development.
- If hearing loss is detected before 6 months of age and appropriate intervention provided, babies with hearing loss have the potential to achieve speech and language similar to their hearing peers within 1 – 5 years (Yoshinago-Itano et al.,1998).
- Potential for a child identified at birth is normal growth of auditory brain areas, age appropriate spoken language, full educational integration, age appropriate reading ability and extensive career choices.
For more details visit the Centre’s website www.hearandsaycentre.com.au
How your support helps!
Funds raised help provide the following:
| $35 |
One playgroup session |
| $65 |
One resource pack for an Outreach child |
| $120 |
One therapy lesson for one child |
| $250 |
One week's therapy for one child |
| $510 |
Parent education and support for one family for one year |
| $850 |
One month's program for one child |
