10May2017

Australian Hearing not for sale

"Following consideration of the future ownership of Australian
Hearing Services, the Government has decided to retain full
ownership and control of the entity."

Noisy classrooms harm learning

Children from classrooms with poor acoustics have lower
literacy and numeracy skills, are less productive in the
workforce, and tend to be in lower paid jobs than those from
classrooms with good acoustics. A national standard for
acoustics in occupied classrooms must be established.

Journalism student at Edith Cowan

University has a lot a doubters
"I never think of myself as having a disability, I always think of
myself as having a special ability because how many people
can read Braille? How many people out there can do sign
language?"

Prolonged use of painkillers and

hearing loss
New study links duration of painkiller or analgesic use and self-
reported hearing loss in a large group of women in the US.

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.
Australian Hearing will not be sold
Buried deep in the Federal Governments Budget papers released last night was a statement about
the future of the government-owned Australian Hearing.

"Following consideration of the future ownership of Australian Hearing Services, the

Government has decided to retain full ownership and control of the entity."

The Government will not sell or otherwise transfer ownership of Australian Hearing, at least in the
short term.

No further information is available at this time, however we expect the Government to issue a
statement providing further details.

Australian Hearing staff have been advised of the decision.

Australian Hearing is highly regarded internationally as the provider of high quality hearing
services, particularly to Deaf and hearing impaired children. The National Acoustic Laboratories (a
part of Australian Hearing) is regarded as a world leader in hearing research.

But despite the decision to keep Australian Hearing in Government control, there remains concern
about what will occur when the crucial services it currently delivers are transferred from the
Australian Government Hearing Services Program to the National Disability Insurance Scheme in
the next two years. The NDIS will be making decisions about:
contestability, particularly in the provision of hearing services to children
maintaining service access in rural and remote areas
maintaining a culturally appropriate outreach program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people.

The services and programs currently provided by Australian Hearing as the sole provider of
services under the Community Service Obligations component of the Australian Government
Hearing Services Program provide a safety net for vulnerable groups in the community.

If services to children become contestable under the NDIS then the loss of an independent service
provider would probably occur regardless of who owned Australian Hearing. The most likely
competitors to Australian Hearing in a contestable market will be the existing early intervention
providers. Australian Hearing might not be able to compete with the one-stop shop
arrangements that would be offered by early intervention services unless it also partners with an
early intervention service, thereby losing its independent status.

If services that were previously treated as Community Service Obligations become contestable,
Australian Hearing will lose some of its client base and market share as other competitors enter
the market. In order to create a level playing field and to allow Australian Hearing to remain
competitive as a business, it will need to have access to the private market.

Photographed at a function last week in Sydney to celebrate Australian Hearings 70th anniversary:
Minister for Human Services the Hon. Alan Tudge, Australian Hearing Managing Director Bill
Davidson, and Deafness Forum of Australia chairperson David Brady.

Have your say on the NDIS Code of Conduct

The Government is developing a national Code of Conduct to promote safe and ethical service
delivery for the full scheme National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The development of a Code of Conduct is an important part of the NDIS Quality and
Safeguarding Framework.

Consultation is now open on the draft Code of Conduct and we encourage people with
disability, their families and carers, providers and workers to share their comments and
feedback.

The Code of Conduct sets out national standards and outlines expectations of behaviour for
providers and workers delivering NDIS supports and services.

Once finalised, the Code will be overseen by the new NDIS Quality and Safeguards
Commission.

To get involved, visit www.engage.dss.gov.au to read the Discussion Paper, complete the
survey or make a submission. Consultation will be open until 5pm (AEST), 21 June 2017.
Noisy classrooms harm learning
Much of what is learnt in school occurs through extended periods of listening. Pupils who
continually miss key words and phrases because of poor listening conditions are significantly
disadvantaged. The need for spaces that support clear listening conditions is particularly
important for pupils with hearing disability, Central Auditory Processing Disorder, learning
difficulties and for whom English is not the primary spoken language.

Children spend 45-75 percent of their time in the classroom. Classrooms are prone to high noise
levels because current teaching methods have a strong focus on group work activities.

Studies show that children from classrooms with poor acoustics have lower literacy and numeracy
skills, are less productive in the workforce, and tend to be in lower paid jobs than those from
classrooms with good acoustics. It is vital that the classroom acoustic environment is designed to
allow children to accurately discriminate what their teacher and the children in their group are
saying among the other dynamic classroom noise.

Its not only the students who suffer from poor classroom acoustics. Teachers report being more
distracted by noise, found speech communication significantly more difficult, and thought children
had more difficulty hearing them. Teachers who need to elevate their voices can experience vocal
strain and voice problems.

The (combined Australian/New Zealand) AS/NZS2107:2000 standard currently has

recommendations for unoccupied classroom ambient noise levels and reverberation times but
these are not enforced. But more importantly, there are no recommendations for occupied
classroom acoustic conditions.

Its a very important issue that doesnt received the publicity it deserves. Deafness Forum has
recommended to Government that a national standard for acoustics in occupied classrooms be
established; as well as the mechanisms to make observance of such a standard mandatory. We
encourage our members to take up the issue with their local parliamentarians, people of influence
in the education sector, and parent groups.
Deafblind woman overcoming challenges with dream of
becoming journalist
"I have a lot of doubters, people who think
that I will fail. A lot actually, because I can
only see a little bit and hear a little bit,"
19-year-old journalism student Vanessa
Vlajkovic says through an interpreter.

"I want to make the most of my life

nothing is impossible."

It is a sentiment Ms Vlajkovic has already

proven time and time again as a member
of the deafblind community.

Now, as she works through her degree, she will have to overcome people's preconceptions in
order to get a job in one of the more competitive industries around. The teenager was born with
optic atrophy and her sight is limited to what is very close to her. The rest of the world is just
outlines of shapes and shadows. She was born being able to hear. Her family is multilingual so
she grew up speaking Bosnian, Indonesian and English as well as learning Braille. But she
started losing her hearing progressively from the age of seven, and wore hearing aids until the
age of 16 when they stopped being effective. Feeling torn between two worlds the hearing and
the deaf Ms Vlajkovic made the decision to "switch off" from the hearing world, removing the
hearing aids in favour of using Australian Sign Language (Auslan).

The decision means Ms Vlajkovic also relies on technology such as Facebook and text messaging,
plus her BrailleNote a handheld computer geared to Braille users to communicate. None of
her daily hurdles with communication have stopped her from pursuing a career that is reliant upon
that very skill she is a second-year journalism student at Edith Cowan University.

"I never think of myself as having a disability, I always think of myself as having a special ability
because how many people can read Braille? How many people out there can do sign language?"

After a tough final two years of high school, which she describes as "the worst two years of my
life", Ms Vlajkovic's first year of university brought with it a whole new set of challenges.

"There was a lot of advocating at the beginning and it was exhausting. But I was never taught to
be afraid to ask for something that I needed and to tell people what I needed."

From ABC, http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-22/deafblind-journalism-student-breaking-

down-barriers/8461230
Prolonged use of painkillers and hearing loss in women
By Catharine Paddock PhD for Medical News Today

Risk of hearing loss appears to be modestly higher in women who use acetaminophen or non-
steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - such as ibuprofen - for 6 years or more, compared with
counterparts who use these painkillers for a year or less.

Researchers come to this conclusion in a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology,
in which they analyse the links between duration of painkiller or analgesic use and self-reported
hearing loss in a large group of women in the United States.

Senior author Gary Curhan, a Harvard

Medical School professor and physician in
the Channing Division of Network Medicine
at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston
says "Although the magnitude of higher risk
of hearing loss with analgesic use was
modest, given how commonly these
medications are used, even a small increase
in risk could have important health
implications."

In the U.S., the use of analgesics such as aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
(NSAIDs) is significant and more widespread than 2 decades ago.

As many as two thirds of women in the U.S. over the age of 60 report some degree of hearing
loss. Having previously reported a link between analgesic use and an increased risk of hearing
loss in men, the researchers decided to look at women and focus on duration of painkiller use.
The results showed that prolonged use (lasting 6 years or more) of ibuprofen and acetaminophen
was linked to a slightly higher relative risk of hearing loss, at 10 percent and 9 percent,
respectively, in the women.

The higher risk was relative to women who did not use the analgesics for more than a year.
However, no such link was found for usual-dose aspirin use. The researchers note that hearing
loss is a known side effect of high-dose aspirin use, but such dosages have become much less
common in the last 2 decades.

The findings support a growing body of evidence linking the use of NSAIDs or acetaminophen with
hearing loss, although the underlying biological explanation is not known.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314764.php
Communication accessibility
By Peter Lindley

Access for people with mobility disabilities has undergone significant change, as we have seen
over time - such as ramps into buildings, trains and buses to enable access which in the past was
denied, where such access was their right.

Unfortunately, we have not seen the same awareness of the need for communication access for
people with hearing loss in the Australian community ie we hear to live and we live to hear (One
in Six 9 July 2015). The Senate Inquiry into Hearing Loss in Australia Hear Us (2010) recognised
this, and stated that people with hearing loss must live with the paradox that their disability is so
prevalent in our society, and yet suffers from a low level of awareness and understanding in our
community.

However, in Redland City in South East Queensland, the Council is aware of the need for
communication access for their hearing impaired population, and has installed audio loop systems,
FM systems and infra red systems in its numerous public buildings. The Donald Simpson
Community Centre which has a primarily senior membership of approximately 1,400 members,
and is located in central Redland City has also recognised the need and right for its hearing
impaired members to participate in its activities on an equal level as those with good hearing.
The Centre has installed communication technology throughout its premises. The Convenor of the
Redlands Hearing Impaired Support Group which meets there, has also followed up the installation
with ensuring that the various groups who use the centre are aware of the benefits and use of
these systems.

In recognising the need for communication access which meets the requirements of the Disability
Discrimination Act, it is my belief that the Redland City Council and the Donald Simpson Board of
Directors have set a benchmark for others in Australia to follow.

Be Heard: Safe Communication at the Redlands Hospital Project was initiated in 2016 by Metro
South Health / Redlands Hospital. This followed consumer concerns, regarding communication
issues experienced by hearing impaired and Deaf consumers in the health care system. As well as
key Departmental staff from the hospital, the Project Committee has consumer representatives
from Better Hearing Australia (Brisbane), CICADA Qld, and Deaf Services Qld.

Very importantly, Metro South Health has recognised that a positive outcome ie staff recognition
of communication issues experienced by hearing impaired and Deaf consumers - and appropriate
responses - requires culture change. This in not easy in the busy days of a hospital setting, but it
is a challenge that Metro South Health / Redlands Hospital are committed to. This Project is an
excellent example of community engagement.

The author of this article, Peter Lindley is a resident of Redland City QLD, and due to his service to
his community, an Honorary Life Member of Deafness Forum of Australia.
Employment opportunity: National Manager NDIS &
Special Projects
The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) is the peak organisation in the
disability sector representing people with disability. AFDO is the place for organisations that
represent people with disability to work together to achieve common goals.

This position is responsible for managing and leading the development, implementation and
ongoing review of NDIS projects, and any Special Projects funded from various sources in line
with AFDOs strategic direction. The role also works with the National Manager Communications
& Engagement in the operation of NDIS specific projects, and oversees the NDIS Project Officer.

The ideal applicant will have excellent written and verbal communication skills, highly developed
project management skills including facilitation and resourcing of meetings and consultations, and
demonstrated knowledge and experience of disability policy, particularly the NDIS. Experience in
working with people with disability organisations is desirable.

The position is part-time (3 days per week) and the salary is based on skills and experience.
AFDO is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applicants who have a disability to apply.
Only applications addressing the Key Attributes as outlined in the Position Description will be
considered. For more information including Position Description, visit
http://www.afdo.org.au/5753.aspx

NDIS news
The National Disability Insurance Agency has released its Rural and Remote Strategy and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Strategy.

The strategies outline how the Agency will provide engagement, service delivery and leadership to
ensure the successful delivery of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in rural and remote
communities and in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

Find out more about these strategies on the NDIS website,

https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/Rural-Remote-and-Aboriginal-and-Torres-strait-Islander-News.html
Ten simple things YOU can do to celebrate the United Nations World Day for Cultural Diversity
1. Visit an art exhibit or a museum dedicated to other cultures.
2. Invite a family or people in the neighbourhood from another culture or religion to share a
meal with you and exchange views on life.
3. Rent a movie or read a book from another country or religion than your own.
4. Invite people from a different culture to share your customs.
5. Read about the great thinkers of other cultures than yours (e.g. Confucius, Socrates,
Avicenna, Ibn Khaldun, Aristotle, Ganesh, Rumi).
6. Visit a place of worship different than yours and participate in the celebration.
7. Play the stereotypes game. Stick a post-it on your forehead with the name of a country.
Ask people to tell you stereotypes associated with people from that country. You win if you
find out where you are from.
8. Learn about traditional celebrations from other cultures; learn more about Hanukkah or
Ramadan or about amazing celebrations of New Years Eve in Spain or Qingming festival in
China.
9. Spread your own culture around the world through our Facebook page and learn about
other cultures.
10. Explore music of a different culture.

Pentecost - 15 May
Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit and is regarded by some Christians as the birthday
of the Christian church.

Vesak Day or Buddha Day - 21 May

Commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. The date varies by region and
tradition. Some countries celebrate Vesak Day 1 or 2 days either side of this date.
Are you hearing noises? In your head? That nobody else
is hearing?
By Gael Hannan, Hearing Health and Technology Matters

Welcome to the tinnitus club. Actually, Im not the official meet n greeter of the club because
Im somewhat new myself. While you may have had discordant symphonies playing between your
ears for a long time, my head-noise switch has only recently flipped back on.

What is this beast that flies inside our head, tormenting us? Apparently its not a disease, but a
condition that stems from a wide range of causes, including ear infections, wax build-up, allergies,
noise damage and oxidative stress. The term tinnitus comes from the Latin word meaning
ringing. (This is a rare occasion where the English word is not derived from the Latin, but is
actually the same word.) Tinnitus has different pronunciations, and if youre wondering which one
is correct, take your pick of the following: /tnts/ or /tnats/.

Regardless of how one reads it or says itTINN-uh-tiss or tin-EYE-tis. the official definition is
the perception of sound within the human ear when no actual sound is present. Wikipedia goes
on to say that despite the origin of the name, ringing is just one of many sounds a person may
perceive.

Perceive, now theres a sugar-coated term for what we experience. I have my own, very
different, definition of tinnitus: a roaring sound highlighted by tinkling bells and honking horns
that respond neither to tears nor threats and which are not treatable by anything in the drug
cabinet or wine cellar.

I thought this current hearing-related hell was something new, a more-or-less constant sound
with varying degrees of loudness and the intermittent musical accompaniment of bells and horns.
But apparently Ive gone through this before; in re-reading my blog written two years ago, I had
the same issue then. The good news is that at some point it went away, so Im hopeful that
history will repeat itself.

I dont mean to sound like a whiner; what Im going through aint nuthin compared to the
experience of many people, apparently. Its just that it would be more bearable if my head were
playing something nice or seasonal, something I could hum along with. Instead, it sounds like an
orchestra playing but without a beat, without rhythm, without a tune and without most of the
musicians.

If you have tinnitus, chances are youve spent a great deal of time combing the internet for
answers. Some frequent solutions include:
Getting lots of rest. Theres probably something to this because last week, the noise seemed
to be worse on a day that I had not had enough sleep.
Reducing caffeine intake. Gahhh, my one remaining vice! Im faithful to my husband, kind to
small children and cats, dont do drugs, and havent been drunk for decades. And they want
to take away my coffee, too!?? Ok, fine, Ill try it.
Wearing hearing aids. Thats not an option; Ive been wearing them for a million years
already.
Sound therapy and masking techniques: there is some great stuff out there and if this
continues, Ill be sussing them out.
Focusing on something else. Thats working for me Im focusing on writing this article, and
only when I stop to listen am I really aware of the sound which, at the moment, is a faint hum
with occasional, emphatic bops on the bongo drums.

I will no longer think of tinnitus-sufferers as being members of an elite group, because the club
doors have opened; I have seen the light and I have heard the sounds. Them is now us and we
live in hope of help.

http://hearinghealthmatters.org/betterhearingconsumer/2013/return-ear-noise/

https://interpreting.deafsocietynsw.org.au/

Interpreting services with all profits reinvested in programs supporting the

Deaf and hard of hearing community.
http://www.deafservicesqld.org.au/Services/Interpreting

Book an interpreter http://www.wadeaf.org.au/slc/book-an-

interpreter/
Scientists developing App to help deaf children speak
By Rae Johnston for Gizmodo

When a child is born deaf, and then receives cochlear implants, learning to talk is a process of
learning how to associate the sounds they can newly hear with the sounds they are able to make
with their mouths.

GetTalking is an app being developed by a team of researchers at Swinbourne University,

designed to help them do just that.

The project was started by Dr Belinda Barnet after her own experience raising her hearing
impaired daughter.

"With my own daughter she had an implant at 11 months old I could afford to take a year off
to teach her to talk. This involved lots of repetitive exercises and time. Now that she can talk I'd
like to help other families who may not have that time," Dr Barnet says.

Being developed to run on iPads or other tablets, GetTalking gives infants a bright visual reward
for speaking.

"When a child has not heard any sound, they don't understand that a noise has an effect on the
environment. So the first thing has to be a visual reward for an articulation," Dr Barnet says. "At
12 months children respond well to visual rewards and even an 'ahhh' or 'ohhh' should get a
response from the app."
After the app recognises any kind of speech from the infant it then has to recognise what word
the child was trying to say, rewarding them for speaking words and approximations of words. As
understanding a baby that doesnt know how to form words is exceptionally complicated, complex
speech recognition software and artificial intelligence is needed.

"That's quite difficult. The speech needs to be cross-matched with thousands of articulations from
normally-speaking babies," Dr Barnet says.

Swinburne's BabyLab is supporting GetTalking in this area with a large collection of speech
samples. The app responds to the infant's word-approximation by re-articulating the correct word
and showing a picture of what they are saying.

Swinburne Department Chair of Health and Medical Sciences, Associate Professor Rachael
McDonald, became involved with GetTalking when Dr Barnet was seeking someone with
experience in occupational therapy and child development.

Associate Professor McDonald says, "Dr Barnet and I gathered a team of experts to work on this
project, in order to not only develop the app but to ensure that it is engaging for children and
families and that it has an evidence base, so that it can be used in clinical settings."

GetTalking has support from the National Acoustic Laboratories. The Swinburne team includes
Associate Professor Rachael McDonald; Dr Belinda Barnet; Professor Emeritus Leon Sterling; Dr
Jordy Kaufman; Associate Professor Simone Taffe and Associate Professor Carolyn Barnes.

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/04/australian-scientists-are-developing-an-app-to-help-deaf-
children-speak/

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