About 300 babies are born in Australia with hearing loss each year,² and by the time children reach school-age, this number doubles.^3,4 There are about 12,000 kids across Australia having hearing loss (three in every 1,000).^3,4

Encouraging children to wear their hearing aids or implantable hearing devices (such as cochlear implants) is a challenge many families might experience. We know that maximum benefit from hearing devices can only be achieved if they’re being worn as often as possible, preferably every waking moment.

Sometimes a child’s hearing loss or circumstances may change and therefore the treatment option may change to accommodate this. We encourage you to speak with your therapist or audiologist about options for treatment.

In most cases, the answer is ‘yes’. If a child is eligible for hearing technology to be fitted, and this is fitted at a young age coupled with speech pathology, a child with hearing loss can learn to listen and speak.

If children receive hearing aids or implants at an early age, they will typically sound the same as people around them.

We support families by:

• Drawing on 30 years of experience to help children with hearing loss to learn to listen and speak
• Assisting with navigating the NDIS and support organisations
• Connecting children and families with a network of other parents, kids and alumni who can provide advice and support based on shared experiences.

Yes, Hear and Say specialises in audiology and speech pathology rather than Auslan, so we refer families to similarly specialised organisations to learn Auslan. It is quite common for parents to want their children to be able to listen, speak and sign and we support them with those ambitions.

Listening and spoken language therapy is a specialised discipline that supports children who are deaf and hard of hearing to hear and speak. It focuses on learning through listening, using the best available hearing technology, along with specialised therapy sessions. Parents are natural language teachers for their children, and our approach guides and coaches   them how to teach their children the skills to listen and speak.

No, it is common for families to want their child to be able to listen, speak and sign and we support parents and their children with options to achieve those goals. We specialise in audiology and speech pathology however we don’t specialise in Auslan, so we refer families to other organisations that have that expertise.

Hear and Say recognises and respects the importance of Auslan as a language. We also acknowledge that Deaf Culture provides a sense of belonging and cultural affinity for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Hearing, speaking and signing are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Most children receive hearing aids or devices like cochlear implants before their first birthday. It is optimal they start learning speech and language development early in life, typically in the first three years. If they don’t start hearing vital sounds in the early months of life, the brain may not establish the neural pathways needed for development.  

A child’s hearing journey doesn’t end once hearing aids are fitted or a cochlear implant is switched on. There is a lot of work to be done to develop a child’s hearing and speech in the months and years that follow getting hearing technology. This includes support through therapy and helping parents, teachers and other people in the child’s life.

The children we see typically become very confident communicators. If hearing loss is identified at birth, it is likely that a child will be able to hear and speak at the same level as their peers by the time they enter school, even if they are profoundly deaf.  

Our services include listening and spoken language therapy, sub-disciplines of speech pathology, audiology, and services that support broader physical, emotional and social development. We also provide referrals to other organisations for services such as Auslan, physiotherapy, and outside Brisbane, social work and occupational therapy.