5 September 2018

Good news at last about hearing assistance in

aged care
Deafness Forum had successfully lobbied for inclusion of hearing
assistance in the relevant VET qualifications. But it was obvious
to us that education alone will not overcome the widespread
indifference to the needs of hearing impaired consumers.

The crazy way businesses assault their

customers
When I approached the manager, she brusquely dismissed my
concerns, “It’s a gym, not a library. Buy better noise cancelling
headphones to wear.”

Glue ear project to improve outcomes for

Aboriginal children
Up to nine in every 10 Aboriginal children in some remote
Northern Territory communities have a hearing impairment, but
a new project aims to tackle that by training locals and reducing
fly-in-fly-out specialists.

Conversations linked to better communication

We need to provide a lot of language to children to help them
develop language, literacy and social skills. But, current research
shows that it’s not just the number of words, but the quality of
the language.

Navigating the NDIS

Three new booklets provide practical information for participants,
potential participants, their families, carers.

Deafness Forum acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and
community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders both past and present. We acknowledge the challenge for Indigenous
leaders and families to overcome the unacceptably high levels of ear health issues among first Australians.
Good news at last about hearing assistance in aged care
Australia’s peak consumer advocacy organisation for people living with deafness and ear disorders
is celebrating the successful outcome of its long-running campaign to have hearing loss
management included in Government guidelines for aged care service providers.

70% of Australians aged over 70 have some hearing loss. This increases to around 85% in
residential aged care. However, staff of age care service providers and in hospitals are seldom
adequately trained to assist those with hearing loss.

Deafness Forum of Australia chair David Brady said that his organisation is deeply concerned
about the continuing, widespread lack of recognition and effective management of hearing loss in
aged care services.

“There’s been a scarcity of hearing assistance training for aged care staff, from registered nurses
to direct carers and the teams of auditors employed by the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency
to monitor aged care services,” David Brady said.

Deafness Forum had successfully lobbied for inclusion of hearing assistance in the relevant VET
qualifications.

“But it was obvious to us that education alone will not overcome the widespread indifference to
the needs of hearing impaired consumers. Proper enforcement by the Australian Aged Care
Quality Agency is crucial,” he said.

The Australian Aged Care Quality Agency recently released its ‘Guidance and Resources for
Providers’ to support the new Aged Care Quality Standards which will come fully into effect in July
2019. The guidance materials are the practical guidelines for aged care service providers and a
reference for those that audit the providers.

For the first time, hearing loss has been clearly addressed in the Guidance and Resources for
Providers materials. Hearing references are found throughout this new Guidance material.

“It’s not the complete solution to all problems in addressing hearing loss in aged care centres and
in home care – auditors will need to dig deep in their assessments - but every party will know that
how a service provider deals with hearing and communication issues will be examined in the
process of Government certification,” David Brady said.

Deafness Forum thanks the Minister for Aged Care Ken Wyatt AM and the Australian Aged Care
Quality Agency for listening to its case and responding to its members’ concerns. Deafness Forum
acknowledges the essential support of Australian Hearing, in particular Emma Scanlan and several
other managers, together with many volunteers, in making a very real difference to the health
and wellbeing of Australians in aged care facilities.
Navigating the National Disability Insurance Scheme

The NDIS has released three new booklets available on the NDIS website. The booklets provide
practical information for participants, potential participants, their families, carers and the wider
community. As a key resource in navigating the NDIS, the booklets are intended for use
throughout a participant’s journey and can be used to record key information write questions and
collect thoughts.

The Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport support public transport operators and
providers to remove discrimination from public transport services.

The Transport Standards are currently under review and the public is invited to comment.

Submissions will close on 30 November 2018.

Visit https://infrastructure.gov.au/transport/disabilities/third_review_tor.aspx

If members and friends of Deafness Forum would like to collaborate on a group submission – or if
you would just prefer to offer some thoughts for inclusion in our submission – write to Steve at
hello@deafnessforum.org.au
The crazy way businesses assault their customers
Dannielle Miller writing for The Daily Telegraph

I recently joined my local woman’s gym. I thought I’d find working out in a pastel coloured, girls-
only space an excellent way to unwind. What I hadn’t counted on was the booming ’80s music,
not only in the classes (the music in these was so loud that I couldn’t hear a word the instructor
was forced to screech at us) but in the general workout area.

Why, I wondered, must the music be at a volume that means I can’t listen to a podcast on my
own device over it? This struck me as particularly odd given almost all the other members were
listening to their own devices too. Who was being catered for with this cacophony?

When I approached the manager, she brusquely dismissed my concerns, “It’s a gym, not a library.
Buy better noise cancelling headphones to wear.”

The fact she had to raise her voice to offer me this response was telling. Despite researchers
expressing concern about music at gyms since Olivia Newton John first donned her leg warmers
and got physical, a study by Australia’s National Acoustic Laboratories found that the sound levels
in fitness classes are now noisier than they were a decade ago. And while 85 per cent of fitness
instructors say they believe loud music is motivating, about one fifth of their clients actually find it
stressful. Call me crazy, but I like to hear the instructor when I’m doing a gym class.

It’s probably not surprising then that many fitness professionals have had their hearing impaired
by the hours they spend in these loud environments — which means they are all the more likely to
continue turning up the sound. However, it’s not just gyms that seem to believe that unless the
sound is pumping, people won’t want to join the party.

Restaurants are often so noisy that diners don’t sit and talk over a leisurely meal, but rather they
are forced to shout across the table at each other instead Gordon Ramsey style. Concrete walls
and floors, high ceilings, and open-concept dining may all be visually appealing, but they pose
acoustic challenges. And while dining with a din may be fine if you are with a group and out
celebrating, it’s not so pleasant for those expecting a more intimate evening.
David Brady, Chair of the Deafness Forum of Australia, says that although the safe upper limits for
workplace noise are set at 85 decibels, most gyms, restaurants and shops would have noise levels
well above this limit. “If we are exposed to even slightly higher noise levels for any longer than
about ten minutes, we risk damaging our hearing. And when you’re hearing is gone, it’s gone —
there is no cure.”

David Brady is particularly concerned about the impact the amped up soundtrack to our modern
lives is having on young people who may also be learning in noisy shared classrooms, and
attempting to switch off at night by switching on their own music at unsafe levels. He warns, “We
are now frequently seeing teens who have the hearing of a 40 year old.”

The World Health Organisation believes that noise pollution is second only to air pollution in terms
of its negative impact on our health. Sustained exposure to loud noise has been linked not only
with hearing loss, but with a range of health effects including high stress levels, increased risk of
ischaemic heart disease as well as sleep disturbances.

Thankfully, many of us are finally starting to vote with our feet, for our ears. More subdued
fitness classes like pilates and yoga are rapidly growing in popularity. Late last year Coles
supermarket rolled out a “Quiet Hour” aimed at supporting those on the autism spectrum which
was embraced more broadly by others also wanting to shop in relative peace (“Do any of us like
the cheesy music, constant voice over messages and clanging trolleys?” asked one shopper on
social media). In the US, diners wanting a quieter eating out experience have been taking decibel
readings at restaurants and sharing these on apps like SoundPrint. Silent retreats, such as
Vipassana meditation courses, are being inundated with the aurally exhausted. It seems that not
all pleas for the volume to be turned down are falling on deaf ears.

Who’s Missing?
Sunday 9 September, 10.30AM to 12.00PM at Shop 4, Building 3.4, 1 Dairy Road, Fyshwick

There are lots of things that can stop people from accessing urban spaces: Can you easily get
around both walking and on wheels? Is there enough light at night-time? It’s time to look around
our cities and ask: Who’s missing? Who’s not able to participate? Who isn’t made to feel
welcome, and why? Drawing on experience working across women’s rights and accessibility
advocacy, Sue Salthouse will guide us in a discussion about the importance of inclusive spaces
and what true urban diversity should really look like.

Please explain your participation requirements when you RSVP. AUSLAN interpretation will be
provided. Free entry but an RSVP is essential. Book your place at
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/whos-missing-tickets-48690713234 Inquiries to
yasmin@molonglogroup.com.au
Glue ear project to fight hearing loss and improve
outcomes for Aboriginal children
By Emilie Gramenz for ABC News

Photo: Dr Kelvin Kong and Professor Amanda Leach will lead the initiative. (ABC News: Mitchell
Woolnough)

Up to nine in every 10 Aboriginal children in some remote Northern Territory communities have a
hearing impairment, but a new project aims to tackle that by training locals and reducing fly-in-
fly-out (FIFO) specialists.

Researchers have long observed the negative impacts of otitis media, or "glue ear", on children's
education, childhood development and social outcomes, and say it needs to be detected far
earlier.

"If I'm actually doing surgery on these kids, we've missed the boat," Kelvin Kong said.

Dr Kong is an ear, nose and throat surgeon who will be one of the leaders of the new initiative,
delivered by Charles Darwin University (CDU).

The $7.9 million five-year program is funded jointly by the NT and Federal Governments and
philanthropic venture the Balnaves Foundation.

It will attempt to reduce the need for FIFO specialists by training and employing local community
members as support workers who can recognise the symptoms of glue ear, assist with the
diagnosis process and help families treat and manage infections.
Amanda Leach from the Menzies School of Health Research will lead the project with Dr Kong, and
said that while a lot of evidence had been collected about the best way to treat ear infections,
implementation was where children fell through the cracks.

"We think this program will provide a culturally safe and appropriate long-term service every day,"
Professor Leach said.

"Our goal is that every ear of every child is hearing normally every day; that's just not happening
at the moment.

"Only around 10 per cent of children have bilaterally normal ears in their preschool ears. 10 per
cent is not good enough."

Communities will be asked for input about how the program should be rolled out and which
community members should be involved.

"[The ultimate aim] is that we don't have a role in this because it's actually run by the community,
they can identify the problems and they can navigate the health system and get the help they
need to," Dr Kong said.

"It's all about Aboriginal governance which will have the leadership in this."

Photo: Natasha Fyles, Neil Balnaves, director of the Menzies School Alan Cass and Chief Minister Michael
Gunner. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)

Hopes for combating jail over-representation

Dr Kong was Australia's first Indigenous ear, nose and throat surgeon, in a Western sense — he
points to Aboriginal Ngangkari healers who would perform some procedures as his forebears.

He said the long-term impacts on children with hearing impairments could be profound.
"If this is your child and they're not speaking for two years, that's a huge impact on interactions,
on smiling, on story time, on cultural passing down, dancing, on singing," he said.

Professor Leach said six months was too long for children to wait for an audiologist to fly in to
their community.

"That's too long to wait when these children are going through their rapid brain development,
language skills, and you just see that they're not progressing in their development," she said.

NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the need in the Northern Territory warranted a significant
investment, noting that children's experience in the classroom informed the rest of their lives.

She said that Aboriginal Territorians were grossly over-represented in jails.

"This [program] is generational change," she said.

"This will mean the next generation of Territory kids won't be dealing with their hearing loss later
in life, that has the social impacts that cross across government agencies and community."

The partnership was an exciting opportunity to fight preventable hearing loss among current and
future generations, federal Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt said.

"Lifting the capacity of local families to recognise, report, and treat ear problems early promises to
help our children reach their full potential," he said.

The number of Indigenous children affected by glue ear was "not fair and it's certainly unequal,"
CDU chancellor and founder of the Balnaves Foundation Neil Balnaves said.

"The amount of children affected by it would be regarded in any other place in the world as an
epidemic, and it's got to stop," he said.

Photo: Professor Steven Guthridge presented findings that confirmed a link between otitis media infections
and poor educational outcomes. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)
Children with glue ear struggle with education
Ear health specialists from around the country and overseas have gathered in Darwin this month
for a biannual conference on otitis media.

Child development expert Steven Guthridge from the Menzies School of Health Research
presented findings from a study funded by the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet, confirming a
long-suspected link between otitis media infections and poor educational outcomes.

The study used data on Aboriginal children in years one and three in the Northern Territory and
measured school attendance and school performance.

"Across all our measures, hearing impairment has significant impact … to the extent that those
children with hearing loss will have something in the order of one-and-a-half to twice the risk of
not being ready for school or not performing to the national standard," Professor Guthridge said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-14/glue-ear-aboriginal-children-program-to-fight-illness/10119366

The chief executive of the National Disability Insurance Agency Rob de Luca (at left) met this
week with Deafness Forum’s chair David Brady.

They spoke about the work being done to create a new NDIS pathway to support working age
people with deafness and to ensure timely access to early intervention for children. They also
discussed inclusive communications accessibility.
Conversations linked to better communication
By Jane Madell

We all know that we need to provide a lot of language to children to help them develop language,
literacy and social skills. But, current research shows that it’s not just the number of words, but
the quality of the language.

Parents play a critical role in early speech and

language development so what do we need to tell
parents? Cognitive scientists at MIT have shown
that the quality of the language parents use
makes a difference. They have shown that
interactive dialogue, rather than just number of
words makes a difference. The scientists looked
at the number of words spoken by the parent and
the child and the number of times the child and
parent had back and forth engagement.

More conversational turns was correlated with better language skills and increased activity in
Broca’s area (the area of the brain linked to speech production and language processing). So
what does this mean? It means that we need to talk with our children, not just to our children.
We need to have discussions. Parents often teach labeling. This is a shoe, this is a dog. What’s
this? We know that if we talk with children in sentences they can still pick up dog or shoe.

When we talk to babies and little kids, we talk to them with all the inflection that is typical of
motherese. But we should also talk in sentences. Ask questions (knowing full well they are not
going to answer) but providing more typical conversation. When walking with a child try and talk
about what we are seeing. Look, that man is walking 5 dogs. Why do you think he is doing that?
Are all those dogs his? That’s a lot of dogs for one person to have.

For very little ones they will not understand but they will be hearing conversation and start
attending. And hearing the word “dog” over and over will help them get the concept of dog.

We need to model talking in sentences and rewarding the most minor response from the child.
Whatever the child says we need to respond as if we understand what the child is saying. We say
do you think we should go to the park? and when the child makes a little bit of noise we can say
Really? Okay, let’s get ready? What do you think we will see when we get to the park? etc.

If we can teach parents to provide a lot of conversation we will do a wonderful job of building
language skills in our children.

From Hearing Health & Technology Matters,

https://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearingandkids/2018/conversational-turns-linked-to-better-communication/
Volunteer Grants 2018 - closing soon
The Volunteer Grants round closes at 2:00 pm on 18 September 2018.

Volunteer Grants aim to support the efforts of Australia's volunteers by:

• providing small amounts of money that organisations and community groups can use to
help their volunteers
• forming part of the Government's work to support the volunteers who help disadvantaged
Australian communities and encourage inclusion of vulnerable people in community life.

For information about eligibility and how to apply, go to

https://www.communitygrants.gov.au/grants/volunteer-grants-2018

Better Hearing Australia (VIC)

Movie Night and Hamper Raffle
You are invited to BHA’s Movie Night & Hamper Raffle fundraising event, supporting all people
with tinnitus and hearing loss.

Date: Monday, September 17 2018, 6:pm-9pm

Location: Music and Effects, 1 Yarra Street, South Yarra
Cost: $35 for film entry, glass of wine, nibbles and raffle entry into hamper valued at over $2,500

Film: Noise (2007), directed by Matthew Saville, is a dark neo-noir thriller, whose protagonist
must deal with dramatic events in their police work, while managing their tinnitus. There will be a
Q&A with special guest, Doron Kipen, winner of AFI Sound Award for Noise.

If you cannot make it to the movie night, you can still purchase raffle tickets to the hamper.

Movie night tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/XVEB

Raffle tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/XVCL

Know someone who might like to receive One in Six in 2018?

To subscribe, drop us a line at hello@deafnessforum.org.au

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