In this issue

• From the online groups
• Captioning awards
• About captions
• Changes to recall appointment bookings at Australian Hearing
• Soundfield systems for primary schools
• Join our online parent forums
• Make a donation

This month is a bitter-sweet time in the deafness sector with the departure of Nicole Lawder from Deafness Forum. She has been a wonderful advocate for Deafness Forum members over her time as CEO. I am sure she will make a difference in her new position as CEO of Homelessness Australia and wish her all the best as she embarks on the next phase of her career. At ADK, we are fortunate that Nicole will continue on our Board where we all benefit from her expertise and vision.

Until next month...

info@aussiedeafkids.org.au

It became evident this month that parents are not always aware of the financial benefits available to them and this seems a good opportunity to review the Carer Allowance.

Carer Allowance (child) is a supplementary payment for parents or carers who provide daily care and attention for children with a disability or severe medical condition at home. For the purposes of the Carer Allowance (Child), a young person under the age of 16 with a "45 decibels or more hearing loss in the better ear, based on a 4 frequency pure tone average (using 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000Hz)", is automatically considered to be a child with a disability.

As a result, their parent or carer will receive the allowance without need for further medical assessment until the child turns 16 years of age. There is no income or assets test.

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Congratulations to Deafness Forum on another wonderful Captioning Awards gala evening at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney on August 26th. The Awards recognise and celebrate companies, organisations and individuals who provide and promote captioning.

The loudest applause was for Nicole Lawder, departing CEO of Deafness Forum, when she received her special award. She has been a wonderful advocate for the sector and will be greatly missed.

The winner of the 2010 Award for Most Consistent Captioning went to Nick Jr - one for the kids!

Captioning Awards Winners  |  Go back to the top

Captions are used to help people understand the soundtrack of a TV program, DVD or other media.

• Captions assist in the development of English language and reading skills.
• Captions improve comprehension of the program.
• Captions motivate children to learn to read and improve their vocabulary.
• Captions improve the quality of learning.

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For the past 5 years Australian Hearing has been using a Pre-booked Appointment (PBA) system to arrange annual review appointments for children who wear hearing aids. In this system families who attend for routine review are able to arrange their child's next review appointment up to 12 months ahead, before leaving the hearing centre.

This system was introduced after parent feedback indicated that families were finding it difficult to obtain appointment times that met their needs. Australian
Hearing agreed to trial the new appointment system and to review whether or not it improved access for families. This review was undertaken in late 2009.

The review indicated that the PBA system had not improved access to appointments for families and Australian Hearing are now introducing an improved recall system.

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Lions Hearing Dogs is a not-for-profit organisation that provides hearing dogs and training in their use to hearing impaired people throughout Australia.

They have received a bequest which has allowed the organisation to provide a limited number of soundfield systems to primary schools each year.

If your primary school child would benefit from a soundfield system in the classroom, the school needs to submit the application.

The equipment remains the property of Lions Hearing Dogs and the school will be asked to sign an agreement to maintain the equipment and advise the office if it is no longer required. Lions Hearing Dogs pay for the equipment and the installation costs.

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You can help Aussie Deaf Kids by donating online. We use the Our Community secure online donations facility. Your donation will go directly into the research and development of content for the website which will assist parents to make informed choices about raising their deaf child.

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