REPORT 2010 - Telethon Speech and Hearing

REPORT 2010 

Delivering quality programs and 

services to West Australian families 

and their children since 1967.

Contents 

02 

04 

06 

08 

10 

12 

15 

16 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Centre Overview 

Office Bearers 

Board Meeting Attendance 

Chairman’s Report 

Chief Executive Officer’s Report 

First Voice Alliance 

School Performance Information 

21 

22 

27 

28 

31 

41 

56 

Organisational Chart 

Staff List 

Administration Report 

Fundraising and Public Relations Report 

Programs and Services 

Financial Statements 

How You Can Help Telethon Speech & Hearing 

Telethon Speech & Hearing thanks Egg Design Group, Roger Clark Photography and Worldwide 

Online Printing, West Perth for the kind donation of their services in producing this report.

Telethon Speech + Hearing 2010 Annual Report 

Frequently Asked 

Questions 

What are the causes of deafness? 

There are many different causes, including injury, 

disease and genetic defects, and deafness can 

range from mild to profound. 

What is Auditory-Verbal Therapy? 

Auditory-Verbal Therapy promotes listening 

and speaking as a way of life for children who 

are deaf or hard of hearing. The goal of the 

Auditory-Verbal approach is for these children 

to be confident in classrooms and living 

environments to facilitate their independence 

in mainstream society. 

How does Auditory-Verbal 

Therapy work? 

The Auditory-Verbal approach is based upon a logical 

and critical set of guiding principles. This enables 

children who are deaf or hard of hearing to learn to use 

even minimal amounts of amplified residual hearing or 

hearing through electrical stimulation (cochlear implants) 

to listen, process verbal language and speak. 

The principles of Auditory-Verbal practice are: 

• Promote early diagnosis of hearing impairment 

in newborns, infants, toddlers and children, 

followed by immediate audiologic management 

and Auditory-Verbal Therapy 

• Recommend immediate assessment and 

use of appropriate, state-of-the-art hearing 

technology to obtain maximum benefits of 

auditory stimulation 

• Guide and coach parents to help their child 

use hearing as the primary sensory modality in 

developing spoken language without the use of 

sign language or emphasis on lip-reading 

• Guide and coach parents to become the 

primary facilitators of their child’s listening 

and spoken language development through 

active consistent participation in individualised 

Auditory-Verbal Therapy 

• Create environments that support listening for 

the acquisition of spoken language throughout 

the child’s daily activities 

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• Guide and coach parents to help them 

integrate listening and spoken language 

into all aspects of their child’s life 

• Guide and coach parents to use natural 

developmental patterns of audition, speech, 

language, cognition and communication 

• Guide and coach parents to help their child 

self-monitor spoken language through listening 

• Administer ongoing formal and informal 

diagnostics assessments to develop 

individualised Auditory-Verbal treatment 

plans, monitor progress and evaluate 

the effectiveness of the plans for the 

child and family 

• Promote education in regular classrooms with 

typical hearing peers and appropriate support 

services from early childhood onwards 

How can technology help 

hearing impaired children? 

Some deaf children rely on technology such as hearing 

aids to assist in their communication. Hearing aids 

amplify sounds but do not “cure” deafness. Thanks to 

the technology of cochlear implants, a new world of 

meaningful sound and communication has opened up 

for many profoundly deaf children and their families. 

Why is it important to screen 

a baby for hearing loss? 

Late diagnosis of hearing impairment often results 

in major delays in every area of a child’s development, 

including speech and language. Early diagnosis is 

the key to successful early intervention and means 

parents can be given support and information as 

soon as possible. 

3


Centre Overview 

Our mission 

Supporting families who have children with speech 

and hearing needs. 

Our vision 

To be a world-class provider of programs and 

services for families who have children with 

speech and hearing needs. 

Our belief 

We believe children with speech or hearing impairments 

can participate independently in society if they acquire 

good spoken language. 

Our values 

The Centre exists to support families and children. 

Our core values are: 

• Excellence 

A highly skilled team dedicated to achieving 

excellent outcomes 

• Passion 

A whole-hearted belief in what we do 

• Respect 

Respect for the children, families and staff 

in our community and their circumstances, 

opinions and beliefs 

• Commitment 

Committed to putting the needs of families 

first and being flexible and responsive to 

their requirements 

• Professionalism 

Delivering evidence-based practice and 

always acting with professional integrity 

• Innovation 

Striving for continuous improvement 

in everything we do 

Our aim 

The aim of our programs is for all children to 

reach their individual potential by learning to speak. 

Children who can speak have greater choices in 

schooling, occupation and lifestyle. 

4


Our work 

We are a non-profit organisation that supports 

families and children. 

We offer early intervention playgroup, pre-kindergarten, 

kindergarten and pre-primary programs for children with 

hearing impairments and speech and language delays or 

disorders as well as school support programs for hearing 

impaired students. 

The Centre employs a team of specialists to ensure 

the children have the highest level of professional 

assistance and advice. The team includes audiologists, 

speech pathologists, occupational therapists, 

psychologists, Auditory-Verbal Therapists and 

specialist Teachers of the Deaf. 

The Centre also provides: 

• Newborn hearing screening (WISH – WA Infant 

Screening for Hearing Program) in selected 

private maternity hospitals 

• Private paediatric audiology services 

• Cochlear Kids - a cochlear implant program 

for local and overseas children 

• A network of Earbus Mobile Children’s Ear 

Clinics, generously supported by Variety WA 

and Chevron Australia 

• Support via video conferencing for 

remote families 

Our history 

Our Centre originated in 1966 when a group of parents 

with great hopes for the future of their profoundly deaf 

children refused to settle for what they thought was 

“second-best” and decided to start a school of their 

own. With five students, no premises, little money and 

no experience they made a commitment to pursue the 

very best oral education for their children. The following 

year they started The Speech and Hearing Centre 

and since that time the spirit of this tenacious group 

has been a source of inspiration and motivation to the 

professionals and parents involved in the education of 

hearing-impaired children. 

The guiding principles of the Centre’s founding families 

emphasised: 

• Early detection and diagnosis 

• Inclusion in mainstream education for 

hearing impaired children 

• The use of the most up to date assistive 

hearing technology 

• The involvement of parents at every level 

of decision making 

• The hiring of only qualified specialist 

professionals 

• A commitment to developing spoken language 

as the primary communication method 

The Centre remains committed to these 

fundamental principles. 

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Office Bearers 

Patron 

Nigel Satterley AM 

Founder and Chief Executive, 

Satterley Property Group 

Board of Trustees 

John Baillie 

Chairman 

2001 to present, Chairman from 2004 

CFO Cooper Energy Limited and past 

director of a number of public companies 

with 35 years experience in auditing, 

corporate banking, stock broking and 

accounting. Member of the Salary 

Committee and Trustee on the Hearing 

Research and Support Foundation Inc. 

Eddie Bullen 

2005 to present 

Proprietor of TDC Projects with 

extensive experience in building 

construction. Member of the 

Building Committee. 

Paul Higginbotham 

Chief Executive Officer 


Member of the Finance 

Committee, Building Committee 

and Education Committee. 

Rudi Gracias 


Accountant. Director BOCS 

Ticketing & Marketing. Former 

Commercial Manager Channel 7 

Perth & General Manager/Secretary/ 

Trustee Channel 7 Telethon Trust. 

Experience in media, entertainment 

and not-for-profit organisations. 

6


Tarique MacDonald-Razvi 


Global Risk Manager for BHP 

Billiton Iron Ore with extensive 

experience in governance, risk 

management and business 

strategy in mining and oil and gas. 

Robert Kirkby 


Partner with Ernst & Young 

with over 25 years experience 

in audit. Member of the Audit 

Committee. 

Graham Anstee-Brook 


Practised as a Barrister and 

Solicitor in private practice for 

30 years and currently In-House 

Legal Counsel for an international 

engineering consultancy company. 

Accreditations in arbitration, 

mediation and adjudication. 

Michelle Pearce 

2010 to present 

Educational consultant with 

a PhD in special education. 

Experienced as a researcher 

and as a teacher, principal 

and consultant in government 

and independent sectors. 

Sue-Ellen Bull 


Sue-Ellen has a long history 

as an educator, lecturer and 

curriculum writer in Australia. 

She has a son enrolled in the 

Centre’s Talkabout program. 

7


Board Meeting 

Attendance 

Six board meetings were held during 2010. Michelle 

Pearce joined the Board in June. 

Number of Meetings Attended 

(including 1 AGM) January - December 2010 

John Baillie 6 

Paul Higginbotham 6 

Eddie Bullen 5 

Rudi Gracias 6 

Tarique MacDonald-Razvi 4 

Graham Anstee-Brook 4 

Sue-Ellen Bull 4 

Robert Kirkby 6 

Michelle Pearce 4 

Solicitors 

Blake Dawson 

Auditors 

Stanton Partners 

Life members 

In 2010, the Centre awarded three new life memberships 

to Kathy Bohn, Eileen Coppin and Carolyn Hartz. The trio 

was recognised for their outstanding contribution to the 

Centre’s flagship fundraising event, Artitude. 

Telethon Speech & Hearing Life Members 

Julie Simpson (1971) 

Les Bond (1972) 

Bob Rushford (1972) 

George Hankin (1973) 

Terry Crommelin (1979) 

Graham Pittaway (1981) 

Diane Harke (1985) 

George Barrett (1985) 

Ann Haultain (1988) 

Vince McCudden (1988) 

Len Blyth (1992) 

Mary Shurman (1994) 

Jenny Vukman (1995) 

Robin Briggs (1995) 

James Crossland (1996) 

Karen Venard (1998) 

Jan Smith (1999) 

Nigel Thomas (1999) 

Kevin Casey (1999) 

Jill Reid (2004) 

Kathy Bohn (2010) 

Eileen Coppin (2010) 

Carolyn Hartz (2010) 

New life members Carolyn Hartz, Kathy Bohn and Eileen Coppin 

8


Highlights of the year 

• Capital fundraising campaign 

passes $7 million 

• Earbus program shows excellent 

outcomes for Aboriginal children 

• Another sound financial result in 2010 

TSH CEO, Paul Higginbotham with Mr Terry Crommellin 

and Mr Jack Bendat breaking the ground for the new 

Bendat Parent and Community Centre 

• Strategic Plan for next 3 years completed 

• Better Hearing Australia (WA) becomes 

part of TSH 

• Chevron Australia funds Earbus for Pilbara 

• Cochlear Kids program underway 

• Emergence of First Voice as 

national entity 

Expansion of the Earbus program 

Better Hearing Australia (WA)’s headquarters in Wembley 

9


Chairman’s Report 

In the twelve month period to the 31 December 2010, 

an operational surplus of $245,304 (2009: $370,734) 

was achieved. The budget was set at $205,192. 

The surplus for the year from non-operational activities 

was $1,677,697 (2009: $1,031,000) which includes the 

$979,587 from the merger with Better Hearing Australia 

(WA) Inc, grants for non-operational activity ($361,615) 

and Building Appeal Funds of $367,320. 

The historical net worth of the centre of the Centre 

increased to $6,408,846 (2009: $4,927,589). 

It is my pleasure to present the 43rd 

Annual Report of the Telethon Speech 

& Hearing Centre for the 2010 year. 

This was the final year of the three year 

Strategic Plan that we adopted in 2008. 

The Board is very pleased with the past three year’s 

achievements as we continue to consolidate the 

financial reserves of the Centre that will underwrite 

the needs of the current and future generations of 

students. CEO Paul Higginbotham and his team have 

worked diligently to manage the costs and develop 

sustainable income streams. 

Significant milestones during 2010 were:- 

• The successful Building Appeal campaign led by 

the CEO securing $7,150,000 in pledges for the 

construction of the Bendat Parent and Community 

Centre in 2011. This will complete the rebuild 

of the Centre, first started in 2001, and the full 

development of the Wembley campus. 

• Adoption of Strategic Plan for 2011 to 2014 with a 

new whole of life care model that will promote the 

Centre to the wider community as an authentic, 

evidence based centre for excellence for children 

with speech, language and hearing impairments 

and their families. 

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• Amalgamation with Better Hearing Australia 

(WA) Inc in July 2010 with the Centre assuming 

the governance management role. Better 

Hearing has moved to the Wembley campus 

and will operate as an autonomous division 

for the delivery of audio services to hearing 

impaired adults, including those who graduate 

from our Centre. 

• Conferring of Life Membership on Kathy Bohn, 

Eileen Coppin and Carolyn Hartz for their eleven 

years service to the Centre in championing the 

annual Artitude event. Over this period Artitude 

has raised near on $1.5 million. 

Finally, on behalf of the Board, I would like to extend our 

congratulations to CEO Paul Higginbotham, his executive 

and staff for achieving another sound financial and 

program outcome for 2010. 

John A Baillie 

Chair of the Board of Directors 

Further achievements for 2010 are detailed in 

CEO Paul Higginbotham’s report. 

I am happy to report that the Hearing Research 

Foundation Inc and the Centre are in the process 

of re-aligning their funding relationship with a 

re-write of the governing trust deed of the Foundation 

and the development of an investment and support 

charter. In early 2011 Mr John Vukman and CEO 

Paul Higginbotham were appointed Trustees to 

the Foundation. 

We welcome to the Board of Directors Professor 

Colleen Hayward; Mr Phillip Aylward; Dr Michelle 

Pearce and Mr John Robertson and congratulate 

Directors Graham Anstee-Brook; Eddie Bullen; 

Rudi Gracias and Sue Ellen Bull on their re-election 

for another three year term as Directors. I look 

forward to working with them in the ensuing years. 

11


Chief Executive 

Officer’s Report 

I also wish to thank Shaun Griffin, Paula Killin-Mullins, 

Susan Wall and Nicole Walton for their excellent 

contributions as external resources and facilitators. 

In 2010 the Centre provided programs and services to 

around 10,500 children and their families. Certainly if all 

the aspirational targets in the Strategic Plan are reached, 

these numbers will double over the next three years. 

In November 2009 I commenced a 

conversation with staff regarding the 

Centre’s future and how best to plan for 

further growth and continuing excellence 

in performance. That conversation 

continued on throughout most of 2010 

and the outcome is the Centre’s new 

3 year Strategic Plan which will take 

us through to 2014. All staff teams made 

important contributions to the discussions 

and much of the content has been 

shaped by their ideas and ambitions. 

This dramatic growth will put enormous strains on 

facilities and resources, hence the time and effort put 

into raising capital funds for the next stage of our campus 

development in Wembley. The capital campaign topped 

out at $7,150,000 due to the generosity of some major 

supporters. Mr Jack Bendat and his wife, Eleanor, kindly 

donated $1,000,000 toward the new Bendat Parent and 

Community Centre. Lotterywest once more made a 

sizeable grant available and other major contributions 

were received from Wesfarmers, Stan Perron and Frank 

Tomasi and his family. I particularly thank Richard Court 

for his role in providing vital support through Telethon. The 

final contribution to close out the campaign fittingly came 

from Terry Crommelin who, with his late wife Audrey, was 

instrumental in the foundation of the Centre back in 1967. 

The proposed new building will allow us to grow our 

audiology and ear health services to double our present 

capacity and will give us an outstanding conference and 

function facility. The new building will house WA’s first early 

literacy library and re-house our administration team. It will 

give Better Hearing WA a new shopfront facility and also 

allow us to join up our ear health provision with a suite of 

other services including GP, ENT, child health nurses and 

parent support and advice networks. Much of the Centre’s 

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future growth hinges on this additional capacity 

and our ability to properly resource the outstanding 

teams of professionals who work here. 

Once the new building is commissioned we will 

be able to begin the redevelopment of our existing 

Early Intervention Centre to accommodate new 

spacious therapy suites and a videoconferencebased 

teleschool to service remote and regional WA. 

In 2010 we launched an in-house cochlear implant 

program in partnership with ENT Dr Ian Wallace and 

Princess Margaret Hospital. This new undertaking – 

Cochlear Kids – gives parents a seamless entry to 

cochlear implantation using the same professional 

team who oversee their child’s therapy. This user-friendly 

option means fewer external visits, fewer professionals 

to deal with and simplified structures for families and 

children. We have previously partnered with Dr Wallace 

to provide implants for overseas children so this new 

venture extends that partnership to embrace local 

children. My thanks to Dr Steve Rodriguez, ENT at 

PMH for his support and cooperation in making 

Cochlear Kids a reality. 

Our Earbus program is another example of the 

burgeoning demand for our services. In 2010 we worked 

closely with the state government’s Child and Adolescent 

Community Health (CACH) (Department of Health) 

service to map out and rationalise service provision for 

Indigenous school children in the metropolitan area. 

The Minister for Health and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon. 

Kim Hames, saw the Earbus first hand in June and lent 

much needed support for our quest to get a third bus up 

and running. Thanks to his visit funding for a South 

Metro bus was confirmed by year’s end and this will 

commence service early in the 2011 school year. 

A small engagement with international mining and 

exploration giant Chevron Australia blossomed into 

a full partnership late in the year when we received 

confirmation of a generous grant to locate an Earbus 

in the Pilbara region of Australia’s north-west. This 

ambitious extension of our service into one of the 

country’s most remote regions will truly test whether 

this innovative model of service delivery translates 

into non-urban environments. 

The results achieved by the original Earbus are 

remarkable. When we first screened at Moorditj Noongar 

Community College in Midvale in October 2008 around 

73% of the children could not pass a routine hearing 

screen. Two years later that number has been reversed, 

with 73% of Aboriginal children now passing. From 23% 

referrals to a GP in 2008 we saw the referral rate reduce 

to 8% late this year. The school district officials also 

confirm that attendance rates in the schools covered 

have risen and serious behaviour incidents are down. 

Children who can’t hear can’t learn, so this is a vital 

service to open the pathways to successful learning and 

life outcomes for children of the First Australian Nation. 

Our relationship with Better Hearing Australia’s WA 

chapter was formalised mid-year by an official merger 

of our two organisations. Mr Martin Corscadden retired 

after many years of dedicated service to BHAWA and his 

replacement Ms Julie Edmonds has taken on the task 

of growing new service options in partnership with TSH. 

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The first initiative was the SODA group (Social Support 

of Oral Deaf Adults) which relished the opportunity to use 

the new venue to organise social events for a growing 

number of deaf adults, many of who are TSH alumni. 

The Centre has consistently returned annual operating 

surpluses since 2004 and this year saw us deliver 

another better than budget financial result. Although 

the Centre still relies to some extent on fundraising, the 

ability to meet our expenses from guaranteed sources 

of recurrent income continues to improve. Ideally 

fundraising should be the icing on the cake so we 

continue to plan for a future where operating expenses 

are covered by income. 

For some years Telethon Speech & Hearing has 

partnered with sister centres in the other Australian 

states and in New Zealand in a loose alliance of 

professional sharing, collaboration and collegiality. 

In 2010 this became a more formal agreement and 

was re-badged as the First Voice Alliance. Launched 

by Her Excellency, the Governor-General, Quentin 

Bryce at Admiralty House in Sydney, First Voice began 

life as the federal election approached. Two years of 

patient lobbying in Canberra came to fruition with the 

commitment made by the Gillard Government to a 

new portable funding package for families with hearing 

impaired infants. The new Better Start for Children with 

Disabilities package will offer support to children with 

Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Fragile X, Vision 

Impairment and Deaf/Blindness. With the re-election 

of the ALP this new funding will become available across 

the nation from 1 July 2011. First Voice was instrumental 

in getting this onto the election agenda and is working 

closely with Department of Families, Housing, Community 

Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCHSIA) in Canberra 

to facilitate its implementation. First Voice has arrived as 

a major player on the national stage. 

The Centre now enters a pivotal period of 18 months to 

two years at the end of which we will see an expanded 

role emerge for Telethon Speech & Hearing. We will 

offer programs and services to both urban and regional 

WA, a new world-class headquarters in Wembley, 

enhanced community awareness and heightened profile 

and - most importantly – more and more children and 

families benefitting from the support of our outstanding 

professional staff who are responsible for our welldeserved 

reputation for professional excellence. 

In closing I send my sincere thanks and congratulations 

to all our staff for another year of passionate commitment 

to excellence. To my executive colleagues I extend my 

personal appreciation of your hard work, initiative and 

support as we build our way to an exciting future of 

even greater opportunity and achievement. 


Chief Executive Officer 

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First Voice 

Alliance 

Telethon Speech & Hearing is a member of the First 

Voice Alliance, a national alliance of oral language 

early intervention centres from across Australia and 

New Zealand with one mission—teaching hearing 

impaired children to speak. 

The First Voice Alliance was officially launched by 

Her Excellency, the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce 

at Admiralty House in Sydney on 7 October 2010. 

Professor Graham Clark, inventor of the multi-channel 

cochlear implant, was also present at the launch as 

an honoured guest and First Voice Ambassador. 

The Alliance fosters auditory based oral language 

early intervention for young deaf children through 

cooperative practises. We advance the right of deaf 

children to the same education and life opportunities 

as their hearing peers. 

The Alliance centres are independent not for 

profit organisations, which are parent founded or 

have significant parent involvement. 

The centres in the First Voice Alliance are: 

• Cora Barclay Centre 

South Australia 

• Hear and Say Centre 

Queensland 

• The Hearing House 

New Zealand 

• The Shepherd Centre 

New South Wales 

• Taralye 

Victoria 

• Telethon Speech & Hearing 

Western Australia 

Governor General Quentin Bryce and 

Professor Graeme Clark at the First Voice launch 

15


School Performance 

Information 

This is Telethon Speech & Hearing’s Executive Report 

on School Performance Information Measures for 2010. 

This report is a requirement of all schools receiving 

Federal Government funding under the Schools 

Assistance Act 2004. The information must be made 

available in different forms. As well as our 2010 Annual 

Report, this information can be found on our website 

(www.tsh.org.au) and as a pamphlet at the Centre’s 

reception area. 

TSH is a “special school”, primarily for children with 

special needs. The reporting requirements for such 

schools are as follows: 

• Staff Attendance 

• Staff Retention 

• Teacher Qualifications 

• Staff PD Expenditure and Teacher Participation 

• Post-school destinations for children leaving 

the Centre 

This report covers all these areas except for the 

post-school destinations. Only a very small number of 

students exit the Centre at Year 12 and reporting on this 

indicator may compromise client confidentiality. This year 

we also provide information about parent satisfaction. 

1. Reporting measure: Staff Attendance 

defined as “the average attendance rate or average 

number of days attended per staff member” 

Staff attendance at Telethon Speech & Hearing in 2010 

was consistent with previous years. The Centre, due to 

the specialised nature of its work, has to make special 

efforts to attract and retain high quality relief teachers. 

Because of difficulties experienced in previous years in 

securing suitable relief staff a policy change saw more staff 

absences covered by in-house staff in 2010. For program 

staff the average attendance rate in 2010 was 96%. 

2. Reporting measure: Staff Retention 

defined as “the proportion of teaching staff retained 

in a program year from the previous year” 

In 2010 Telethon Speech & Hearing saw 1.9 FTE of 

the 54.1 FTE total staff leave who were employed in 

the previous school year, a retention rate of 96.5%. In 

the previous report the retention rate was 94.7%. This 

figure includes one staff member (0.8 FTE) who retired 

and therefore was not hoping to be retained. It does not 

include staff members who took maternity leave. 

The reporting measure specifically refers to teaching staff 

in Australian Government-funded programs. No teaching 

staff left, therefore this retention rate was 100%. 

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3. Reporting measure: Teacher Qualifications 

Please refer to the detailed Staff List in the Centre’s 

Annual Report for individual qualifications. Individual 

data is summarised in the table below. 

Please note that Telethon Speech & Hearing runs a 

diverse range of programs and services that extend 

outside the scope of regular or special needs schools. 

These include medical and allied health provision, 

and screening and outreach for Indigenous children in 

mainstream schools. In order to preserve the integrity 

of the comparison data the table below separates out 

some of these functions. 

Notes: 

• In it’s education related programs and services, TSH 

employed 69 permanent staff in 2010 across 4 departments. 

• 51 (73%) held qualifications – all teachers and all specialists. 

• 41% of Program Staff (28) held more than one qualification. 

• 29% of Program Staff (20) held post graduate degrees or 

diplomas of some kind. 

• Overall 94 staff held a total of 113 degrees, certificates and 

diplomas, an average of 1.2 qualifications per staff member. 

This average was slightly higher (1.3) in the education area. 

Department 

Total 

Staff 

Staff with 

Quals 

Staff with 

Multiple 

Quals 

Staff with 

Certs/Dips 

No. of 

Certs/Dips 

Staff with 

Undergrad 

Degrees 

Number of 

Degrees 

Staff with 

Post Grad 

No. of Post 

Grad Awards 

Administration 15 9 5 7 12 4 4 3 3 

Specialist Staff 18 18 10 3 3 17 19 10 12 

Teacher Aides 22 10 1 7 7 1 1 0 0 

Teachers 14 14 12 6 10 11 14 7 9 

Education Summary 69 51 28 23 32 33 38 20 24 

Ear Health 25 10 8 3 4 8 8 6 7 

TOTAL ALL 94 61 36 26 36 41 46 26 31 

4. Reporting measure: Staff PD Expenditure 

defined as “average expenditure per teacher 

on professional learning, at the school level” 

2010 2009 Change in 2010 

Total $ investment $102,010 $83,841 21.7% increase 

Per FTE investment $1885 $1653 14% increase 

% of total income 2.2% 2.0% 10% increase 

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5. Reporting measure: Staff PD Participation 

defined as “number of teachers participating 

in professional learning activities, and 

description of activities in plain language” 

All TSH program and professional staff took 

part in professional learning in 2010. A major 

focus of staff professional learning in 2010 

was the appointment of an in-house Certified 

Auditory-Verbal Therapist mentor, Ms Pia 

Leeming. Ms Leeming followed up on the 

previous mentoring program provided by an 

eastern states-based mentor who visited the 

Centre for a week each month. 

Other professional learning activities 

saw staff attending local and interstate 

Conferences including the AG Bell 

Conference in Orlando, Florida. 

Professional Development Event 

(internal/external) 

Circle of Security (internal) 16 

Blades – semantics and pragmatics (internal) 14 

Anaphylaxis Training (external) 16 

Dyspraxia – what is it? How to support children with dyspraxia 

in the classroom (internal) 

Narrative Development and Facilitation (internal) 4 

Importance of play and how to facilitate play (internal) 6 

Use of questions and instructions from the Blank model 

of Discourse Comprehension (internal) 

Number of 

staff attended 

Senior First Aid Training (external) (All staff completed over the year) 18 

Central Auditory Processing – What is it and what to do about it? (internal) 14 

The Listening Program Research findings (internal) 13 

Early Childhood Australia Conference (external) 1 

Discussion of PD with the team 14 

Mandatory Reporting (external) (Relevant staff completed over 2 years) 9 

AISWA – Making Literacy and Numeracy Target program Funding 

Submissions 

1 

AISWA – Inclusive Education Funding Applications 1 

Importance and facilitation of play – Karen Stagnatti (external) 2 

Discussion of Play PD with the team 1 

Play assessment – Karen Stagnatti (external) 1 

Discussion of play assessment with the team 11 

Diana Rigg Phonological Awareness (external) 1 

Winnie Dunn Sensory Profiling (external) 1 

Diana Rigg (external) 1 

KidsMatter (external - ongoing) Regular feedback to the team 

Fine Motor Development (internal) 15 

Regular Journal Article Sharing in team meetings (internal) 

Connected Kids (social skills) – Amanda Styles (external) 14 

Interactive Smartboard Use (external) 13 

Synthetic Phonics – DSF Literacy Services – Gemma Boyle (external) 14 

Principals as Literacy Leaders – ECU (external) 1 

15 

8 

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Parent feedback survey summary 

Responses to the Parent Feedback Survey were 

anonymous with separate forms provided to parents 

for each of the programs (e.g. Talkabout, Chatterbox, 

School Support). 

Parents were asked to read a number of 

statements related to their child’s educational 

program, provision of specialist services and 

provision of administrative services. 

Parents were requested to circle a number between 

0 and 5 to show their level of agreement with the 

statement. For example if parents ‘strongly agreed’ 

they would circle a 5, alternatively, if they ‘strongly 

disagreed’ they would circle a 0. 

Categorising parent responses 

In reporting the results from the Parent Feedback 

Form it is important to mention that all results are 

presented in the form of mean (average) scores. 

This means that scores will represent the average 

level of agreement of parent responses. To aid in 

the interpretation of parent responses the following 

categorisation of parent responses will be used: 

• Mean scores between 4 and 5 

indicates high level agreement 


indicates moderate level agreement 


indicates neutral or low level agreement/ 

disagreement 


indicates moderate level disagreement 

Table 1 below provides the mean level of agreement 

with statements related to each of the educational 

programs offered by Telethon Speech & Hearing. 

It shows comparative figures from three previous 

survey years for each program. 

Table 1 Talkabout Chatterbox School Support 

Statement 2007 2008 2009 2010 2007 2008 2009 2010 2007 2008 2009 2010 

1. The program is meeting my child’s needs 4.5 3.9 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.1 4.2 4.5 3.9 4.6 4.6 4.5 

2. I understand what the program is 

doing for my child 4.6 4.7 4.3 4.5 4.6 4.3 4.8 4.5 3.4 4.7 4.4 4.5 

3. The staff are approachable & 

professional with me and my child 4.7 4.7 4.6 4.9 4.9 4.8 4.8 4.9 4.0 4.9 4.8 4.6 

4. Staff keep me up to date with my 

child’s progress in the program 4.5 3.8 3.8 4.3 4.9 3.9 3.8 4.2 3.2 4.4 4.6 4.5 

5. I am happy with the format of written 

reports from the program 4.4 4.0 3.9 4.6 4.5 3.9 4.2 - 3.7 4.8 4.6 4.6 

19


There was a high level of agreement with the majority of 

the statements in the survey, which is extremely positive. 

In addition, this is the first year that every mean score for 

every item in every program has been 4-5. 

Responses from Chatterbox and School Support 

parents were similar to the high levels achieved in 2009, 

but there is a noticeable improvement in the rates from 

parents in the Talkabout program. 

Response Rate 

Table 2 presents the response rates for 2006-2010. 

There is a marked improvement in the response rate 

between 2006 and 2007, particularly for the Talkabout 

Program, but the overall response rate declined in 2008 

and 2009 and again in 2010. An overall return rate of 

28% means that the results cannot be relied upon to 

reflect the overall parent population. They are only an 

indication of the third of the parents who participated 

and generalisations cannot be made with accuracy. 

Table 2 

Program 

Responses 

received 

% 

Response 

2010 

% 

Response 

2009 

% 

Response 

2008 

% 

Response 

2007 

% 

Response 

2006 

Talkabout 42 32% 34% 50% 66% 30% 

Chatterbox 14 27% 37% 52% 62% 

School Support 6 15% 38% 47% 42% 

Overall 62 28% 35% 54% 60% 39% 

47%* 

* Chatterbox/School Support Combined 

20


Organisational Chart 

Board of Trustees 

CEO 


Management Team 

Early Intervention School Support Administration Ear Health Fundraising & PR 

Program Director 

Chatterbox 

Wendy Tunbridge 


Talkabout 

Bridget Pieterse 


School Support 

Geoff Reader 

Manager Business 

and Finance 

Brian Lynch 

Manager Ear Health 

Services 

Lara Shur 

Director 

Fundraising & PR 

Christine Brancato 

Chatterbox 

Individual Therapy 

and Playgroup 

Program 

Cert. AV Therapists 

& AV Therapists 

Chatterbox 

Kindergarten 

Cert. AV Therapists & 

Teacher Assistant 

Specialist Areas 

Speech Pathology, 

Occupational 

Therapy, 

Psychology 

Talkabout 2 

Teacher & Teacher 

Assistants 

Talkabout 3 

Teachers & Teacher 

Assistant 

Talkabout 4 


Assistants 

Talkabout 5 


Assistants 



Occupational 

Therapy, 

Psychology 

Newman 

Teachers of the Deaf, 

Notetaker & Teacher 

Assistant 

Servite 

Notetaker & Teacher 

Assistant 

St Brigid’s 

Teachers of the Deaf 

& Teacher Assistant 

St Luke’s 


St Pius/Mel Maria 


& Teacher Assistant 

St Stephen’s 


and Teacher Assistant 

Business 

Management and 

Support Services 

All streams 

Finance and 

Administration 

Human 

Resources 

Information 

Technology 

Maintenance/ 

Cleaning 

Audiologists 

Earbus Mobile 

Children’s Ear 

Clinics 

Audiology 


Newborn Hearing 

Screening 

Cochlear Kids 

Cochlear Implant 

Program 

Private Audiology 

Clinic 

Better Hearing 

Australia (WA) 

Marketing 

Volunteers + 

Events Management 

Grants Writer 

Stakeholder 

Relations 

(Established 2010) 

Database 



Occupational 

Therapy, Psychology 

21


Staff List 

In alphabetical order 


First name Last name Role Qualifications 

Christine Brancato Director - Fundraising & PR 

Julie Cox Librarian Certificate in Library Practice 

Kelly-Anne Day Grants Writer BA 

Linda Donald Accounts Officer Higher National Diploma in Legal Studies 

Paul Higginbotham Chief Executive Officer DipT, DipEd Deaf, BEd, MEd (Hons) 

Caroline Hughes Audiology Administration Cert III (Children’s Services), 

Cert II (Business Administration (Medical) 

Bronwen Hyde IT Manager GradDip(Computer Science), BAppSc, DipT 

Michelle Jamieson Family Liaison and Enrolment Officer 

Terri Ann Lennox Accounts and Payroll Officer 

Brian Lynch Manager, Business & Finance CA, GradDipMIS 

Melissa Mattioli Marketing and Communications Officer BComm (Advertising and Public Relations) 

Kerri McCormick Events Officer 

Jodi Pinch Human Resource Officer 

Larr Rose Executive Assistant to CEO DipEd (Special Needs), Teachers Assistant Cert. (Special Needs) 

Shirley South Receptionist 

22


Specialist staff 


Anne Battista Speech Pathologist, Outpost Program BAppSc (Speech and Hearing) 

Kate Beilby Occupational Therapist, Talkabout BEd (Early Childhood Education), MOT 

Sue Beurteaux Occupational Therapist, Talkabout BAppSc (OT), PostGrad Training in Neurodevelopment Therapy 

Bronwyn Birch Teacher of the Deaf, Chatterbox 

Kindergarten Program, Auditory-Verbal 

Therapist 

BEd (Early Childhood Education), DipT (Prim&SpecialSch), 

LSLS Certified AVT 

Jo Cole Psychologist, Talkabout 

Angie Coleman Occupational Therapist, Chatterbox BAApplSc (Occupational Therapy) 

Candice Gray Playgroup Leader, Chatterbox BSpLngPth, LSLS Certified AVT 

Hayley Freeman Speech Pathologist, Talkabout BSc (Human Communication Science) 

Bree Harmsen Occupational Therapist, Talkabout BAppSc (Occupational Therapy) 

Megan Harrap Speech Pathologist, Chatterbox BSc (RN), MSc (Speech Pathology) 

Briony Heap Speech Pathologist, Talkabout BSc (Human Communication Science) 

Pia Leeming Auditory-Verbal Therapist and Clinical 

Supervisor, Chatterbox 

BA (Education), BEd (Deaf Education), 

PGDip Applied Science (Audiology), LSLS Certified AVT 

Felicity McNally Speech Pathologist, Chatterbox BSc (Human Communication Science) 

Catherine McPhee Psychologist, Chatterbox MPsy, DipEd, MAPS 

Kathryn Monaco Psychologist, Chatterbox BA, BPsych, MPsych, GradDipEd 

Chelsea Robinson Teacher of the Deaf, Auditory-Verbal 

Therapist, Chatterbox 

Bridget Pieterse Speech Pathologist and Program 

Director, Talkabout 

BEd (Special Education), PGDip 

(Educational Studies - Hearing-impaired), LSLS Certified AVT 

GradDipEd (EC), BSc (Speech & Hearing) 

Fiona Stephenson Speech Pathologist, Talkabout BEd (Special Needs), MSc (Speech Pathology) 

23


Program staff 


Jennifer Allen Teacher Assistant, Talkabout Teaching Assistant Diploma 

Larissa Ariyaratne Oral Interpreter/Notetaker, Servite College 

Pauline Batchelor Teacher Assistant, Chatterbox and Talkabout 

Playgroups 

Teacher Assistant Certificate 

Maria Bennett Teacher, Talkabout 5 BEd, MEd (Primary) 

Veronica Blazeski Oral Interpreter/Notetaker, Servite College 

Liz Buscombe Learning Assistant, St Brigid's College 

Yvonne Burton Learning Assistant, St Stephen's School 

Judith Coffey Oral Interpreter/Notetaker, Servite College BA 

Denise Connor Teacher of the Deaf, St Brigid's College DipT (Prim), GradDip Special Education 

(Hearing Impairment) 

Jodie Cox Learning Assistant, St Stephen's School 

Pam Davies Oral Interpreter/Notetaker, Servite College 

Belinda Eder Teacher, Talkabout 4 & 5 BEd (Early Childhood Education), 

BEd (Special Needs), MEd 

Zita Ferreira Teacher of the Deaf, Chatterbox and Newman 

College 

DipEd (Pre-Primary), Dip.Specialised Ed (Hearing 

Impairment), DipEd (Special Needs and Remedial Ed) 

Amanda Ford Learning Assistant, St Stephen's School 

Jenny Giddy Talkabout Playgroups Teacher GradDipEd (Early Childhood Studies), 

BA(Speech & Hearing Therapy) 

Janene Hall Teacher, Talkabout 5 DipT (Primary), 

GradDip (Special Education - Deaf), BEd 

Stephanie Harrap Learning Assistant 

Min Lemmon Oral Interpreter/Notetaker, Servite College DipEd (Primary) 

Lauren Longo Teacher Assistant, Chatterbox and Talkabout Cert III Teacher Assistant 

Sally Kinner Teacher, Talkabout 5 BEd (Early Childhood Education) 

Amber MacDonald-Razvi Teacher of the Deaf, St Stephen's School BEd (Deaf Education), PG Cert Ed, BA (Hons) 

Karole Marshall Teacher of the Deaf, Mel Maria BSc, Ed. Teach - HI 

Di McLean Teacher, Talkabout 4 BEd (Early Childhood Education), 

BEd (Deaf Education) 

Lynlea Miles Learning Assistant Teaching Assistant Diploma 

24


Program staff (cont) 


Katie Milton Learning Assistant, Newman College 

Esperanza Moreno Teacher Assistant, Talkabout 5 

Deborah Owens Teacher Assistant, Talkabout Certificate IV: Special Needs 

Natasha Penny Teacher Assistant, Talkabout Dip Children's Services 

Joyce Plumb Teacher of the Deaf, St Brigid's College BSc Elementary, Speech Pathology, 

Education of the Deaf 

Lynne Read Learning Assistant, Newman College 

Anika Reader Learning Assistant, St Luke's 

Geoff Reader Program Director, School Support 

& Teacher of the Deaf, Servite College 

DipT, Cert (Teacher of the Deaf) 

Bobbi Rentell Oral Interpreter/Notetaker, Servite College 

Nola Selfe Learning Assistant, Newman College Mothercraft nurse, CES Child Care 

Simon Tomlinson Teacher of the Deaf, Chatterbox 

and Newman College 

BEd (Hons), MSc (Computer based Information 

System), PGDipEdu (Hearing-impaired), 

MEd (Hearing-impaired) 

Wendy Tunbridge Program Director DipT, BEd (Hearing-impaired Education) 

25


Ear Health Services 


Carl Chase Audiologist BSc, MClinAud, MAudSA (CCP) 

Rachel Clack Audiologist BSc, MClinAud, MAudSA (CCP) 

Liz Clark Audiologist BSc, MClinAud, MAudSA (CCP) 

Julie Edmonds Administration Manager, Better Hearing 

Australia (WA) 

Maree Hancock Newborn Screener 

Philippa Hatch Audiologist BIB, MClinAud, MAudSA (CCP) 

Suzanne Henry Bunbury Ear Bus Screener Dip Aboriginal Primary Health, Dip Aboriginal Primary 

Health Care - Nutrition 

Shchreh Heirati-Pour Newborn Screener - St John of God 

Subiaco/Attadale 

Kelly Hodgkinson WISH Program Coordinator - Administration 

Kathy Holden Newborn Screener - Mercy Hospital 

Zoe Holden Newborn Screener - St John of God Subiaco BSc (Human Communication Science) 

Esther Hudson Newborn Screener - Joondalup Health Campus 

Sara Kenrick Newborn Screener - St John of God Subiaco 

Hilary Miranda Newborn Screener - Joondalup Health Campus 

Daryann Mitchell Newborn Screener - St John of God Bunbury 

Suzy Nicholson Newborn Screener - St John of God Murdoch 

Anne O'Leary Ear Bus Screener Cert IV in Audiometry 

Gabrielle O’Keefe Newborn Screener - Casual 

Jane Porter Newborn Screener - Glengarry Hospital 

Aviva Raiter Audiologist BSc (Speech & Hearing), GradDip (Audiology), MAudSA 

Kerry Rapley Newborn Screening, Mercy Hospital Screener, 

Tympanometry Screener - Talkabout 

Jean Reed Newborn Screener - St John of God Subiaco BA, Public Relations Diploma 

Janine Severin Newborn Screener - St John of God Murdoch 

Lara Shur Manager, Ear Health Services BSp&H, MAud, GradCertBus (Management), 

MClinAud, MAudSA (CCP) 

Alicia Watkins Newborn Screener - Casual/Relief 

26



Report 

Administration Team 

The Administration team consists of a business manager, 

accountant, receptionist, an IT manager, a librarian and 

three other administrative officers. The team provides 

administration and human resource services across all 

departments, financial management and controls and 

information services support. 

A major project for 2010 was refreshing our 

entire information delivery systems comprising 

hardware and software upgrades. These updates 

will be the enabling solutions to support the 

Centre’s information needs across all functional 

nodes for the foreseeable future. 

Number of employees 

Staff 2010 2009 2008 

Full time Part time Casual Full time Part time Casual Full time Part time Casual 

Executive 5 2 - 6 2 - 7 - - 

Administration 2 11 - 2 6 - 2 5 1 

Teaching 10 27 - 10 27 - 10 19 - 

Specialist 4 7 - 5 8 - 4 9 - 

Audiology 2 7 11 1 7 14 - 3 13 

Total 23 54 11 24 50 14 23 36 14 

Total Employees 88 88 73 

Employee Benefits 3,996,743 3,469,494 2,646,107 

Total Operating 

Expenditure 

Percentage of Total 

Operating Expenditure 

4,843,331 4,186,352 3,382,215 

83% 83% 78% 

Brian Lynch 

Manager of Business and Finance 

27


Fundraising and Public 

Relations Report 

In a challenging year, we acknowledge the generosity 

and support of numerous sponsors, benefactors, donors 

and volunteers for their contribution towards the success 

of our special events. 

National Loud Shirt Day – 14 May 2010 

On Loud Shirt Day hundreds of organisations and 

over 12,000 school children in WA turned up the 

volume by wearing their loudest and brightest attire 

to help give deaf children a voice. 

The most successful schools in raising funds were: 

• Mel Maria Catholic Primary 

• Newman College 

• Carey Baptist College 

Organisations that made significant contributions were: 

• Fortescue Metals Group 

• One For The Road 

• Clough AMEC 

Artitude by Audi – 12 June 2010 

The 11 th edition of Artitude was held in The Astral 

Ballroom of Burswood Entertainment Complex. 

Corporate sponsorship underpins the success of Artitude 

and we acknowledge the longstanding and generous 

support of naming sponsor, Audi Centre Perth, and top 

tier sponsors Australian Capital Equity, AMP Foundation, 

Box Magazine, Burswood Entertainment Complex, JVA 

Financial Services, Gibbscorp and Perron Group. 

Our event sponsors also make a significant contribution 

and we acknowledge the invaluable support of Juniper 

Estate, The West Australian, Advans Exhibition Services, 

Marketforce, Plantagenet Wines, Staging Connections 

and Worldwide Online Printing, West Perth. 

The exhibition featured over 200 artworks produced by 

artists from Perth’s leading galleries and a select group 

of independent local artists. 

Norah Ohrt of Perth Galleries and Sotheby’s curated a 

selection of collectible art in the Artitude exhibition and 

Paula Killin-Mullins coordinated the YAWA (Young Artists 

with Artitude) exhibition. 

In the Open Category, sponsored by Australian Capital 

Equity, Jánis Nedéla was the winner for his “Sea and 

Sky” which was acquired by a private collector. 

The YAWA acquisitive art prize, sponsored by Burswood 

Entertainment Complex, was won by Rebecca Ann Lee 

for her photographic collage “Lamp Posts Australia”. 

A highlight of the Charity Auction by J Barrey Williams 

was an Australian South Sea Pearl Bespoke Jewellery 

Creation by Rohan Jewellery. 

28 

TSH Patron, Nigel Satterley and Dale Alcock with Ryan from Chatterbox Kindy


Other items featured in the Charity Auction were donated 

by Audi Centre Perth, Ayana Resort – Bali, Absolute 

Cosmetic Medicine, Beurteaux Marine, Floreat World of 

Travel, Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat – Queensland, Wayne 

Stubbs and Heyder & Shears, Natalie Trott of Function 

Concepts, Boatwest Charters, Trilogy Furniture, Vince 

Garreffa of Mondo Butchers, Qantas and Channel 7 Perth. 

The silent auction was well supported by numerous 

sponsors and donors. Highlights were a Polaris ATV 

Ranger from North City Polaris and Raymond Weil 

watches from Blennerhassett Fine Jewellers. 

The Lucky Sip was once again highly popular with 

all tickets selling out. It was supported by 100 wineries 

from Western Australia and interstate. We thank Ray 

Jordan for his assistance. 

Finally, we thank the Planning Committee members 

for their commitment and dedication to organising the 

event and the exhibition, and to all volunteers, especially 

the crew from Bunnings. 

Charity Golf Day – 1 October 2010 

The annual Charity Golf Day at Royal Perth Golf 

Club was organised by Malcolm and Diana Purcell, 

long-standing and loyal supporters of Telethon 

Speech & Hearing. Featuring 21 corporate teams, 

the event was most successful. 

We acknowledge all event sponsors especially 

Royal Perth Golf Club, Rosabrook Wines and 

Gage Roads Brewing Company. 

Hole sponsors were Clough Amec, Oldfield Knott 

Architects, Centurion, Primewest, JVA Financial 

Services, Pride Projects, Structerre and Satterley 

Property Group. 

The charity auction by Sam Mannino of Peard Real 

Estate included donated items from Rosabrook Wines, 

artist Andrew McDonald and Barbagallo. 

We especially thank illusionist, Adam Murby, guest 

speaker Damien Ardagh and Malcolm and Diana Purcell. 

Erica Persak and Jánis Nedéla, winner of 2010 Artitude Art Prize Punters out on the green for Golf Day 2010 

29


Marketing 

After three years of dedicated service, Natasha Chow, 

Marketing Officer, left Telethon Speech & Hearing to 

further her career overseas. 

Melissa Mattioli joined our team in July and hit 

the ground running with several projects, including 

rebranding, that will come to fruition in 2011. 

Grants 

Kelly Anne Day, Grant Writer, diligently and 

effectively identified the following charitable 

foundations and donors: 

Media 

• The West Australian 

• Community Newspaper Group 

• The Post Newspaper 

In closing, I thank our Board of Trustees, staff, 

parent community of Telethon Speech & Hearing 

and the volunteers for their ongoing support of 

our fundraising initiatives. 

Christine Brancato 

Director – Fundraising & Public Relations 

• McCusker Family Foundation 

• R & P Sarich 

• Pump ‘n Seal 

• John Brian Little 

• The Shephard Family 

• Chevron Australia 

• Deafness Foundation 

• Inger Rice Foundation 

30


Programs 

and Services 

The Early Intervention Program at Telethon 

Speech & Hearing consists of: 

• Chatterbox Program for children who 

have a sensorineural hearing loss 

• Talkabout Program for children who 

have a speech and language delay but not 

permanent hearing loss 

The programs are both based on developmental 

norms and around play. Each program is serviced by 

a multidisciplinary team of early intervention specialists 

so that the individual needs of each child and family 

are met in a holistic way. 

Chatterbox – Early Intervention 

Hearing Impairment Program 

2010 has been a busy year for the Chatterbox program 

with 52 families being supported by the Centre’s team 

of specialists in group and individual therapy sessions. 

This year Pia Leeming has mentored staff members 

in training to become certified Listening and Spoken 

Language Specialists through the Alexander Graham 

Bell Academy in the USA. 

The process of becoming certified involves an intensive 

three year mentorship program whereby mentees have to 

complete required hours of clinical observation, training 

and study. This year, three staff members have been 

involved in the process and have completed 30 hours 

each towards their certification. 

Many hours have been spent discussing case loads, 

reviewing theory, analysing recorded therapy sessions 

and attending workshops. Importantly, the process of 

staff becoming certified is to ensure the quality of our 

clinical practice is in keeping with current research and 

new knowledge, enabling the families we work with to 

have children with hearing impairments successfully 

listening and speaking. 

Chatterbox Playgroups 

The Chatterbox Playgroup program had a busy 2010 

with four groups – Chatterbox Bubs, Chatterbox 1, 2 

and 3, run by speech pathologists and AV Therapists 

Candice Gray and Felicity McNally. 

The focus in Chatterbox Bubs and Chatterbox 1 is on 

Auditory-Verbal Therapy – what is it and how it can be 

incorporated into the family’s busy everyday routine, play 

and activities. Auditory-Verbal Therapy is the application 

of techniques, strategies and procedures (how we do 

it) to enable children who are deaf or hard of hearing to 

learn to listen and understand spoken language in order 

to communicate through speech. (Estabrooks, 2001). 

Zita (left) and Felicity (right) with Auditory-Verbal Clinical Director, Pia 

31


Topics included management of hearing aids, 

pausing and waiting for your child, introducing language 

appropriate for your child’s age and stage of development 

and how to extend that language. The children had fun 

exploring different toys and engaging in activities which 

included the farm, Easter bunnies, transport, meal times 

and hospitals to name a few. 

Throughout the year, the groups were supported by 

psychologist Cath McPhee and occupational therapists 

Bree Harmsen and Angie Coleman. Cath discussed 

parent-child attachment, interaction and behaviour, 

while Bree and Angie ensured our children’s sensory 

skills and fine and gross motor development remained 

on track. This included some messy play with shaving 

foam, hand cream, water and pasta. 

Chatterbox 2 and 3 playgroups were jam-packed with 

different learning experiences. The children kicked off 

the year by learning about themselves and their friends. 

They also spent time discovering what is in their homes. 

The children did some baking in the kitchen, had 

a pyjama party in a bedroom setting and planted 

seedlings in our garden. 

They also enjoyed their time in the OT gym where they 

explored obstacle courses, jumped on trampolines, threw 

bean bags, scooted around on scooter boards and flew 

down the flying fox. This year was full of fun with lots of 

language learning experiences for the children. 

Chatterbox Kindergarten 

In 2010 eleven hearing impaired children graduated from 

Chatterbox Kindy after having fulfilled and exceeded the 

expectations of both teachers and parents, to become 

independent and social ‘chatterboxes’. 

The focus this year was to create a communicative 

environment where the children were given many 

learning situations and opportunities to talk and 

interact with others. 

As a dynamic program which works to meet the needs 

of each child, a variety of interesting experiences were 

offered including science experiments such as making 

a paper helicopter, play dough boat and magnets. 

These activities were highlights of the year and great fun. 

The playgroups also learnt about different forms 

of transport. The children and their parents had 

fun making train carriages from cardboard boxes, 

boats from milk cartons, buses from egg trays and 

aeroplanes from cardboard rolls and popsticks. 

The children also enjoyed dressing up as postmen, 

chefs and doctors while learning about what each 

person did. While the children were enjoying playing, 

the parents were supported by psychologist Kathryn 

Monaco in order to help develop their children’s 

independence and social skills. 

Gino, Annie and Owen making tool boxes for Father’s Day gifts 

32


The class loved the language experiences of going 

to AQWA, Lansdale Farm and the local shops. The 

children’s vocabulary also increased when visitors 

such as a nurse, vet, police officer and hairdresser 

came to tell us about their jobs. 

The children became TV stars for Artitude and 

Telethon and our own DVD at the end of the year. 

This DVD was given to parents and showed 

everyone how far the class had come. 

Although the families were sad to leave Telethon 

Speech & Hearing, everyone was happy that the 

children were going into their mainstream settings 

so well equipped for the future. 

Wendy Tunbridge 

Director - Chatterbox Program 

School Age Support 

Hearing Impairment Program 

In 2010, the Centre saw the highest number of 

students enrolled in the School Age Support Program 

than ever before. With 41 children enrolled, most units 

were at capacity and this indicates a strong growth in 

this program moving forward. New outpost opportunities 

will be explored in the future to allow more students 

to access this service. 

The Centre currently has seven outpost units: 

• Mel Maria College 

• Newman College 

• Servite College 

• St Brigid’s College 

• St Luke’s Catholic Primary School 

• St Pius Catholic Primary School 

• St Stephen’s Uniting Church School 

These schools offer our students excellent programs 

that allow them to experience a rich school life. 

Nena and Braeden from St Stephen’s enjoying an excursion at Landsdale Farm 

Bridget and Sarah with achievement certificates 

33


This year, we had seven children sit some or all of the 

NAPLAN assessments. Most scores fell within the middle 

60% of scores and some students scored well above this. 

These tests show how students are performing compared 

to all other children in their year level across Australia. 

As we have so few students comparatively, it is not 

possible to make valid statistical analysis of results. 

Clear Speech Night for 2010 saw 25 students present 

an item in front of a crowd of around 200 people. 

The event was held at St Stephen’s School in Duncraig. 

St Stephen’s is a very big supporter of the Centre and 

this is yet another example of their commitment. 

There were a large number of first time presenters 

and Year 1-2 contestants, so a new Encouragement 

Award was added for those students in the early years 

of school. The standard of presentations was extremely 

high and there were many memorable moments. 

The quality of performances gets better each year 

and this year gave the judges a difficult time in 

choosing a winner. 

The winners in 2010 were: 

Category 1 – Angus Watson 

Category 2 – Jasmine Cotter 

Most improved – Meg Robertson 

Encouragement – Jordan Fulgaro 

Most of the schools in our School Support Program 

also took part in Loud Shirt Day in 2010. This event 

is a big fundraiser and is a lot of fun for the schools 

and businesses that get involved. 

This event also provides the opportunity for our 

units to be highlighted for a brief time within the 

school community. The Centre’s Teachers of the Deaf 

do a fantastic job in coordinating this and also taking 

the opportunity to provide some information about 

hearing impairment to the wider school community. 

The Centre staff should be congratulated for the 

excellent job they continue to do in our outpost units. 

Geoff Reader 

Director – School Age Support Program 

Talkabout – Speech and 

Language Program 

In 2010, the Centre offered 131 places in our Talkabout 

programs to children aged between 18 months and six 

years with speech and language difficulties. Individual 

tutoring was also offered to all students exiting our 

program into mainstream Year 1 classes. 

The Talkabout team includes the classroom teacher, 

teacher assistants, speech pathologists, psychologist, 

occupational therapist and audiologist. The specialist 

team works with the families to maximise the language 

and communication skills of the children. The high 

34 

Jordan Fulgaro with his Encouragement Award from Clear Speech Night


frequency with which language and motor difficulties 

co-exist has been acknowledged and the program 

now has a full time occupational therapist. 

Talkabout 2 and Talkabout 3 – Playgroups 

The Talkabout playgroups were very popular during 

2010 with a constant and growing waiting list. 

The playgroup teacher established a wonderful 

pre - kindergarten routine with a balance of whole 

group, teacher directed language activities (language 

experiences, book sharing and singing) and opportunities 

for the children to direct their own play with parents 

mapping language to the child’s focus. 

Fine motor and sensory integration skills were targeted 

through specific class based activities, while gross motor 

skills were a focus of the gym and outdoor play sessions. 

Parents were provided with considerable support from 

the speech pathologists, occupational therapist and 

psychologist in the areas of facilitating language 

development, managing behaviour and extending fine 

and gross motor development. 

The parents enjoyed being able to share their feelings 

and experiences with each other and felt very supported 

by their playgroup community with encouragement 

provided by the Family Liaison Officer. 

Talkabout 4 – Kindergarten 

Four Talkabout kindergarten classes were run in 2010. 

The children attended the Talkabout program one 

day each week and their mainstream kindergarten 

on other days. 

The kindergarten teachers worked collaboratively with 

the allied health professionals to provide a structured 

program that facilitated both expressive and receptive 

language as well as social - emotional learning. 

Role play was a valuable tool for developing social 

language use and the children enjoyed becoming 

firemen, doctors and even Christmas elves. The 

weekly kindergarten gym program was a firm favourite 

with all children keen to have a turn on the flying fox. 

Talkabout 5 – Pre-primary 

Children enrolled in the Talkabout 5 program attended 

the Centre two days each week. The pre-primary 

teachers worked hard at developing pre-literacy skills 

through phonological awareness activities. The children 

practiced producing and understanding more formal, 

literate style oral language in the ‘narrative’ activities. 

Social skills lessons reinforced the five core social 

– emotional learning areas: self awareness, social 

awareness, self management, responsible decision 

making and relationship skills. The children engaged 

Jack and Orlando enjoying some water time 

35


in fine motor activities aimed at developing pre-writing 

skills and the occupational therapist’s play dough and 

paint activities were always enjoyed. The weekly 

gym visit also remained a hit. 

Talkabout – Tutoring Program 

Individual and small group sessions targeting 

early reading skills were offered to students exiting 

the Talkabout 5 program. Parents find this transition 

process helps to maintain learning in the new 

Year 1 environment. 

The Talkabout students who left us in 2010 left 

the Centre with some impressive gains that will 

have prepared them well and will enable them to 

cope with mainstream schooling on a full time basis. 

Each individual member of the Talkabout team 

needs to be acknowledged for their hard work and 

the dedication that they show to the children and 

families that attend the Centre. 

Bridget Pieterse 

Director – Talkabout Program 

Ear Health Services 

Staffing 

The last twelve months have seen many changes 

in Ear Health Services. We said goodbye to two parttime 

audiologists at the end of the year, Philippa Hatch 

(maternity leave) and Liz Clark and advertised for a 

full time audiologist for 2011. Norman Davies (Project 

Manager Ear Health Screening Services) was farewelled 

mid year, as was Caroline Hughes (Administrative 

Assistant) at the end of the year. Sue Henry, our South 

West Earbus screener returned to the Bunbury Regional 

Hospital in December, however Sue is keen to remain 

involved with the Earbus program in her new role. Lara 

Shur was appointed to manage all of Ear Health Services 

and Carl Chase was appointed Senior Audiologist (full 

time). Viv Raiter continues her role of diagnostic testing 

for the Newborn Hearing Screening Program and Rachel 

Clack returned to work one day a week following her 

maternity leave. 

Educational and Clinical Audiological Services 

2010 saw the opening of an in-house cochlear 

implant program, Cochlear Kids. The program 

identifies children who may benefit from a cochlear 

implant, provides audiological testing before and after 

implantation and assesses relevant aspects of each 

child’s development (including speech and language). 

This ensures a smooth and speedy pathway from 

identification to post-surgical therapy. 

The introduction of this program enables all 

implant-related services to be easily accessible ‘under 

one roof’ for children enrolled at the centre. The program 

is also offered to international clients who may wish to 

access this service privately. The program operates in 

partnership with Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeon 

Ian Wallace. In addition to Dr Wallace, audiologists 

from TSH also work closely with ENT surgeons at 

Princess Margaret Hospital and Fremantle Hospital 

for those families accessing public funding for their 

implant surgery. 

Audiological services continued for families enrolled 

in our hearing impaired pre-school and outpost 

programs. These audiological services included 

regular hearing assessments (both aided and unaided); 

regular tympanometric (middle ear) testing; cochlear 

36


implant services; and continual monitoring of hearing 

aids, cochlear implants, FM systems and sound field 

equipment. The audiological team are also integral to 

the counselling and case management of children with 

complex hearing needs and the provision of expert 

audiological advice and support to parents, teachers 

and external agencies. 

Visits to outpost schools have been less frequent this 

year and it is anticipated that these visits will increase 

again in 2011. Children in outpost schools however 

continued to receive audiological services at the Centre 

and audiologists were in contact with many families 

during the year. 

Australian Hearing has maintained weekly visiting 

services to the Centre, allowing for co-operative 

assessment and management of the hearing impaired 

children in our programs. These visits are supported 

by our audiologists who assist with testing and case 

conference for each child. 

Regular meetings were held with the audiology 

department at Princess Margaret Hospital, Australian 

Hearing and the WA Institute for Deaf Education in the 

beginning of the year. This assisted in promoting interagency 

collaboration and consistency of management 

for Western Australia’s hearing impaired children. 

These meetings reduced in the latter half of the year 

due to operational issues for the other agencies but 

are due to resume early in 2011. 

2010 has seen an increase in private audiological 

services offered at the Centre. The private audiology 

program has expanded to meet the growing needs 

of children in Western Australia. Audiologists provide 

comprehensive hearing tests and provide audiological 

case management to those children with complex 

hearing needs and those with additional disabilities. 

Children from as far as Manjimup and Kalgoorlie have 

attended the clinic in the last year and the reputation 

of the Centre as a clinic of excellence is growing. 

The Centre has continued to support the University 

of Western Australia’s Masters of Clinical Audiology 

program during this year. Our audiologists act as 

clinical supervisors for all students who elect to 

undertake their practicum at the Centre. 

Operationally, funding was obtained to update much 

of our equipment in the on-site audiology clinic and 

this has assisted greatly in the provision of services. 

The generous support of Lotterywest has enabled 

some antiquated equipment to be replaced with stateof-the-art 

equipment and this has impacted across 

our educational and clinical audiological services. 

Our regular on-site tympanometry clinics continued for 

children enrolled in the Talkabout Program. These clinics 

facilitate the early detection of middle ear pathology and 

the referral of children for medical intervention when 

appropriate. These clinics continued every second 

week during the school term. 

37


Ear Screening Services - Mobile Ear Clinic 

The two Mobile Ear Clinics or “Earbuses” have completed 

another full year of ear health screening services to 

Aboriginal children in the eastern metropolitan corridor 

of Perth and in the South West region. In 2010, over 2621 

screenings took place across the Earbus program, 1392 

in the metropolitan area and 1229 in the South West. 

The Metro East Earbus saw an increase in the number 

of schools requesting services throughout 2010. In 

particular a playgroup in Northam contacted the Earbus 

requesting services for children under 5 years. As this 

is fast becoming a major focus of the program, the 

Earbus travelled to Northam in November for the first 

time. During this visit we were approached by 3 primary 

schools in Northam to offer services to their communities. 

Outreach to Northam will commence in term 1 of 2011. 

Integral to the Earbus program is the medical team 

who follow up on all children who do not pass the 

hearing or ear check screening. The team comprising 

Dr Modupe Adeleke, Tahlia Kinnane (Registered Nurse) 

and Di Ryder (Aboriginal Outreach Worker) moved 

from the Centre to Derbal Yerrigan Medical Services 

during the year. The team, under the guidance of Dr 

Adeleke, have been invaluable in providing excellent 

medical service in the schools after the children have 

been screened. Children are referred on to Professor 

Harvey Coates at a monthly clinic held at the Swan 

District Hospital and appropriate treatment and surgery 

(if required) is provided. The team work closely with 

Professor Coates to ensure that children receive timely 

surgical intervention. 

far reaching social and educational sequelae. The rate 

of middle ear disease in incarcerated populations in 

Western Australia is largely unknown. 104 Aboriginal 

women were screened (half the prison population) and 

45% did not pass the hearing screening process. 

Following on from this, the Earbus featured on ABC’s 

Lateline program, where the succuss of the program 

was highlighted, together with the need to do more for 

Indigenous Australians concerning this important health 

issue. The program was also featured in a story 

online on ABC’s The Drum. As a result of this media 

exposure, the Centre has been able to initiate talks 

with the Department of Correctional Services about 

the provision of a clinical pathway for middle ear 

disease in incarcerated populations. It is anticipated 

this will develop further in 2011. 

The Bunbury Earbus program continued to grow 

steadily in 2010 and community relationships as well 

as partnerships with local schools were strengthened 

during this time. The clinical pathway for Bunbury and 

the surrounds was not as well established as the Metro 

In addition to providing services to schools and 

playgroups, the Metro East service also visited Bandyup 

Women’s Prison early in 2010. Middle ear disease has 

38


East program and so discussions took place with the 

South West Aboriginal Medical Service (SWAMS) about 

their capacity to expand medical services across the 

Earbus program. As SWAMS reported being unable to 

do this, all GPs in the South West were contacted and 

invited to participate in this exciting program. Positive 

responses were obtained and the clinical pathway will be 

bedded down early in 2011. Monthly ENT clinics continue 

at the Bunbury Regional Hospital under the direction of 

Professor Harvey Coates who sees the children 

referred by the SWAMS GP and provides appropriate 

treatment and surgery if required. 

Early in 2010 we obtained a third Earbus however did 

not have funding to make the bus operational. Funding 

has been secured for 2011 and we hope to have the 

Earbus operational by March. This bus will operate in the 

Fremantle to Mandurah corridor of Perth (Metro South) 

as approximately 1300 Aboriginal children have been 

identified in state schools. 

Generous funding from Chevron Australia was obtained 

to upgrade audiological and tympanometric equipment 

for all our Earbuses. As the Earbuses are on the road 

much of the year, wear and tear has a considerable 

impact on vital equipment needed for testing. The 

generous support of Chevron has enabled some new 

tympanometers to be purchased. 

Finally, at the end of 2010 we obtained funding through 

Chevron for an extensive Earbus program in the Pilbara 

region of Western Australia. This project is an ambitious 

one and aims to convert the success of our metropolitan 

and country programs to a rural-remote setting. 2011 

certainly looks to be a challenging and exciting time in 

the Earbus program. 

WISH (WA Infant Screening for Hearing) Program 

The WISH program continues to offer hearing screening 

for newborn babies at seven private hospitals in Perth 

and the South West. Our team of newborn hearing 

screeners saw over 6322 babies in 2010, an increase 

from 6020 babies in 2009. Similarly the uptake rate for 

screening increased from 63% in 2009 to 67% across the 

program. 24 babies were referred for diagnostic testing, 

with 10 children found to have a permanent hearing 

loss in one or both ears. 2 children with hearing loss 

resulting from middle ear conditions were also detected. 

The detection rate of babies with permanent hearing 

loss in our program is still consistent with international 

prevalence rates. 

In addition to our usual 12 screeners, a relief screener 

position has now been filled. Alicia Watson has joined 

in this capacity and rotates across the hospitals providing 

relief for periods of sick and holiday leave. A second 

relief screener position is anticipated for 2011. Kelly 

Hodgkinson continues in her administrative role within 

the WISH program. 

This year has seen the expansion of the outpatient 

screening clinic at the Centre and two clinics are offered 

weekly. These are operated by Kerry Rapley who also 

provides data entry services for babies identified as 

having risk factors for hearing loss. 

In mid 2010, the State Government rolled out their 

screening program across all public hospitals. At that 

time we contacted two other private hospitals where 

we are not currently providing services. Midwives 

from both hospitals were in the process of offering 

newborn screenings however programs had yet to be 

fully implemented and follow up pathways for diagnosis 

yet to be established. We are providing assistance to 

39


these hospitals to ensure that all babies born at private 

hospitals are offered newborn hearing screening. Whilst 

these hospitals have made some attempt to implement 

a program, our belief is that our program offers 

comprehensive early intervention following screening 

for those identified as having a loss, setting it apart 

from any other program. 

During this year we have continued our talks with 

midwives and have given some talks at antenatal and 

postnatal classes. Our aim is to raise awareness of 

the prevalence of hearing loss in newborns and of the 

importance of screening as soon as possible after birth. 

We also commenced filming for a DVD which is aimed 

to raise awareness of the importance of early screening 

for hearing loss, particularly for parents and midwives. 

It is anticipated that this DVD will be completed and 

disseminated to hospitals in 2011 for use in wards 

and antenatal classes. 

Lara Shur 

Manager Ear Health Services 

Better Hearing Australia (WA) Inc. 

Better Hearing Australia (WA) strives to improve the 

quality of life for our adult Deaf and Hard of Hearing 

West Australian community. We work in areas of advice, 

advocacy, awareness, education and support. 

July 2010 saw the official amalgamation of BHAWA 

with Telethon Speech & Hearing. This amalgamation 

has ensured Better Hearing is better equipped to grow 

valuable services and programs and meet the changing 

needs of the community we serve. 

The Hearing Loss Management classes, which include 

lip-reading, continued throughout 2010 with a growth in 

participants toward the end of year. We also continued 

to provide our resources to WA hospitals, organisations 

and the broader community. We were pleased to 

introduce the new personal BHA hospital kit in 2010 

and establish a tactile resource area in the new Better 

Hearing facility at Wembley. Through access to the 

tools required to make informed decisions on hearing 

loss, these initiatives have ensured an improvement 

in our support for consumers. 

Hearing Awareness Week in 2010 was once again 

supported by Better Hearing and the annual BHA 

Clear Speech Awards continue to be a significant 

part of this week. 

Our Deaf community group SODA – Social Support 

of Deaf Adults, was established in 2010. Better Hearing 

provide our facilities for the interaction and support of 

the adult WA Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. 

Social and educational programs were run throughout 

2010 which proved beneficial for both SODA and Better 

Hearing participants. 

Having established ourselves as a valued service 

of Telethon Speech & Hearing in 2010, we anticipate 

an exciting and rewarding future. 

Julie Edmonds 

Manager Better Hearing Australia (WA) 

40

How You Can Help 

Telethon Speech & Hearing 

As you read this report, you will realise the great 

importance of the work carried out by the Telethon 

Speech & Hearing Centre for Children. 

As a non-government organisation and registered 

charity, Telethon Speech & Hearing relies heavily 

on its own fundraising to supplement funding from 

various government agencies. 

There are a number of ways you can help 

Telethon Speech & Hearing: 

1• Make a donation in the full knowledge that 

your gift will be used to the best advantage 

of the children of Telethon Speech & Hearing. 

2• Remember Telethon Speech & Hearing in your 

will. Support through bequests and legacies 

provides vital assistance for our work. 

3• Provide pro-bono support for professional 

services for a range of projects and events. 

4• Establish a corporate partnership. Telethon 

Speech & Hearing values the support received 

from the corporate sector in Western Australia. 

5• Participate in Workplace Giving, an accredited 

Australian Tax Office program that allows 

employees to make a donation from their 

pay and receive an immediate tax deduction. 

6• Nominate Telethon Speech & Hearing as a 

beneficiary of a corporate golf day or other 

fundraising initiative. 

7• 

Gifts With A Difference—make a donation 

in lieu of a gift for birthdays and important 

milestones.

Telethon Speech & Hearing 

Centre for Children WA (Inc) 

ABN 73 885 107 614 

Registered Charity No:17993 

Deductible Gift Recipient 

36 Dodd Street, Wembley WA 6014 

PO Box 186, Wembley WA 6913 

Phone: +61 8 9387 9888 

Fax: +61 8 9387 9889 

speech@tsh.org.au 

tsh.org.au

REPORT 2010 - Telethon Speech and Hearing

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