REPORT 2010 - Telethon Speech and Hearing

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Telethon Speech + Hearing 2010 Annual Report 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
Telethon Speech + Hearing 2010 Annual Report 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
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REPORT 2010 - Telethon Speech and Hearing

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