Hear For You (HFY) continues to support youth who are deaf or have hearing loss. It’s a unique community because many teenagers and mentors use spoken language, with some who are bilingual and some are learning Auslan. Having grown up in a time where technology has dramatically shifted the hearing health landscape, resulting in thousands of children and young adults who now use hearing devices and spoken language, Hear for You continue to shine a spotlight on the living experiences of the invisible majority of the deafness/hearing loss spectrum.
The growing visibility of Hear For You presence at the Australian Hearing Hub (AHH) helps to directly inform and develop the understanding of the AHH members and partners as to how the hearing health industry can better serve its customers. As we increase our visibility amongst the deaf young adult population, particularly at Macquarie University, it will create opportunities for us showcase the achievements of today’s generation, which, in turn, may encourage and inspire the next generation in their goals and dreams.
Below is a snapshot of the myriad of things Hear For You have done throughout 2023 in NSW and QLD:
QLD highlights:
- Griffith Uni supporting HFY by providing Office Space,
- Setting up of Mentor Networking events,
- 20 HFY Workshops completed throughout the State with over 90 Registrations,
- Delivery of new workshops on the Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg.
- Set up of workshops for primary school aged children
NSW highlights:
- The networking nights have been successful and the community for young adults who are deaf or have hearing loss continues to grow
- Ran 28 workshops across Greater Sydney including two Life Goals & Skills Metro programs at the Australian Hearing Hub
- Two HFY mentors (Stephen Tang and Olivia Barnes) support the Hearing Hub Junior Science Academy for DHH kids in July
- Naomi Clarry, NSW Programs Facilitator, shared her living experiences as a person who is deaf via a panel during an AHH – Hearing Interest Group meeting in May
National Highlights:
In March, Hear for You rolled out our updated Mentor Training Course to better equip mentors with the skills they need to support teens now and into the future.
It was exciting to see some of the Hear for You graduates being nominated for various categories at the Alumni Achievers Awards Night in June.
Hear for You were invited to present at the below events throughout the year:
- Hearing Australia Paediatric Clinical online training sessions to clinicians all over Australia
- NextSense ITOD Conference
In wider news, Parents of Deaf Children and Hearing Matters Australia have joined Hear for You office space at the Australian Hearing Hub. These three organisations, cover the spectrum of those who are deaf or have hearing loss so there are exciting collaboration opportunities on the horizon.
Above all, Hear for You acknowledges and thank their volunteer mentors who graciously and generously donated their time to encourage, support and provide a safe place for our teenagers. They are the lifeblood of Hear For You.
- NSW – Olivia Barnes, Stephen Tang, Rikesh Jeram, David Romanowski, Nomiki Lau, Grace Troughton, Joe Mouawad, Jermy Pang, Elly Unicomb, Max Harpham
- QLD – Maria Strong, Alex Barry, Lucy Vallance, Satya Posner, Lauren Larsen
