The Beyond Speech Workshop is an annual multidisciplinary forum that brings together researchers, clinicians, educators, health practitioners, industry partners, families, and people with lived experience to explore how children who are deaf or hard of hearing learn, communicate, and thrive. Through the sharing of research evidence, clinical expertise, and lived perspectives, the workshop aims to advance understanding and improve outcomes for children and their families.

 

Established in 2020, Beyond Speech has featured leading national and international experts presenting alongside researchers and practitioners working at the forefront of language, hearing, and communication. Sessions focus on language learning and development, listening and participation in everyday environments, and inclusive approaches that recognise the strengths and experiences of culturally, linguistically, and multilingual diverse communities.

 

Held online to support geographic access, the workshop includes live Auslan interpretation and real-time captioning to support accessibility. Interactive Q&A sessions and facilitated discussions provide opportunities to connect across disciplines, exchange ideas, foster new collaborations, and shape future directions for research, policy, and practice.

To register click here.

Keynotes:

Erin Picou, AuD, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Lab link: Hearing and Affect Perception Interest Laboratory

Talk: From First Sounds to Classroom Success: Supporting Auditory Access Across Development

 

 

Beatriz de Diego-Lázaro, PhD, CCC-SLP, Psychology Department, University of Valladolid.

Lab link: https://aleslab.uva.es/

Talk: Oral language outcomes after narrative intervention in children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

 

 

Organising committee:

• Trudy Smith (NextSense)
• Chi Lo (Macquarie University, Parents of Deaf Children)
• Rebecca Holt, Nan Xu Rattanasone, and Jessi Yu (Macquarie University)

This workshop is sponsored by the Australian Hearing Hub.

 

Program 

Time	Presentation	Presenter
8:30-9:00	Online registration
9:00-9:10	Welcome	Trudy Smith
9:10-10:00	Keynote 1: From First Sounds to Classroom Success: Supporting Auditory Access Across Development	Chair: Chi Lo Erin Picou
10:00-10:30	Talk 1: Revising the Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale: Going Beyond Speech to Include Sign and Bimodal Communicators	Chair: Nan Xu Rattanasone Louise de Beuzeville and Amy Szarkowski
10:30-11:00	Morning Tea
11:00-11:30	Talk 2: Early Sensitivity to Plural Morphology in Three-Year-Olds With and Without Hearing Loss: Evidence From Eye Tracking	Chair: Nan Xu Rattanasone Feng Xu, Vicky Zhang and Nan Xu Rattanasone
11:30-12:00	Talk 3: Listen to Learn for Life: Understanding and Reproducing Classroom Environments to Improve Support for Children with Listening Difficulties	Chair: Jessi Yu Kiri Mealings
12:00-12:30	Talk 4: More Than Access: What the Bluey Campaign Reveals About Language, Belonging and Children’s Media	Chair: Jessi Yu James Wright
12:30-1:15	Lunch Break
1:15-2:00	Panel Discussion: Classroom management	Chair: Trudy Smith Panellists: Kiri Mealings and TBC
2:00-3:00	Keynote 2: Oral language outcomes after narrative intervention in children who are deaf or hard of hearing.	Chair: Bec Holts Beatriz de Diego-Lázaro
3:00	Closing Address	Chi Lo

 

Where can I watch the live-streamed talks (or watch them after the scheduled times)? 

The workshop will be held online-only via Zoom. A link will be emailed to all workshop registrants prior to the workshop. The captioned, interpreted talks will be shared as individual links and emailed to workshop registrants after the workshop.

 

How can I ask questions of the presenter to answer in their question time? 

We encourage you to use the chat function in Zoom to ask your questions during and after the presentation. These will be directed to the presenter in their question time or answered during the next session.

You are also invited to use the “Raise my hand” feature in Zoom gestures, accessible from the bottom of the Zoom screen, to indicate that you would like to be unmuted to ask your question. If you raise your hand, wait to be invited to unmute by the facilitator to ask your question.

 

Past workshop content 

2025: Language and neurodiversity in children and young people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing

2024: Language and Literacy in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children with Diverse Backgrounds

2023: Exploring cultural and linguistic diversity in children with hearing loss

2022: Towards better communication for children with hearing loss

2021: Towards better communication for children with hearing loss

2020: Perspectives on language in children with hearing loss