In this issue

• From the online groups
• Mythbusters and ear wax
• Education Innovation for Deaf School Students
• Articles of interest
• What's on in May
• Sports Corner
• Join our online parent forums
• Make a donation

In two weeks, I head off for a bit of a holiday and to attend the Newborn Hearing Screening Conference in Como Italy at the beginning of June. I have been analysing the data from the GPOD survey, which many of you have kindly completed for us. GPOD members are presenting papers around the issue of parent support at the conference. Two of the results of the survey will not surprise any parents - no matter where families live, they want good and timely information and contact with other parents, preferably from the time of diagnosis. The message of support from one mum to another in our online group, which is reproduced in this newsletter, expresses both these points so beautifully.

Congratulations to Deafness Forum for their very successful National Deafness Sector Summit held in Sydney at the end of April. With four past and present politicians speaking, it demonstrates the regard with which Deafness Forum is held in their role as the peak body for the deafness sector. I would encourage all parents to join Deafness Forum - they are looking after the future for our children.

There will be no newsletter in June as I will be away so see you all again for the July edition.

info@aussiedeafkids.org.au

We had a new mum join our group in April. She was feeling overwhelmed, sad, tearful. She received this wonderful message of support and understanding from another mum who once felt just the same -

"Welcome to the group. It's so good you found this group so early. Those 
first months are certainly the hardest. You just don't want your baby to
have to go through anything difficult and wish you could just take all the
 hard things away for them. You are allowed to cry. It is a real grief you go
 through so don't be hard on yourself. Other people won't understand that at
 first you think about it all day, every day and it's hard to get past. But
 it does honestly get better. You will start to arm yourself with more and 
more knowledge and soon you will become your child's expert - because only 
you will know everything about them. You'll be able to talk about it with
 fewer tears as time goes on. The professionals will give you input for you
 to use to your child's benefit. You will find good resources in many places
- especially in this group. There can be a lot of appointments and it can
 all be boggling, but the ride gets smoother. And your baby will always be 
your precious little one and you will do the best for him. 

Enjoy being a mum, and all the time you spend with your baby. They grow up 
far too quickly. Ask anything no matter how silly it may seem. Talking to
 other mums and dads really does help.

 You know they get it, without having to explain." (Reproduced with permission)

Welcome to all new parents to our groups this month.

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The TV show "Mythbusters" recently tested whether "just like Shrek, you can make a candle out of ear wax." You can watch the clip on YouTube although it is not pleasant viewing!

What should we do with ear wax? It is a constant issue for kids wearing hearing aids and a concern for parents wondering how to remove the wax safely.

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Deafness services and captioning innovator Ai-Media recently unveiled its world-first education service for deaf and hearing impaired school students at the National Deafness Sector Summit in Sydney.

Ai-Live is an education access solution that delivers live captioning to the deaf and hearing impaired community. This new Ai-Media service enables deaf and hearing impaired students to participate fully in mainstream schools and classrooms.

The service will also create new employment and training opportunities at a local community level for people who will be recruited to provide the service.

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The current issue of Seminars in Hearing has focussed on Implantable Hearing Devices.

* Use of bone-anchored cochlear stimulator (Baha) and satisfaction among long-term users
* Relationship between Expectations and Satisfaction for Baha Implant System in Patients with Single-Sided Deafness
* Implantable Middle Ear Hearing Devices: A Review
* Sound Localization by Cochlear Implant Users
*Interfacing FM Systems with Implantable Hearing Devices

Science Daily has also reviewed some articles of interest.

* Educational and Employment Achievements in Prelingually Deaf Children Who Receive Cochlear Implants
* Spoken Language Development in Children Following Cochlear Implantation
* Digital Literacies e-Reading and e-Responding: New Tools for the Next Generation of Readers

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Cool Kids, Cool Parents - May 5

Beating Bullying Information Session - 5 May

Victorian Deaf Tennis Championships 2010 - May 16th

Building Resilience in Students and Teachers - EDSA Conference - 17-18 May

Families in Australia - National Summit of Parents Families and Carers - 24-25 May

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In an exciting development, Deaf Sports Australia rolled out our new Schools Education Program last week with the Victorian College for the Deaf chosen as the first school to host a session.

The program provides deaf and hard of hearing students with valuable information featuring:

* the opportunities and benefits of participation in sport
* a deaf sports role model to share their experiences in sport
* a Q & A session with students
* an informal sports/activity coaching clinic with a DSA staff member and sports role model.

DSA has been developing the Schools education program over the last six months and will be trialling the program in 8 Victorian Schools over the next three months with a view to making it a National program in 2011.

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

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