Seminar on self help in action for hearing impaired

The
Catholic Weekly
Online

Sydney
26 October 2003

Meaning of life

Tuition fee jump

Award for Reservist chaplain

Outreach

Priests set priorities

Step behind the convent walls

Desire to serve others

Trial for euthanasia?

Interfaith

Seminar on self help in action for hearing impaired

Editorial: Enormous debt

Letters: Interstate appreciation

Conversation: Br Dan Stafford, chaplain to the Australian Jockey Club - A generous fraternity of 'saints and sinners'

Voice of Youth: Blessed upon the earth

‘Wonderful occasion’

Stone takes the cake

Bumper crop of students

Concert ‘journey’ by young honours Pope’s anniversary

‘My kids’ bring tears

Seminar on self help in action for hearing impaired

Fr Tom Rouse, a Columban missionary priest who has been hearing impaired since birth, will address at a seminar in Sydney on Saturday, November 8, Self help in action: Listening to and learning from each other.

Despite his hearing impairment, Fr Tom worked for 12 years in Fiji, followed by three years of postgraduate study at Trinity College, Dublin.

He has held various appointments since returning to Sydney, including chaplain to the Fiji Sydney Catholic Community and to the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre.

The seminar will provide an opportunity to hear some Australian stories of people who have struggled and achieved in different walks of life, while facing the ongoing challenges of hearing loss.

Several members of the Stewart family, nine of whom are hearing impaired, will speak of their struggles.

Their stories will cover the experiences of a mother and grandmother living with hearing impaired people, ways of coping with hearing impairment in student life, employment and social life, as well as ideas for the use of assistive technology.

Other speakers include Marion Lloyd, a podiatrist, whose story will focus on employment related issues and Vivienne Heaton, who will tell how and why she underwent a cochlear implant after her hearing deteriorated.

There will also be an address by Margaret White, senior education officer at the NSW Anti-discrimination Board, entitled Dealing with Discrimination.

Hearing impairment afflicts more than 1.25 million Australians, yet little is heard about its effects on individuals, families and the community at large.

The seminar, presented by SHHH - Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, will be at the Aquinas Academy, 141 Harrington St, Sydney, from 9.30am-3.30pm.

Admission is free; no bookings are required. For further information call Joyce on 9489 3724 or Shirley on 9484 6674 or email mas2@hotkey.net.au