Key Activities | How We Hear | Test Your Hearing |Listen In Project 2009 | Sleepsafe Project | Listen In Project 2010
Main Function of Organization - Key activities
• Assist people who are deaf, hearing impaired or have an associated disorder of the ear, their families and carers, advocate, support and supply information to help maintain their chosen lifestyle.
• Private counseling for people who suffer with Tinnitus or Meniere's
• Assist people to fill in application forms - Office of Hearing, documentation regarding loss of hearing aids etc
• Minor repairs to hearing aids: clean, re-tube and fit new hooks and supply Hearing aid batteries and deliver to house bound individuals/Nursing homes
• Supply free transport for any member of the community to attend the Centre for an appointment, for either a consultation or with Australian Hearing
• Pick up hearing aids from house bound individuals/ Nursing homes to either repair at the Centre or post on to Adelaide • Demonstrate and loan out assistive/ alternative listening devices including cry baby alarms, alarm clocks, smoke alarms etc, as well as telephones, TTY's etc which are all designed for the deaf and hearing impaired
• Hold group meeting/social mornings and private consultations to educate people how to use their hearing aids
• Screening (hearing) and reviewing of pre-school and school age children
• Referring of children to their local GP, Australian Hearing and /or speech pathologist
• Visit the Broken Hill Hospital, at the request of Doctors, family and nursing staff to fit alternative listening devices to patients or to repair and fit hearing aids
HOW WE HEAR
We use the term hearing (or auditory) system to emphasise the fact that a range of mechanical and neural (nervous) mechanisms are involved, not just the part of the ear we can see.
Working from the outside inwards we first meet:
THE OUTER EAR: 
The part we see, protects the eardrum and collects
Soundwaves
THE MIDDLE EAR:
It passes the sound from the eardrum to the inner ear.
Main function is to amplify sound
THE INNER EAR:
Converts the sound vibrations into electrical signals
which travel along the auditory nerve to the brain.
Sound is picked up by the outer ear and sent down
the ear canal to the eardrum. Sound vibrations cause
the eardrum to rock back and forth. Three tiny bones
in the middle ear send the sound vibrations to the
inner ear. Vibrations from the middle ear cause tiny
hair cells in the cochlea to move. These hair cells
are connected to the hearing nerve and send the hearing
signal to the brain.
Conductive Hearing loss:
Is a hearing loss resulting from a problem located in the outer or middle ear?
Cause
· Excessive earwax
· Damage to the eardrum
· Ear infections
Fluid in the middle ear or stiffness in the bones of the middle ear
Symptoms
· Reduction in the volume of sound
· Inability to hear faint sounds
· Miss parts of words in conversations
Sensorineural Hearing loss:
Is a hearing loss caused by a damaged inner ear?
Cause
· Aging
· Noise exposure Hereditary factors
· Head injuries
· Medication that is toxic to the auditory system
Symptoms
· Reduction in the volume of sound
· Distortion in sound clarity
· Sensitivity to loud sound
Mixed Hearing loss:
It is also possible to have a conductive hearing loss and a sensorineural hearing loss at the same time.
Causes
· Damage in the outer or middle ear and in the cochlea or auditory nerve
TEST YOUR HEARING
· Do you have trouble hearing over the telephone
· Do you have trouble following conversation when two or more people are talking at the same time
· Do people complain that you turn the T.V volume too loud
· Do you miss hearing common sounds like the doorbell or telephone ringing
· Do you get confused about a direction a sound comes from
· Do you misunderstand some words in a sentence and need to ask people to repeat themselves
· Do you especially have trouble understanding the speech of women and children
· Do you have a history of working in a noisy environments
· Do you avoid social activities because you cannot hear well and fear you will reply improperly
· Do you experience ringing or buzzing sounds in your ears
· Do your family members or friends think you have a hearing problem
For further assistance, please contact the Hearing Centre, Monday to Friday 10am till 4pm.
Acknowledgement: American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Inc 1989
“Listening In” Project 2009
Brief Overview:
The “Listening In” 2009 project, screening of primary age children (5y to 13y) indigenous & non indigenous within the Broken Hill primary schools, was conducted by the Hearing Centre. Funding for this project was provided through FACES (Australian Communication Exchange), Deafness Foundation of Victoria and the Broken Hill & District Hearing Resource Centre Inc. Training was provided by Australian Hearing.
A total of 1,153 children within Broken Hill schools were screened (hearing), with a total of 288 children being reviewed (re-screening) six weeks later, from there, 73 children were referred onto a General practitioner and a further 68 being referred to Australian Hearing for a full hearing assessment.
We have been asked by the Principals of schools screened during the 2009, to return each a year after, to screen Kindergarten and new children to the school. This project has assisted not only the child concerned but Principles, teachers and parents to identify any hearing impairment and to accommodate the needs of child. “Listening In” 2009 Final Report
Sleepsafe Project
The “Sleepsafe” Project was launched in 2009. The Centre is working in partnership with Fire & Rescue NSW. Smoke detection systems for use in residential applications have been available for many years; these devices are intended to warn of the presence of a potential fire condition by emitting an audible warning, however people with hearing loss can be unaware of such an alarm sound.
Fire safety is a much overlooked problem amongst people who are Deaf or hearing impaired. Smoke alarms have been credited with saving thousands of lives from fires each year, however, to an individual unable to hear, conventional smoke alarms are of limited use. There are recognised methods of alerting deaf and hard of hearing people, including the use of vibro-tactile and visual alarm devices. To provide a fire warning for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, it has become common practice for such devices to be coupled to smoke alarms. Manufacturers have developed specialised smoke alarms that use flashing lights or vibrating pads to alert deaf and hearing impaired occupants of a fire. The average cost per unit is approximately $400 to $500, compared to conventional smoke alarms that cost around $12 per unit. These specialised smoke alarms are beyond the means of many deaf and hearing impaired people. Most of these people are elderly and frail; live alone or live with another hearing impaired person and are on low fixed incomes.
Aims
· Ensure the deaf and hearing impaired community receive the same level of personal protection/safety as the hearing community in the event of a fire
· To purchase 100 specialised smoke alarms
Objective:
· To install 100 specialised smoke alarms into identified clients homes
Criteria:
· Hearing loss / severe to profoundly deaf – deaf
· Lives alone
· Current holder of a pension concession card, DVA
· Low income criteria - less than $30,000 per annum
These specialised smoke alarms will remain the property of the “Sleepsafe” Project. This will be explained to the client/family or carer at initial installation. In the event of a client moving into residential care etc, the smoke alarm/strobe light and vibrating pad are to be returned either to Fire & rescue NSW or the Hearing Resource Centre thus allowing the alarms to be recycled through the community. The Fire & Rescue NSW will continue to install these smoke alarms into an identified persons home.
Update: July 2011
To date 50 specialise smoke alarms have been purchase and installed throughout Broken Hill. In February of this year, is was announced that the New South Wales State Government have committed $2 million dollars towards the visual smoke alarm subsidy scheme.
For more information please read the Deaf Society of NSW Media Release. Thank you to all our "Sleepsafe” Donors.
“Listening In” Project 2010
The beneficiary/target group of our "Listening In" 2010 project is primary school age children-5 to 6 years within Broken Hill schools and 5 to 13 year olds in outer towns, Menindee and Wilcannia, both indigenous and non-indigenous.
This plan would be a continuation of our" Listening In "project 2009. It is essential for a child’s natural growing ability and early development process that a hearing impairment is detected as early as possible.
SCREENING OF PRIMARY AGE CHILDREN PLAN 2010:
OBJECTIVES
· To detect hearing problems in children within their first year of schooling
· Impartiality in early intervention program through access and equity
AIMS
· Continuation of the “Listening In” project in school screening program
· Improve access and equity
· Prevention and early detection of hearing loss
· 100% increase in testing of 5 to 6year olds
· embedding a plan for prevention and early intervention, providing a fair and accessible service
STRATEGIES
· Continue and develop early intervention program within local schools
· Create effective partnerships with key stakeholders
· Funding for the “Listening In” 2010 Project was received through the Sisters of Charity Foundation
Since January of 2011, Screening has continued only through the Centre, we have not been unable to secure any recurrent funding.