The Shepherd Centre is a world-class, learning for deaf children and child-friendly NDIS service provider and an expert in assisting children with hearing loss to learn to listen and speak. For over 50 years, they have assisted thousands of children in reaching their full potential.

Their child-safe programs accommodate children of all ages and developmental stages, from their world-class early intervention system for infants and toddlers to their “Hear for You” mentoring program for school-aged children and adolescents.

Below are some of their programs:

A collaborative effort with the Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick to provide medical, audiological, and family support and programs for children and their families considering implantable hearing solutions such as cochlear implants or bone conduction implant systems.

The First Sounds Implant Program is a collaboration between The Shepherd Centre and Randwick Children’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia. It is a multidisciplinary service that specializes in providing children with hearing loss with early and optimal access to sound.

The program offers audiological, medical, and family support, as well as speech, language, and listening services – all of which are necessary to support a child and their family prior to, during, and long-term after implant surgeries with devices such as cochlear implants and Baha. The majority of appointments are held at the child’s local Shepherd Center location.

Mastering listening and speaking with a hearing aid

The Shepherd Centre offers services that enable children with varying degrees and types of hearing loss to make the most of their hearing. For many children, this is accomplished with a conventional hearing aid that can amplify the specific sounds they are unable to hear on their own. For some children, a conventional hearing aid cannot provide sound that is sufficiently loud or clear for normal language development. These kids and their families may want to consider implantable hearing aids like cochlear implants or Baha.

Learning for deaf children

If you suspect that your child may have hearing loss, you must seek professional assistance immediately.

You can contact The Shepherd Centre or your primary care physician to schedule a hearing test.

Providing a child with access to sound as early as possible is crucial for their development and future. Due to the fact that sound is heard and interpreted by the brain and not the ears, children with hearing loss have difficulty learning how to interpret sound. Regardless of the type or severity of hearing loss, if treatment is delayed, the patient’s language and learning abilities may be severely impaired. This indicates that early detection and intervention are crucial for ensuring normal language and cognitive development.

Our qualified clinical team of audiologists, listening and spoken language specialists, and child family counsellors will work with you and your child to schedule hearing tests, device fittings (as hearing aids and cochlear implants are customized to the type and degree of hearing loss), and therapy sessions to ensure the best possible outcome for your child.