Seven Deaf children, aged 5-6 years old, will be graduating from The Shepherd Centre‘s early intervention program and getting ready for their next adventure – big school.
Their graduation showcase event was held at New South Wales Parliament House on Wednesday October 16.
“These children – some which we’ve known since they were a few weeks old – will kick off graduation season at The Shepherd Centre,” said CEO Dr Aleisha Davis.
The Shepherd Centre supports more than 900 children and their families across 10 centreas around Australia and remotely. Seventy children are graduating this year from the early intervention program.
The charity was the first to provide wraparound services in Australia, which involves the care from a multidisciplinary team of audiologists, family and child counsellors, and listening and spoken language specialists and therapists.
“We pride ourselves on our wraparound care – we created this standard within paediatric programs to provide children with the listening and spoken language skills needed for mainstream education, and importantly go on to have employment of choice and true inclusion in the hearing world. And our evidence and research both show that the children we support can achieve listening and spoken language skills on par with their hearing peers,” Davis said.
“This time of the year signals the start of graduation season at our centres, and it’s always such a joy. It’s a culmination of years of work put in by these children, their families and our staff to get ready for mainstream big school.”
Some children, and their families, will continue to receive support from The Shepherd Centre throughout their primary and high school years, which the charity welcomes and encourages when it’s needed.
“It’s truly such a privilege to see children flourish and have a world of choice,” she said.