Investigators
Ellen Harvey, Adrienne Gregory, Yasmin Harman-Smith
Project description
In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience a higher incidence of hearing loss related to Otitis Media and chronic ear infections, placing them at higher risk of substantial delays in their speech and language development and ongoing literacy skills.
In South Australia, the Universal Access funded Aboriginal Children with Hearing Impairment Support Program (hereafter ‘HISP’) provides government preschools and Children’s Centres with higher enrolments of Aboriginal and Torres Strait children with additional Speech Pathology services to support the building of children’s speech and language skills prior to attending school.
In 2021 the South Australian Department for Education commissioned The Kids Research Institute Australia to undertake a review of the Hearing Impairment Support Program (HISP). The review employed a mixed-methods research design including exploring and collating evidence from the academic and practice literature in Australia pertaining to early literacy programs for Aboriginal children at risk of hearing loss. The project also reviewed current HISP program function to understand how the program supports preschools and Children’s Centres to accommodate and provide for the early education of children with hearing impairment and to inform the development of an evidence-based program logic to guide ongoing program implementation.
For further information about the project and its findings, contact Yasmin Harman-Smith.
Funders
Department for Education, South Australia