Seven deaf children, aged 5-6 years old, graduated from The Shepherd’s Centre 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, 16 October 2024.
“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.
“We’re privileged to support over 900 deaf children and their families across 10 centres, and remotely, in New South Wales, ACT and Tasmania. This year, we have around 70 children graduating from our early intervention program and embarking on their next step – kindergarten,” said Davis.
The Shepherd Centre was the first to provide wraparound early intervention 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,” said Dr Davis.
“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,” said Dr Davis.
Watch the full graduation video here.
