Page 3492 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 15 November 2006
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Deafness forum argues that the decision as to whether or not to have a cochlear implant or other type of hearing device is a matter of personal decision for the parents.
In making any decision, it is considered essential that the decision maker has the best possible factual information on which to base that decision. That means they should be able to obtain non-biased information from all relevant sources about all the options available to them.
For children in particular, these options could include living with deafness and receiving a bilingual or bicultural education, enabling the child to make subsequent decisions of their own regarding their preferred methods of communication in particular situations. Information regarding options such as lip-reading and Auslan must be available along with information about cochlear implants, for example.
Deafness forum also believes that all medical authorities in deafness sector organisations should provide non-biased advice to parents regarding options for deaf or hearing-impaired children. They also believe that parents and the child involved should be supported in a non-judgmental way to implement their decision and, if they subsequently so choose, any later varied decision.
The Greens agree with these statements, while recognising a complexity about them and issues about parents making choices for children at all. But that is the kind of society we have. I hope our amendment meets the agreement of others in the Assembly.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Minister for health, Minister for Disability and Community Services and Minister for Women) (11.05): The newborn hearing screening program is part of a wide range of initiatives that have been implemented to maximise the potential of all in our community. It is particularly a flagstone feature of the ACT children’s plan, where in 2006 we can promise that every child born in the ACT will have their hearing tested. Because of that testing, we can ensure that those found with hearing impairment can get access to early intervention and support services at the earliest possible time.
This early intervention ensures that those children with hearing impairment get the best possible treatment and care to maximise their health, educational, social and financial outcomes. This program obviously provides wonderful peace of mind for parents. Many of us in the Assembly have benefited from the newborn hearing screening program already. It also helps to give children the best possible change in life. If we follow on from what Dr Foskey has said, choices are available to them.
In establishing a level of hearing impairment in the first weeks and months of life, we provide the opportunity for early intervention which we know leads to much better outcomes. But of course hearing testing is only the start of the program. As Mr Gentleman said, screening is only useful if we have programs available to children and parents following positive test results.
Whilst the data management for the program is still developing, I can report that, from 2005-06, 5,311 babies were identified for screening and that, of these screenings, 5,234 newborn infants were screened. There were 15 refusals for screening from
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