Kate and Daniel Walls initially weren’t concerned when daughter Charlie needed to repeat her newborn hearing screening test, assuming it was just fluid build-up in her ears.

It wasn’t until her first audiology assessment that they realised two-week-old Charlie had severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears. While her diagnosis came as a big surprise to the family, they immediately sprang into action, looking into the best ways to support her.

‘One of the first things we talked about was wanting her to have sign language as well as sound,’ Kate says.

But we also want her to see her implants as a tool and not that she is any less of a person when she does not have them switched on. Now, she will still be able to communicate with us, whether she has them on or not.’

As an occupational therapist, Kate was already aware of how important it was to expose young children to language-rich environments. She understood the benefits of early intervention. But she and Daniel had to make a decision on where to get that support for their family.

‘When we came to NextSense and met our speech pathologist Sally she was just amazing,’ Kate says. ‘We were also really interested in the Auslan Language Model program that NextSense was starting. Then there was also physiotherapy available, and an early intervention playgroup all under the one roof.

‘Initially, my parents, who are from Tamworth [in regional NSW], suggested we move back there to be closer to them and support. But when they saw everything that was on offer at NextSense and the benefits of the holistic approach it was just mind blowing. Dad said: “You have to stay here - it is too good to leave.”

As well as Charlie’s individual and group therapy sessions with speech pathologists Kate and Emma, Teacher of the Deaf Katie, and physiotherapist Alysha, Charlie spends regular time with her Auslan language model Ela.

Ela is one of four Auslan language models working across NextSense. We introduced these positions in some of our centres last year as a way to role model Deaf culture for those families who actively choose to be part of the Deaf community. The Auslan language models are adults who are deaf, who spend time with our young clients, both in their therapy sessions and separately, communicating in Auslan to help them become immersed in the language.

Professor Greg Leigh, Director of the NextSense Institute and respected researcher in the field of deaf education, says the key to supporting families of children who are deaf is to give them choice.

‘Different families have different needs, pressures, and perspectives. The key to developing language for any child is exposure to that language, whatever the language happens to be. What we aim to do here at NextSense is support families in their choices and give them all the information they need to make the decisions that will help their child meet their language goals.’

At their weekly NextSense early intervention group the Walls family also connects with other families who are deaf, hearing, and using both spoken and sign language. And with the help of Teacher of the Deaf Katie and Auslan Language Model Ela, they are seeing Charlie progress every week.

‘They pick up things that I don’t,’ Kate says. ‘They can tell when she is babbling in sign language, and they give her visual stimulation to promote her language.’

The Walls family also has a Deaf mentor, external to NextSense, who visits them at home, spends time Charlie and her sister Ellie, who is hearing.

‘We see Auslan as a family language,’ Kate says. ‘We are doing it for all of us, not just Charlie. We are having lessons, my parents are having lessons, and Ellie is learning it organically. Everyone is really invested in it.’

Watch the ABC story on the Walls family journey below.