Amy Szarkowski is a senior academic in psychology and early intervention (deaf/hard of hearing) within NextSense Institute and Macquarie University.

Dr Amy Szarkowski specialises in working with, understanding, and improving the lives of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families.

A senior academic in psychology and early intervention, specifically for children who are deaf/hard of hearing, Amy began working at NextSense Institute in 2025. Amy has two bachelor’s degrees (Psychology and Health Promotion/Fitness Management), three master’s degrees (Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Administration and Supervision) and a PhD in Clinical Psychology. She completed two of her master’s degrees and her doctorate at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., where she completed her coursework and training through American Sign Language.

As a researcher, Amy has led large projects exploring pragmatics and social communication among children who are deaf or hard of hearing and co-led a global effort to describe best practices in family-centred early intervention.

In her roles as a clinician, she has provided direct psychological services, been an active member of a cochlear implant team and supported children who are deaf or hard of hearing with medical complexities. Amy has served as a consultant to schools and programs to enhance wellbeing among children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families, mentored allied professionals and trainees, and provided training to professionals to help improve clinical services.

Her work has taken her around the globe, including to the National Research Institute in Italy, Miyazaki International College (now Miyazaki International University) in Japan, and in the U.S., Amy has worked at Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital, The Institute at the Children’s Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf, and the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Contact

Specialities

• Family-centred early intervention for children who are deaf or hard of hearing
• Pragmatics (social communication)
• Parenting children who are deaf
• Social-emotional functioning
• DeafDisabled/Deaf with Disability

Qualification

BS (Psych), BS (Health Promotion), MS (Clinical Psych), Post-Grad Cert (Mental Health & Deaf), MA (Dev Psych), MS (Admin & Supervision), PhD (Clinical Psych)