Community

Diagnosed with hearing loss in 2002 , Charlie received his first implant in 2006 . He says without the help of The Shepherd Centre it would have been very difficult to play sport .

“ It ’ s really hard to play a team sport and row without communication as you need to ensure we ’ re all on the same page and we all know what we ’ re doing .

“ If I had to imagine my life without The Shepherd Centre , I would have to say it would be very hard . I wouldn ’ t be able to do so many things I do today , like rowing , skiing , team sports , martial arts and public speaking .

“ It ’ s given me a lot of confidence . The Shepherd Centre has helped me with my speech and hearing . It ’ s been a great learning experience .”

Charlie Rossi ( Year 9 ) is a graduate of The Shepherd Centre , a notfor-profit organisation that teaches language , speech , listening and social skills to children born with hearing loss .

A keen sportsman , Charlie plays AFL , rowing , skiing , martial arts and a range of team sports . He is also adept at public speaking and contributes to various community events . Charlie ’ s main passion , however , is rowing . In previous years , Charlie was coxswain of the school rowing team , a position requiring strong communication skills to ensure peak performance from the crew in a highly competitive environment .

The majority of children who go through The Shepherd Centre ’ s world-leading Early Intervention Program go on to attend mainstream schools with 85 % achieving speech on par with their hearing peers . If you are concerned for your child ’ s hearing , take The Shepherd Centre ’ s Hearing Quiz or find out more at www . shepherdcentre . org . au .

JO WALLACE , THE SHEPHERD CENTRE

We congratulate the following members of our community who received recognition for their work and public duty in this year ' s Australia Day and Queen ’ s Birthday Honours :

40 | IGNATIAN | DECEMBER 2017