April is Autism Awareness Month and an opportunity to promote understanding and acceptance.
In Australia, an estimated 30 to 40 per cent of deaf or hard of hearing children (DHH) have additional needs, with roughly 2 per cent having a co-occurring autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Diagnosis and intervention are often delayed compared to hearing peers, especially if hearing loss is mild. Due to symptom overlap it can be difficult to distinguish whether social and communication delays are due to hearing loss alone or are indicative of ASD.
Early intervention is highly recommended for DHH children with ASD to support language development and social-emotional skills.
In Victoria, inclusive practices are part of every classroom and every school. Inclusive school communities welcome, value and support autistic students through the Autism Education Strategy.
Schools are also required to provide reasonable adjustments, such as Auslan interpreters, assistive listening devices or captioning, to ensure DHH students and those with ASD can participate in education on the same basis as their peers.
For professional learning to support DHH children with ASD, watch the free VDEI Encore presentation Hearing problems in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder presented by Professor Gary Rance from the University of Melbourne Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology.
In this presentation, Professor Rance explores the relationship between sensory processing and ASD, with a focus on hearing. He discusses three studies conducted by the University to demonstrate research findings in relation to hearing and ASD.
The first two studies were conducted to explore the impact of personal listening systems and noise cancelling devices to improve speech perception in noise. The third study focused on the effect of auditory interventions on communication-related stress.
To register for this course, visit the VDEI Professional Learning Catalogue.
