Hearing loss responsive communication
How to communicate well with the many clients who have unrecognised hearing loss — and why so much of what looks like non-complian…
Mental health services, hearing loss expertise, NDIS and positive behaviour support for Aboriginal people, communities and the organisations that work with them.
Phoenix's background as a NDIS and PBS (positive behaviour support) provider### Key Skills
- As an experienced cross-cultural psychologist Damien has undertaken culturally appropriate cognitive and other assessments of Aboriginal people over many years. This includes the appropriate use and limitations of mainstream standardized tests with Aboriginal people.
- He works on a bicultural model that involves working with Aboriginal collaborators in creating psycho-cultural assessments and Positive Behaviour Plans.
- He Is the only psychologist in Australia who has worked extensively with Deaf and communicatively challenged Aboriginal people. He works in this area as part of a bicultural team with Jody Barney, a Deaf Indigenous consultant.
- He provides secondary consultations to other practitioners working with complex cases involving Aboriginal people with disability.
- He advises on promoting the use of ‘culturally familiar care’ practices for Aboriginal people with disability being cared for non-Aboriginal carers and ‘maintaining family contact despite the humbug’, for care agencies.### Work Background relevant to NDIS work.
- Damien lived in a remote community in Arnhem land while working as a teacher
- Work as a teacher, school psychologist and behaviour management specialist for 10 years in the NT Education Department. During this time he,
- worked in an interdisciplinary team (including OTs, Speech Therapists, Physiotherapists) undertaking interdisciplinary assessments.
- These included undertaking cognitive, adaptive functioning and learning assessments;
- interpretating that information and presenting it to a variety of audiences including professionals and families, some with low levels of oral English and literacy.
- For the last 30 years damien has worked as a psychologist in private practice.
- This work involved engaging with people of diverse backgrounds.
- This includes Indigenous people – both urban and remote
- Working with people from other cultures from the variety of people in the NT.### Qualifications and research
Damien first did training in psychology at Melbourne University. After working to save money he did a grand tour – as you could do in those days. He travelled for two and half years in Europe and Asia. This included a time working as an illegal guest worker in West Germany, giving experience of being a worker not speaking the language in a foreign culture. Returning to Australia he undertook a graduate diploma primary education (Grad Dip Ed) at La Trobe University and came to the NT. While working as a school psychologist he undertook further study in psychology (Grad Dip App Psych) at CDU. He subsequently undertook a PhD looking at behaviour problems among Aboriginal people related to conductive hearing loss at CDU. He has continued to research in this area and is viewed as one of the foremost experts in this area of psychosocial consequences of hearing loss in education, health, employment and criminal justice. He has written numerous peer-reviewed articles and a number of books in the areas of culturally responsive service provision and psychosocial outcome of hearing loss that is widespread among Aboriginal people in Australia. These books are as follows
- More than just a Nurse – a book on cross-cultural orientation for nurses that is considered one of the best resources available in the area.
- Mixed Messages – a book on cross cultural management in Aboriginal health organizations.
- Listening, Learning and Work – a book on mitigating the effects of hearing loss among Aboriginal people in training and employment.
- Looking to Learn – a resource for teachers of Aboriginal students with hearing loss.
- He conducts training for those working with Aboriginal people on - Hearing loss responsive communication training. - Promoting ‘culturally familiar care practices’ in agencies caring for Aboriginal people. - Minimizing the impact of hearing loss as a common unrecognized disability impacting on service provision for Aboriginal people. See phoenixtraining.online for current courses### Resources
He has also written many resources for Aboriginal people. For example on post-traumatic reactions (When Bad Things Happen https://zenodo.org/record/3835628) and maintaining positive mental health through traditional practices ( Staying Strong Stories https://zenodo.org/record/3835609)
The thread through all of it
Hearing
Childhood ear infection is very common among Aboriginal children, and it leaves many people with hearing loss that was never identified.
Someone who cannot reliably hear misses instructions, misreads tone, and gets tired from concentrating. In a classroom that looks like not listening. At work it looks like not following directions. In a police interview it can look like evasion.
The same difficulty gets a different name depending on which room the person is standing in. Recognising it as hearing is often the thing that changes the outcome.
Questions
Do you travel to communities?
Yes, and much of this practice's work has been done outside Darwin. Get in touch with what your community or organisation needs and we will talk about what is workable.
What is the connection between hearing loss and everything else?
Childhood ear infection is very common among Aboriginal children, and it leaves many people with hearing loss that was never picked up.
Someone who cannot reliably hear misses instructions, misreads tone, and gets tired from concentrating. In a classroom that looks like not listening. In a workplace it looks like not following directions. In a police interview or a courtroom it can look like evasion.
The same difficulty gets a different name depending on which room the person is standing in. Recognising it as hearing is often the thing that changes the outcome.
Training in this area
Promoting culturally familiar care practices
How care agencies can use culturally familiar care practices, and maintain family contact, for Aboriginal people with disability b…
Hearing loss as an unrecognised disability
Minimising the impact of hearing loss — a common, largely unrecognised disability that shapes how well any service reaches Aborigi…
Get in touch
When working with Deaf Indigenous people we work with Jody Barney, a Deaf Indigenous consultant.
Phoenix Consulting acknowledges the Larrakia people as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, and pays respect to Elders past and present.