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Speaker 1: We know the Northern Territory has got the highest prevalence

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Speaker 1: of middle ear diseases in the world, that is according

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Speaker 1: to the World Health Organization. And if you haven't thought

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Speaker 1: much about your hearing lately, well it might be a

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Speaker 1: good time to start, because it is Hearing Awareness Week.

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Speaker 1: And joining me in the studio to tell us a

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Speaker 1: little bit more is Territory Hearing Director and principal audiologist

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Speaker 1: Salomon Joseph.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Salomon, Good morning Kitty. Thank you very much

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Speaker 2: for okay in waiting me for this interview.

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Speaker 1: It's great to have you in the studio. We have

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Speaker 1: had you on the show before. You are a great

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Speaker 1: person to speak to about all things hearing and making

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Speaker 1: sure that we know what's going on with our ears

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Speaker 1: as well. I guess to put it to put it

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Speaker 1: very bluntly now, Solomon, tell us what's the focus this

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Speaker 1: year for Hearing Awareness months.

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Speaker 2: It's so important for any age group like children to

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Speaker 2: a elderly population. Hearing is so so important faculty for

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Speaker 2: children for the surveyor speech and language development. Good hearing

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Speaker 2: so important. As you all know, our Indigenous children are

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Speaker 2: disadvantages because they are having the high rate of miliar diseases.

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Speaker 2: The one of the factor is overcrowding. You can imagine

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Speaker 2: in a house with twenty five people, the hygiene factor

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Speaker 2: will reduce and that itself is a course of milliar disease.

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Speaker 2: And I have been traveling to many communities in North

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Speaker 2: Intertwines since twenty sixteen and until twenty thirteen, and I

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Speaker 2: have seen firsthand is sad. It's sad. We need when

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Speaker 2: you think about to do the hearing assessment, we need

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Speaker 2: a sound room. And it's not like optometry. We need

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Speaker 2: to control the ambient noise. I am here at mix

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Speaker 2: one sort of four nine from radio station and here

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Speaker 2: the ambient noise is so low. So that is why

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Speaker 2: we can communicate so well each other. But imagine an

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Speaker 2: elderly person if they hearing problem, they are disengaging with

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Speaker 2: the community. Yeah, with a family. They are not knowing

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Speaker 2: what is happening in their own family.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So it automatically lead to depression, Okay, isolation. So any class, okay,

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Speaker 2: from very young to elderly, hearing is a vital faculty

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Speaker 2: we need to help. But in Australia we have a

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Speaker 2: fantastic hearing service system where up to the age of

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Speaker 2: twenty six, if someone has significant hearing laws, they will

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Speaker 2: be eligible for free hearing aid.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Then about sixty five they also will be eligible for

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Speaker 2: hearing aid.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Right, So there are different there are different ways

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Speaker 1: that we can help people if they are suffering from

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Speaker 1: hearing loss. But it's interesting that point you might as

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Speaker 1: well about the middle ear infections and you know, kids

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Speaker 1: not being able to get into sort of or not,

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Speaker 1: you know, not being able to go and get their

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Speaker 1: ears maybe traded as quickly when they're in the remote

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Speaker 1: communities is what they can here in town. I know though,

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Speaker 1: it is like it is an issue for kids. Even

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Speaker 1: my son had different issues middle ear issues and we

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Speaker 1: took him for a hearing taste. His hearing had been

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Speaker 1: you know, he did have issues with that hearing. And

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Speaker 1: it has an impact on kids in so many other

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Speaker 1: ways as well, like you've pointed out your speech development

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Speaker 1: and even your general health and well being.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely we cannot ignore the hearing faculty as itself.

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Speaker 2: It affects it manifests in many ways in our life

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Speaker 2: because as a broadcaster, Katie itself, you need have good

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Speaker 2: hearing and the ability to communicate. Just imagine a child

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Speaker 2: with no hearing will not be in a position to

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Speaker 2: speak clearly. Yeah, because the zero to five year that

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Speaker 2: age bracket is so crucial because the brain plasticity of

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Speaker 2: a child is the highest at that age category, taped

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Speaker 2: up to that five year because if you put a

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Speaker 2: child in anywhere, they will learn a language and reasonably

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Speaker 2: well up to that five years. Yeah, So that is

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Speaker 2: so crucial. And elderly population and the working class people

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Speaker 2: just imagine that the Australian government is supporting up to

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Speaker 2: twenty six and above sixty five, but between the twenty

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Speaker 2: six and sixty five we need to get the support

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Speaker 2: from our own pocket. Their won't be But for indigenous population,

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Speaker 2: if they are above fifty they will be eligible for

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Speaker 2: free hearing it from feral government funding. But twenty six

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Speaker 2: to fifty, if they engage in community activity, community development project,

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Speaker 2: then they will be eligible for free hearing it too.

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Speaker 1: Slomon, tell me, are they different things that we can

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Speaker 1: do to really protect our ears and to look after

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Speaker 1: our health.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. The simple thing is blowing the nose. Regular nose

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Speaker 2: blowing is so crucial. And we have a system called

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Speaker 2: esiation tube that balances the middle year pressure. The station

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Speaker 2: tube connects to the back of the throat from the

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Speaker 2: middle ear and in northern we are in a hot

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Speaker 2: and humid weather and children wanted to go to their

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Speaker 2: swimming pool. Some children, when they go to swimming for

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Speaker 2: quite often what happens is they will have blocked years.

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Speaker 2: So what they need to do they need to blow

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Speaker 2: their nose air rate the middle part of the year

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Speaker 2: and the East station tube will open up and it

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Speaker 2: will equalize the pressure. You will notice that whenever we

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Speaker 2: take off on a plane or when we land, you

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Speaker 2: will feel the pressure. Defense if you swallow, it equalizes

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Speaker 2: the pressure. So when we have that pressure in the

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Speaker 2: middle part, high pressure or low pressure, the children will

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Speaker 2: feel a blocked feeling because up to eight nine a year,

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Speaker 2: the east station tube is in a flat plane. After

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Speaker 2: that it will have an incline, so it's much easier

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Speaker 2: to aerate the middle part of the year. So regular

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Speaker 2: nose blowing the hygiene fact tell. And whenever we have

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Speaker 2: a hearing issue, eve the child is not talking very well.

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Speaker 2: Most likely the child may not be hearing very well.

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Speaker 2: And we parents, okay, I am a father of two children.

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Speaker 2: We take it for granted that whenever children complain, oh

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Speaker 2: you're a child Okay, I'm not taking it so seriously,

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Speaker 2: but I have seen firsthand when I was working at

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Speaker 2: Quins and Health after diagnosis, this child has got a

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Speaker 2: hearing laws and the mother said, my son was telling

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Speaker 2: me many times that okay, Mummy, I am not hearing well,

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Speaker 2: and I ignore it for okay, such a long time. Okay,

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Speaker 2: no parent should experience that when a child is complaining

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Speaker 2: about mummy or daddy, I am not hearing very well.

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Speaker 2: Take to a hearing specialist audiologist and they will do

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Speaker 2: the proper hearing assessment through different audiology tools. We do

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Speaker 2: casestry otoscopy and timber doomety is a test to find

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Speaker 2: out the middle air function, and OE test is the

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Speaker 2: inner ear faction and the pureton audiometry. We have a

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Speaker 2: wide range of testing two to assess the proper here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so Solomon, to anybody listening this morning, you know

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Speaker 1: who on this hearing Awareness week and thinking to themselves,

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Speaker 1: oh look, I'm really you know, I think my ears

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Speaker 1: are okay, but I'm not one hundred percent sure. Or

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Speaker 1: maybe it's somebody who has had serious issues, or maybe

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Speaker 1: it is a parent that has got a child that

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Speaker 1: they're worried that they may have some issues with theory.

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Speaker 1: Is what is the best thing that they can do?

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Speaker 2: A very important message, Katie. If you have any doubt

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Speaker 2: regarding your child's speech and language development or hearing concerns,

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Speaker 2: take them to a hearing specialist. They are audiologists and

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Speaker 2: we have Okay, we will be starting out on audiology

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Speaker 2: practice too, and I am at auditorian and it's so

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Speaker 2: important in territory. We need more audiologists or more audiologist

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Speaker 2: services to us as the hearing of children and adults

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Speaker 2: and right rehabilitation, rehabilitation through hearing aids and surgical pathway

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Speaker 2: that directly take them to the hospital. We will refer

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Speaker 2: them to hospital and that will be a bit delay

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Speaker 2: in surgery. That will be the evitting team is a

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Speaker 2: bit high at the stage and it will happen. But

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Speaker 2: take them to a hearing specialist. They will do proper

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Speaker 2: hearing tests in a sound Peter room.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and that is really great advice, I think, because

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Speaker 1: you don't want, you know, you don't want to feel

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Speaker 1: as though they're being left behind or that there are

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Speaker 1: any issues if they if they're not diagnosed, or if

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Speaker 1: they're not able to see somebody quite quickly. Absolutely, Solomon,

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Speaker 1: it is lovely to speak to you this morning. I

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Speaker 1: always appreciate you coming in and having a chat with

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Speaker 1: this and I think it's really important. You know, our

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Speaker 1: hearing health is very important now. Ear health is very important,

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Speaker 1: and I think that sometimes it's not until something goes

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Speaker 1: wrong with your ears that you realize just how important

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Speaker 1: they are and how much you need your hearing.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and it is my prior and privilege to talk

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Speaker 2: to an award winning journalist who got Order of Australia

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Speaker 2: from Australian governments.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, oh, thanks so much, Salomon Joseph. It is always

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Speaker 1: great to speak to your territory hearing director and principal audiologists.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, lovely, Thank you