Students at Orana Heights Public School were the first to put Dubbo’s new Hear Our Heart Ear Bus to the test following its completion this month.
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Around 30 students passed through the bus on Monday to have their hearing assessed in the sound-proof room parked on campus.
Hear Our Hearts support worker Lauren Hawkins said the initiative allows professionals to identify and address hearing issues. Students are monitored at follow-up appointments every three months.
Council administrator Michael Kneipp and director community services David Dwyer were there for the milestone moment.
“I’m amazed actually that this isn’t mainstream health department, but the fundraising that has gone on in the Dubbo community and surrounding areas has been absolutely fantastic,” he said.
“They are picking up learning difficulties that children have because of hearing.”
Mr Kneipp tested the bus and was found to have mild hearing loss in one ear.
“I think the cause of that is I was a farm boy, did a lot of shooting, a lot of driving tractors and exposed one ear to that noise for a long period of time and it now has an affect,” he said.
The Hear Our Heart Ear Bus Project began in 2012 as a pilot program through the Dubbo and District Parent Support Group for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired.
