Helping Cambodia Hear

Chyrisse Heine knows Cambodia’s rural provinces well. She travels there regularly—and has for years—in her work for Cambodia Vision, which provides health care to Cambodian residents. In oppressive humidity and with limited resources, Heine works with a group of volunteers to provide hearing care and treatment for the organization. Last year, her team helped more than 700 people—46 of whom experienced the ability to hear for the first time. An associate professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, Heine is an audiologist and speech-language pathologist. In addition to teaching and leading her annual volunteer trips, she runs her own private practice, is a director at Speech Pathology Australia, and founded the Speech and Hearing Project, a not-for-profit to involve speech-language pathology students and graduate students in volunteer work. But her work in Cambodia really drives her. “A large percentage of the population have hearing loss, speaking problems and communication difficulties,” Heine says. “Many children are born with hearing loss, or have had repeated infections and accumulate some damage along the way. Farmers often end up with hearing loss from working with noisy machinery. There are also logistical issues to overcome. Most people have to travel several hours to get access to basic health care.” Free Hearing Test App Launched for World Hearing Day Audiologist Courtney Caron spent four years in Africa creating a full-service hearing ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Academia & Research Audiology Health Care Private Practice Slider Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: blogs