Jasmine Scheithe shares journey after son’s hearing loss diagnosis as Oran Park Shepherd Centre’s construction continues

Jasmine Scheithe is just one of those who will benefit from a new multi-million dollar facility to help Macarthur families who have children with hearing loss. Find out when it’s set to open.

When one mum found out her son had been diagnosed with a serious condition, the decision to pack up their bags and move from regional NSW to southwest Sydney made perfect sense.

At eight weeks old, Jasmine Scheithe’s son Banjo was diagnosed with severe to profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.

“What that means is very severe hearing loss in both of his ears,” she explained.

“They do the regular hearing tests in hospitals after birth and that detected that there was some sort of hearing loss but a lot of the time they say to give it a few days.

“Especially with the delivery I had, it was very quick, so sometimes the mucous can stay congested and it blocks the machine from working properly.”

At first, Ms Scheithe was not too worried because her family had no history of hearing impairments. But then, they did the test again about a week after she was discharged from hospital which revealed there was a definite hearing loss in Banjo.

From there they were referred onto an audiologist for treatment and a diagnosis.

“I was living in Albury and I gave birth at Wodonga and there was only one audiologist in Albury so we saw them but their level of technology could only tell us so much,” Ms Scheithe said.

“So we were referred to the children’s hospital in either Melbourne or Sydney and because of that, and the severity of the hearing loss, to get good early intervention I had to make the decision to move to Melbourne or Sydney so now I am in Camden.”

Ms Scheithe said when they finally got the official diagnosis it didn’t come as much of a shock as one would expect.

“After that second test, the stress and the worry was creeping in so I did all this research into it and was looking at worst case scenarios and what options there were,” she said.

“By the time we got the diagnosis, I had come to terms with whatever it was and was just ready to get Banjo what he needed.”

Ms Scheithe decided to go with The Shepherd Centre for Banjo’s early intervention treatment.

“I saw a video of a girl on their website who had cochlear implants and she was five or six and she was speaking so well,” she said.

“He became a client of theirs from around two months of age.”

Banjo needed to have surgery just after five months to have cochlear implants inserted. In the lead-up to it, he was fitted with hearing aids but tests showed he was not benefiting much from them.

“The Shepherd Centre did an eight-week group course where they told us how to implement things in the home to help.

“For us, a lot of that came in handy even more after the surgery because I knew all the things I could do at home to change the environment and how I spoke so he could get the most out of hearing.”

Ms Scheithe said having the temporary centre at Oran Park was extremely helpful and she was thrilled the new facility would open next year.

The Shepherd Centre’s CEO Jim Hungerford said with the Labor Government winning the federal election, it was time to hold the party accountable on all the pre-election promises they made.

Labor has promised to invest $6.5 million into children with hearing loss, for three new Shepherd Centres with one in Macarthur and two in Tasmania and for a new online digital platform HearHub.

The Shepherd Centres provide services to children with hearing loss, including the development of speech and communication skills, life skills and emotional resilience.

An early artist impression of the multi-million dollar Shepherd Centre being built in Oran Park.

Mr Hungerford said the Macarthur Region in South West Sydney was the fastest growing area in NSW, with hearing loss services in nearby areas already over capacity.

He said the new services in Macarthur will address the gap in services in the area, expecting to help over 2000 children and their families in the next two decades.

“So many families are moving in to the area and more and more children struggling to get the help they need due to a lack of services,” Mr Hungerford said.

“We made the strategic decision to set up here so we could help the families in the region.

“The issue is much more common than people think, by school age one in 300 children have significant hearing loss.”

Mr Hungerford said the new centre in Oran Park would be opening at the beginning of next year thanks to funding from state and federal governments.

He said while there had been no word from the new federal government on when the $2.5 million funding would come through, the centre was still on track for next year.