We're asking you to help give kiwi kids with
hearing loss a sporting chance at the
world renowned John Tracy Clinic.

Your contribution to Project 20k will help
make it happen.

The Sportsbuddy Foundation is aiming to send one child
and their family to the International Family Session at
the prestigious John Tracy Clinic in California. With their
holistic integration of physiological and scientific
knowledge about deafness, the specialists at the clinic
empower deaf children and their families to master the
challenges of oral communication.

There’s no cure for deafness, but the John Tracy Clinic
3 week course can make a profound and life changing
difference for a child with hearing loss. A child like Danielle.

We invite you to watch her video appeal, then make any
contribution you can on the Paypal Donation link.

*Project 20k aims to raise NZ $20,000, which will fund:
- Airfares and accommodation for recipient and family.
- All course costs and expenses.
NB: The child nominated for the course will be selected on the best
possible outcome criteria by a panel of people made up of trustees
of The Sportsbuddy Foundation and selected industry experts.
An audited list of contributions can be made available at the conclusion of each financial year after a full set of accounts have been audited.
You can view a copy of The Sportsbuddy Foundation Trust Document here.
You can view The Sportsbuddy Foundation Registration Certificate here.

---

John Tracy Clinic – International Session 2006

It’s incredibly hard to put into words what an exceptional experience it was for our family to attend the JTC Summer Session in July/August this year. The John Tracy Clinic was set up in 1942 by Louise Treadwell Tracy (wife of actor Spencer Tracy) to help deaf children all over the world learn to talk, just as she had taught her profoundly deaf son John. The Clinic operates auditory-oral classroom settings with participation in auditory-verbal therapy and inclusive educational settings.

Firstly, we have to thank many people who helped make this possible – a huge thankyou to Oticon Nz, NZ Federation for Deaf Children, Auckland Parents of Deaf Children, Jan Baker of Furniture City, Steve at Rebel Sports, Pascoes and many more, some who don’t wish to be named – thank you all so much for what you have helped to do for Danielle, it’s made a huge difference in her own acceptance of her deafness already by being in a preschool class with others just the same for three weeks, and it has taught us all how to work with her so much better.

Danielle has a severe/profound bilateral hearing loss and it was for her that we decided to fundraise and get our family over to JTC. Our son Michael attended the sibling programme and Danielle attended the pre-school while Len and I attended the Parent Education Sessions where it was instilled in us and all other parents participating, that we as parents, are our child’s primary educators, advocates, support team and motivators. It was encouraging to discover that all the staff at the clinic were very open to parental input and it was mentioned frequently that they learned from the parents as much as they learned from professional development.

We arrived in Los Angeles without much of an idea of what we would be doing at the John Tracy Clinic, and we graduated from the summer programme there three weeks later, feeling that our time spent there was incomparable, and exceeded all our dreams or expectations.

For the pre-schoolers, activities were planned every day that encourage children to use their amplified residual hearing, whether they have cochlear implants or hearing aids and to develop speech and receptive and expressive language skills. Each child had a Speech & Language lesson daily, which was individually planned to suit them. These lessons were attended by one or two parents, or alternatively you could observe and learn through a one-way mirror system which were in effect in all speech booths, audiology booths and classrooms.

The information provided by the Clinic was comprehensive beyond belief – each day, our minds were filled with exceptional amounts of knowledge about every single aspect of deafness including psychological, emotional, cognitive, developmental, physical and social skills, as well as auditory learning and development. We had speakers from all over the USA both children, parents, adults and professionals to bring us information including ENT Surgeons, Cochlear Surgeons, Implanted adults, children, and much much more.

Every single staff member at the John Tracy Clinic was delightful, and the cohesive team environment and sense of pride in what they do, is motivating to be around. So many of us have encountered the dysfunctional systems and relationships within the special needs sector, but JTC has empowered us to return to these situations and look objectively at building a new team, in a manner which works for us and our daughter.

The benefits for our family from this programme have already been incredible, and we feel very empowered with what we have learned for now, and the future. The level of professionalism displayed by the staff at JTC was equalled only by their passion for what they do. The holistic environment was amazing, with the staff providing support in every possible area, from on-site Audiologists, Speech & Language Therapists, Qualified PreSchool Teachers for the Deaf & H/Imp, Psychologists specialising in dealing with deaf children and their siblings, Parental Support and more.

Parents are given the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills they need to foster their child’s overall development, and to share with others the feelings, triumphs and obstacles their family is experiencing.

Not only has JTC given us the opportunity and knowledge to plan a positive trail forward for our daughter, but they have introduced us to people from all over the world, who, for whatever reason, have been thrown into this world of deafness, a world that many of us had no understanding or awareness of earlier. The friendships we have made have been heartwarming and inspirational with many parents facing other challenges with their children alongside deafness.

We believe that anyone with a deaf/hearing impaired child would benefit tremendously from attending an international session at the John Tracy Clinic and would be more than happy to answer any questions regarding our participation and knowledge. It is also extremely worthwhile for parents to carry out the John Tracy Correspondence Course which is available free, online at www.jtc.org and having done this course, I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.

My own personal dream is now to take what I have learned at the John Tracy Clinic and begin a campaign to help other parents through the correspondence courses which are available free of charge online or via mail, as well as trying to encourage families to fundraise to attend the international sessions if at all possible.

I am currently working on the idea of approaching some companies such as Air New Zealand in conjunction with others, to propose an annual scholarship/sponsorship for a New Zealand family to attend the John Tracy International Summer Sessions plus I am very interested in bringing the idea of the John Tracy Demo Home to New Zealand, which is an acoustically ideal learning facility created by them, in the replica of an ordinary home with bedroom/bathroom/kitchen/lounge. Each of these rooms is a ‘therapy room’ but designed to imitate an ordinary home as the home environment is where 80% of speech and language learning take place, with the parents or primary caregivers.

If anyone has any questions about this amazing experience or ideas to offer for the future, please don’t hesitate to contact me – and again, to all of you wonderful kind people who have helped my little girl, a heartfelt thank you again for your generosity and support.

Tracey Cooper