Explore every episode of the podcast NextSense Institute Podcast

We wrap up our series on informed parent choice with a discussion from the lady who inspired this topic: Emily Shepard. Emily shares the experience of navigating a complex diagnosis for her son, and provides advice for professionals working in early intervention. 

You can access the transcript here. 

You can learn more about UsherKids Australia here. 

This week Trudy talks to Fiona Mackay about the decisions she and her family made and the advice that informed those decisions regarding modality and education choices for her daughter. 

You can access the transcript here.

Longtime friend of the NextSense Institute Podcast Professor John Ravenscroft joins us to talk about his keynote at the Orientation and Mobility Association of Australasia's 2025 Conference being held in March 2025. This fascinating discussion covers cerebral vision impairment (CVI), the differences between voxels and perception and how this knowledge influences programs for children with CVI in daily living activities and orientation and mobility. 

To learn more about the conference, go to the website: https://www.omaaustralasia.com/resources/professional-development/omaa-conference-2025/ 

Download the transcript from this link.

Trudy spoke with Bronwyn Newman about the Listen to Me project that is pioneering the development of a patient-reported experience measure for people with intellectual disability. 

You can access the transcript here.

You can contact Bronwyn with more questions here. 

Trudy speaks with PhD Candidate Natalie Skinner about her work with culturally diverse clients in speech pathology. 

You can access the podcast here. 

Trudy spoke to Emre Ilhan, a physiotherapist and lecturer within the Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health, and Human Sciences, at Macquarie University about inclusion in research. Join us for this thought provoking discussion!

The transcript is located here.

Contact Emre here: emre.ilhan@mq.edu.au

Trudy spoke with the Clinical Research Network Manager from Cochlear, Dr Colleen Psarros about the research that she is involved with. 

You can access the transcript from this link

Learn more about the research at Cochlear from this link

You can contact Colleen Psarros directly through her email: cpsarros@cochlear.com

Trudy speaks to Macquarie academic, Kathleen Tait about a quality of life study for families of children who are blind or have low vision. 

Transcript is located here. 

Trudy speaks with Dr Nicola McDowell about the Austin Assessment, a tool to support clients with CVI. 

Find the Austin Assessment here. 

You can access the transcript here. 

Trudy speaks with Jermy Pang about her experiences as an advocate for herself, her children and deaf colleagues and friends. 

The transcript is available at this link.

Trudy speaks to Naomi Clarry about her experiences as an advocate. Naomi is the NSW Programs Facilitator at Hear For You. 

You can access the transcript here: Transcript

Trudy speaks with podcast favourite Elise Lonsdale about the advocacy work they do for themselves and the community. 

The transcript can be located here. 

Trudy talks with Sarah KIenbort this week about the journey for her family to find the right educational settings for her daughter. This chat continues our series about informed parent choice for families with children who are Deaf or hard of hearing. 

You can access the transcript at this link. 

Trudy speaks with Hear for You National Manager John Lui about his advocacy work. 

You can learn more about Hear For You at this link. 

You can access the transcript here.

Trudy talks with repeat podcast visitor Michael Corrigan, Assistive Technology Consultant at NextSense, about advocating for himself and clients. 

You can find the transcript here. 

It is World Hearing Day and we are celebrating with an early episode! Trudy is talking with Elizabeth Ellis and Denise Clayton about their experiences with cochlear implants.  To learn more about World Hearing Day, follow this link.

You can access the transcript at this link: Transcript.

Trudy spends some time with Chris Edwards, Manager Government Relations and Advocacy for Vision Australia, about his role. 

The transcript can be found here. 

Trudy talks to Michael Clarkson, Assistant Principal, about his advocacy work with DHH Students. 

You can access the transcript here. 

Trudy continues the topic of advocacy with a conversation with Ben Clare.  Ben was awarded the David Blyth Award in recognition by Blind Citizens Australia of his significant contribution to the lives of people who are blind or have low vision, and the Lesley Hall Award for Lifetime Achievement from Disability Leadership Institute- he offers many insights about advocacy in our discussion. We hope you enjoy it!

Transcript can be located here.

The NextSense Institute is back after a hiatus and we are beginning the year with a series exploring the topic of advocacy with people in the community with lived experience of sensory disability. We begin with a conversation with Robyn McKenzie. 

Transcript Link is here.

Join Trudy as she talks with Dr. Sue Silveira, who is course Director, the Master of Disability Studies, and Tanya Kysa, who is graduate studies coordinator here at the NextSense Institute. 

Find out more about your study options here. 

Transcript can be accessed here.

Join Trudy as she talks to Dr Cay Holbrook about her conference experiences as she prepares her keynote address for the SPEVI 2023 Online Conference. 

You can learn more about the conference here.

You can view the transcript here. 

Join Trudy as she talks to SPEVI 2023 Keynote Professor John Ravenscroft. 

Learn more about the conference here.

Download the podcast transcript here. 

Trudy begins a new series about informed parent choice today a discussion with Suzie Robertson, a parent of a child who is Deaf and leader of the Parent of Deaf Children organisation. 

Learn more about Parents of Deaf Children at this link. 

The transcript for this podcast is located at this link. 

Join Trudy as she speaks to Lisa Hamm, one of the keynote speakers at the SPEVI 2023 Online Conference. 

Find out more about the conference here.

Download the transcript here. 

Join Trudy as she talks to James Fielding from Audeara. 

Learn more about Audeara.

Download the transcript here. 

Join Trudy as she talks to NextSense Teacher Chris Ashenden, the Team Manager/Player Mentor for the Australian Deaf Cricket Team. 

Download the transcript here.

Join Trudy as she talks to Dr Jessica Kirkness about her memoir: A Sense of You. 

You can read some of Jessica's work here. 

Download the transcript here. 

Join Trudy as she talks to Elise Lonsdale about the influence of COVID lockdowns on her work teaching and coaching peers in Assistive Technology.

Download the transcript here.

Join Trudy as she chats to OMAA Symposium keynote speaker Arvind Chandna about adult CVI. 

Download the transcript here.

Learn more about the OMAA Symposium here.

Trudy is joined by OMAA Symposium Panel members Nicola McDowell and Amanda Lueck to talk about the Adults with CVI group. 

You can access the transcript here.

More information about the OMAA Symposium is located here.

Trudy talks to Professor Greg Leigh and Dr Rachael Beswick from the Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee about the Workshop coming up on the 22nd July. 

Workshop Details: Workshop link

Download the transcript here: Transcript

Join Trudy as she speaks with John Lui from Hear for You about their move to The Shepherd Centre and future activities. 

Learn more about Hear for You on their website.

Download the transcript from this link.

Trudy talks to Erica Tandori and Stu Favilla about developing accessible science content for people with vision impairment. 

Rossjohn lab Sensory Science website: Link to the site

Download the transcript here: Episode transcript

Trudy talks to Mel Stephens about being the first blind woman to rescue and raise horses in Australia, and her very active online presence on YouTube. 

You can find Mel's YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpBrQD0KEWZSYpCk0gdLV6Q 

You can view the transcript from this link. 

Other links for Mel:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melsblindlife/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Personal-Blog/Mels-Blind-Life-1326898004158153/

Blog: https://melsblindlife.wordpress.com/author/mickmate9/

Facebook group for visually impaired socializing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/290837205375888/?ref=share

Guide Dog Penelope Instagram: https://instagram.com/guidedogpenelope?utm_medium=copy_link

Guide Dog Penelope FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pennyguidedog/

Join Trudy as she talks to Phia Damsma about the wonderful apps she has developed to give children and students who are blind or have low vision experience with coding and mathematical concepts!

Join Phia for the 3 part online series: Early learning of digital skills for access to STEM

Find out more about the Ballyland apps here.

Download the Transcript here.

Join Trudy as she talks with Christine Casey about the braille letter songs she has developed for Education Queensland. 

Hear more of the braille letter songs here. 

Find out more about the course on the Queensland Braille Learning Progressions being run by NextSense Institute on 24 May here.

Download the transcript here.

Join Trudy as she speaks to Peter Cracknell from Quantum about his work in Assistive Technology and the 2022 Blind and Low Vision Masterclass Series beginning 6 May 2022. 

Find out more about the Blind and Low Vision Masterclass Series here.

Download the transcript of this discussion here.

We are proud to share episode 100 with you! This week's conversation is with NextSense Institute Director and Chairperson of the Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee, Professor Greg Leigh. 

Click here to download the transcript: Greg Leigh Podcast Transcript

Link to the Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee Website

Considering becoming a Teacher of the Deaf? Follow the link to find out more! Postgraduate Study

Join Trudy as she talks with Dr Frances Gentle about her work as a Specialist Vision Teacher in Australia and her global contribution. 

Transcript: Click here to download

Trudy talks to Alison Hawkins Bond about her research into reflective practices for Teachers of the Deaf. 

Transcript: Click here to download

Trudy is joined by Dr Robyn Cantle Moore to talk about her career as a teacher, opera singer and Teacher of the Deaf!

Transcript: Click here to download

As part of our Hearing Awareness Week celebrations, Trudy spoke to Adam Metcalfe to discuss the language journey he and his family have navigated since his daughter Anja was diagnosed with a hearing loss. 

Transcript: Click here to download

It's Hearing Awareness Week! Trudy talk to Suzan Temizer about the language journey she and her family have undertaken since their son Kivanc was diagnosed with hearing loss. 

Transcript: Click here to download

Trudy talks to Nese Sirikci about her studies and work as a digital designer and advocate.

Website: https://nese.id.au/

Cochlear Malala Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrRdZYA6dCI

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf7apk2huueMAzzie6f6zJg

Transcript: click here to download

Trudy speaks with Rowena Dowling about accessible and dignified health care services for people who are blind or have low vision. 

The transcript is available from this link. 

Trudy speaks with Jessica Liang, Project Coordinator at the Social Impact Hub.

https://www.socialimpacthub.org/

Transcript: click here to download

Trudy Smith speaks to Lauren Souter about her Bachelor of Environmental Science Degree.

Transcript: click here to download

Trudy speaks with Stephen Tang about his work as a DHH Mentor

Transcript: click here to download

Trudy speaks with academic Dr Renee Punch about post school transition for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

Transcript: click here to download

https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ydei20