Paediatric ear diseases are some of the most common afflictions of childhood, often extremely distressing to children and parents alike, causing suffering, absence from school and parental distress. The severity ranges from mild to those that threaten the development of speech and language. Many of these conditions are readily able to be overcome, whilst others may require highly specialised surgical skills.

Professor Bruce Black has been Queensland’s leading paediatric Otologist for many years, as the Chair, Department of Otolaryngology, Royal Children’s Hospital, and latterly as the Senior Otologist at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital. As a founding Director of the Hear and Say Centre, he has worked for many years in paediatric deafness and its management. 

Jane Black, our Clinical Social Worker specialising in cochlear implant surgery, has been the Chair, Board of Directors at the Centre for many years and remains a Board member actively participating in the Centre’s committee activities.