Here@HEARS

This issue

2017 Events P.4

In the News P.6

I-HEARS in Numbers P.7

The Making of… P.8

I-HEARS in Research P.9

2018 Events P.10

Strategic Partners P.11

About Institute-HEARS P.12

ISSUE

2018Transforming Lives with Hearing02

Institute-HEARSGearing up

for the future of

CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS

See FEATURE: Hear & Be Heard Program P.2

Prof. Dato’ IR. Dr. Mohd Marzuki (seventh from left) and Dato’ Dr. Hajah Zailan with representative

from Ministry of Health and the I-HEARS team during the first awareness seminar in Shah Alam.

2

Institute-HEARS is proud to announce a nationwide

program relating to Hearing Loss in Children: Hear and

Be Heard. On 6th November 2017, the program was

officially launched by the Vice Chancellor of UKM, Prof.

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr. Noor Azlan Ghazali together with

Yayasan Sime Darby’s Governing Council Member,

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr. Wan Mohd Zahid Mohd Noordin;

Hearing Loss in Children:The RM300,000 Project

special guests include YSD CEO, Pn. Yatela

Zainal Abidin and the Ministry of Health’s Head

of Otorhinolaryngology, Dato' Dr Siti Sabzah

Mohd Hashim. Read coverage on the launch

here.

This 3-years program, as funded by Yayasan

Sime Darby (YSD), aims to narrow the gap of

achievement between hearing impaired children

and their normal hearing peers through

enhancing listening and spoken language. A

multifaceted initiative will be adopted involving

the hearing impaired children, parents /families of

the hearing impaired children, and the hearing

related professionals. The program consists of:

Awareness Programs, Parents Workshops,

Series of Professional Short Courses and

distribution of appropriate resource materials to

the public and the hearing impaired community.

There will also be a website dedicated to this

program.(Cont. next page)

The mock cheque handing over ceremony during the program

launch at UKM Bangi.

4 Parents Workshops

2 Awareness Seminars

2 Professional Short Courses

3 Parents Workshops

1 Awareness Seminar

1 Professional Short Course

2018 2019 2020

1 Parents Workshop

1 Awareness Seminar

1 Parents Workshop

2 Awareness Seminars

1 Professional Short Course

Project Timeline

2017

Awareness SeminarsAs supported by Ministry of Health Malaysia

Objective: To increase awareness on importance of early

diagnosis and intervention of children with hearing loss.

9th August: Hospital Shah Alam, Selangor

Attended by 377 healthcare professionals and the public with

the assistance from State Healthcare Departments of Selangor,

WP Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and Negeri Sembilan.

22nd November: Hospital Permai, Johor Bahru

Attended by 190 healthcare professionals and the public with

the assistance from State Healthcare Departments of Johor and

Melaka.

View more photos here.

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Info pack about Hearing Loss in Children

and Storybook “Adam Boleh Mendengar”6th Nov: Launch of Hear and Be Heard Resource Materials

Institute-HEARS developed and published culturally appropriate

resource materials to support parents and families of hearing

impaired children, as well as to increase awareness about

hearing loss in children to the public.

Read more about launch here and watch video.

See video on resource materials here.

Parents WorkshopsAs supported by Ministry of Health Malaysia

Objective: To train parents to become effective language

facilitators for their hearing impaired child and empower them to

become advocates for their own children.

22nd November: Hospital Permai, Johor Bahru

Attended by 20 parents with guest parents from the UKM

Cochlear Implant Program. Also supported by Cochlear Ltd.

View more photos here.

Professional Short CoursesIn collaboration with Med-El Malaysia

Objective: To increase number of skilled professionals in

habilitation for hearing impaired children.

4-6th December: Pusat Kembangan Pendidikan, UKM KL

Attended by 30 professionals. The course was endorsed by AG

Bell Academy for Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

2017

2017 Events

Guests from Sabah Society for the

Deaf and Queen Elizabeth HospitalInstitute-HEARS received guests from Sabah Society for the

Deaf (SSD) and Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Kota

Kinabalu, Sabah on 15th March 2017. They came to observe

UKM’s aural habilitation set up, as they plan to do a similar set

up in Kota Kinabalu. It was a fruitful discussion for all involved.

First Med-El's Auditory Brainstem

Implant (ABI) surgery & use of Maestro

7 software intra-op in MalaysiaOn 2nd March 2017, Institute-HEARS was invited to be one of the

selected few to witness the live operation of the first ever Med-El's

Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) in UKMMC.

On a separate occasion (17th October 2017) UKM was also the

first organization to use the Med-El’s Maestro 7 intra-op for a

cochlear implant surgery as performed by Prof. Dr. Goh Bee See.

Hear Out at Farm in

the CityOn 19th March 2017, Institute-HEARS

together with Yayasan Budi Penyayang

Malaysia (PENYAYANG) organized Hear

Out at Farm in the City. This program was

specifically for families with pre-school

hearing impaired children receiving

habilitation at UKM. It was a fun-filled day

where the families were facilitated to

”conduct therapy” outside of clinic and

home, and they recorded it in an

experience book.

Hearing Awareness Talk & Screening

Program Institute-HEARS was invited to give a talk about hearing health and

care at Masjid Kampung Tunku on 19th April 2017, as hosted by

Yayasan Wiba Prima and Biro Muslimah Masjid Kampung Tunku.

Institute-HEARS in collaboration with Audiology Programme UKM

took the opportunity to conduct hearing screenings on the

participants from Kampung Tunku residents and students of

Maahad Tahfiz Kampung Tunku.

Volunteers for "Ride The Train”

ProgramMalaysian Association of Speech and Hearing (MASH)

and Yayasan Wiba Prima (YWP) organized an

awareness program, "Ride The Train” which was held

on 10th May 2017 at KL Sentral in conjunction with the

Better Hearing and Speech Month in May. Institute-

HEARS was involved as the volunteers for the program.

Read the news coverage here.

5

Institute-HEARS as the beneficiary

of Petronita’s Orchid Run & RideInstitute-HEARS was one of the beneficiaries of Petronita

KL's Orchid Run & Ride 2016. On 20th of July 2017,

PETRONITA organized a small get together to celebrate

some of the recipients of the funding whom are UKM CI

Program patients. A total of 32 UKM patients from all over

the country benefited from last year's RM60,000 donation,

in the form of hearing aids, assistive listening devices and

cochlear implant accessories. More details here.

This year, Institute-HEARS is once again the beneficiary for

Petronita’s Orchid Run & Ride 2017. We received a

generous RM100,000 donation; we opened a booth and

conducted a hearing screening on event day and one of our

UKM CI recipient, Kai Xin, performed rhythmic gymrama on

stage. It is hoped that more individuals with hearing

impairment will benefit from this funding. More about the

event online.

Komuniti TUTURYayasan Budi Penyayang Malaysia (PENYAYANG) has

been supporting UKM pediatric patients with hearing loss

since October 2001 through Tadika TUTUR. A new

concept of collaboration was discussed and Komuniti

TUTUR was “born”, involving Institute-HEARS, Faculty of

Health Sciences, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz,

Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Education. The

signing ceremony of the Collaboration Agreement

between UKM and PENYAYANG took place on 7th Sept

2017 where UKM was represented by Prof. Dato’ Dr.

Imran Ho Abdullah and Dato’ Leela Mohd Ali represented

PENYAYANG.

2017 Events (Cont.)

Join the

Conversation

#institutehears

#ihearsukm

#ukmciprogram

#transformingliv

eswithhearing

website:

ukm.my/ihears

facebook:

@institutehears

instagram:

@institutehears

Institute-HEARS supports World Hearing Day (3rd March)and we are proud that one of our programs was featuredin the World Health Organization's Activity Report forWorld Hearing Day 2017. Link here.

Tiagarajan Annamalay (I-HEARS Counselor) listed the fivestages of grieving when dealing with hearing loss in hisarticle, “Emosi & Kehilangan Deria Pendengaran” asfeatured in the iSIHAT magazine, April 2017 issue.

In May 2017, Radio station IKIM.fm interviewed Prof. Dr.Goh Bee See (current I-HEARS Deputy Director) aboutcochlear implants. Have a listen here.

Nadirah Hanim Mannan (I-HEARS Lecturer /Audiologist)highlighted important points about hearing loss inchildren in her article, “A-Z of Hearing Loss” as publishedin the Sunday Star, on 2nd July 2017. Read the full articlehere.

How to engage with a hearing impaired child? Dr.Deepashini Harithasan (I-HEARS Lecturer /Researcher)shared tips on this in the Sunday Star, dated 30th July2017. Full article here.

Mohamad Firdaus Latip (I-HEARS Audiologist) definedhearing loss as interviewed by KOSMO! The exchange waspublished on 31st October 2017, and is available online.

Tey Shi Rou (I-HEARS Speech-Language Therapist), listedthe chronological stages of hearing and speechdevelopment in children in the November 2017 issue ofParenthood Magazine Malaysia.

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In the News

1

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4

5

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11STUDENTS

The only Malaysian program featured in the World Health Organization's Activity Report for World Hearing Day 2017

7

I-HEARS in Numbers

4GRANTS

5RESEARCH

23PUBLICATIONS

3INTELLECTUAL

PROPERTY

3MOU/MOA

8ALLIANCES

4HUMAN

RESOURCE

6PROGRAMS

1FEATURE

12 Articles (6 in ISI)5 popular writing1 storybook “Adam BolehMendengar”4 seminars1 information pack

1 GUP1 GGPM1 FRGS1 Yayasan Sime Darby

4 Active ongoing researchParticipate in Implanted Recipient Observational Study (IROS)

Awareness materials for Hear and Be Heard Program

2 Ministries 6 Corporate Organizations

New staffs:2 Lecturers1 Administrative Officer1 Project Coordinator

Yayasan Sime DarbyYayasan Budi PenyayangMalaysiaMed-El Malaysia

8 Masters 2 PhD1 ORL

1 Community Program1 Hearing Talk & Screening2 Awareness Programs1 Professional Short Course1 Parents Workshop

RM100KDONATION

For the second consecutive year, Institute-HEARS is the beneficiary for Petronita KL’s Orchid Run & Ride 2017. Donation received will be used to aid needy hearing impaired individuals.

The Making of…

“Transforming Lives with Hearing” Video

UKM Cochlear Implant

Recipients’ Profile:

The UKM Cochlear Implant (CI)Program is the pioneer for habilitationprogram for deaf children in Malaysiasince 1995. To date, more than 400patients have received benefits fromthe program. The UKM CI Programserves as a platform for children tolearn to listen, speak and developlanguage like their normal hearingpeers, that would then enable them toenroll into mainstream schools. In fact,a local study looking at the long termoutcomes of the UKM paediatricimplantees reported that more thanhalf of the implantees (58.5%) areenrolled in mainstream school, usingoral spoken language as their mode ofcommunication (Goh et al., 2017).

Goh, B. S., Fadzilah, N., Abdullah, A., Othman, B. F., & Umat,C. (2017). Long-term outcomes of Universiti KebangsaanMalaysia Cochlear Implant Program among Pediatric

Implantees. Internasional Journal of PediatricOtorhinolaryngology, 105, 27-32.

Institute-HEARS manages the UKM CIProgram and we are proud to note thatmore patients are being intervenedearly, and receiving the requiredhabilitation. Yet, more work needs tobe done where experts and communityalike need to come together to helpclose the gap between hearingimpaired children and normal hearingchildren.

One such initiative is a collaborationwith Cochlear Ltd in producing a videofeaturing recipients of the UKM CIProgram (their profiles on the side).The team brainstormed the script andfilmed in just under two days. Thankyou Cochlear Ltd for the continuoussupport in “Transforming Lives withHearing”.

Watch the full video here.

Amos Sum, 3Implanted at 2.5

years old;

Parents’ hopes: “I hope

Amos can live a fulfilling

life, accepted by the

society and get equal

opportunities in

education and

employment without

discrimination and

labels”.

Mohamad Farzan, 7Implanted at 3 years old;

Parents: “Before the implant he

could only say ‘hi’ and ‘bye’. After

switch on his speech and language

are developing rapidly. He is now

studying in a mainstream school”.

Tee Le Peng, 22Implanted at 2.5 years old,

currently a University student;

“Being deaf is a challenge but also a

privilege. Being deaf exposes us to

challenges and learning

opportunities that are not available

for others. To go far, reach out! You

are never alone!”

Lavinsh, 3Implanted at 2 years old;

Parents’ advice to others:

“Seek professional advice

quickly as early intervention

is important. Do some

research and learning on

your own as well, talk to

fellow parents to learn and

share. Work closely with

therapist and audiologist –

they are very supportive”.

I-HEARS in Research

Grant: Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS)* Commenced: 2017

* Status: In Progress, Active

Grant: Geran Universiti Penyelidikan(GUP)

* Commenced: 2017

* Status: In Progress, Active

Grant: Geran Galakan Penyelidik

Muda (GGPM)

* Commenced: 2017

* Status: In Progress, Active

Grant: Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD)

* Commenced: 2017

* Status: In Progress, Active

Grant: Dana Pembangunan Penyelidikan (DPP-INSTITUT)

* Commenced: 2018

* Status: In Progress

CHARACTERIZING COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN OLDER ADULTS WITH IMPAIRED HEARING USING A NOVEL MIXED-PAIRS DICHOTIC LISTENING

AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION OF HEARING LOSS IN CHILDREN

A COMPARISON OF PARENTAL LANGUAGE INPUT IN COCHLEAR IMPLANTED CHILDREN AND CHILDREN WITH NORMAL HEARING

HEAR AND BE HEARD PROGRAM - HEARING LOSS IN CHILDREN: APPROACHES TO EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND INTERVENTION THROUGH IMPROVING AWARENESS

IMPROVING INFORMATIONAL COUNSELING DELIVERY TO PARENTS OF HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN: “CHANGING THE CONVERSATION FROM THE EAR TO BRAIN”

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MAINSTREAM SCHOOL READINESS FOR HEARING-IMPAIRED CHILDREN WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS

Grant: Geran Universiti Penyelidikan(GUP)* Commenced: 2016* Status: In Progress, Active

PEDIATRIC-IMPLANTED RECIPIENT OBSERVATIONAL STUDY (P-IROS)

Collaboration with Cochlear Limited * Commenced: 2016* Status: In Progress, Active

15 – 19th: AVT Workshop

20th: Hear and Be Heard - Parents Workshop

(Central Zone)

2018 Events

10

Jan

March

April

May

August

Nov

3rd: WHO’s World Hearing Day

12 – 14th: Hear and Be Heard – Professional

Short Course (Series 2)

11 – 13th: UKM Cochlear Implant Training

16 – 17th: Hear and Be Heard – Awareness

Seminar and Parents Workshop

(Northern Zone)

Better Hearing and Speech Month

9– 11th: Hear and Be Heard - Professional

Short Course (Series 3)

10 – 11th: Malaysian 2nd Hearing Congress

Hear and Be Heard – Awareness Seminar and

Parents Workshop (East Coast Zone)

Hear and Be Heard – Parents Workshop

(Southern Zone)

Strategic Partners

We have a few partners, from both government and private sectors, in our projects whom

provide complete solutions with outstanding competence. All together, we work to create the best strategic partnerships

and make successful outcomes.

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From the Editor’s Desk

From left:Muhamad Hazwan AbdullahAdministrative AssistantMohamad Firdaus LatipAudiologistNadirah Hanim MannanLecturer/AudiologistTey Shi RouSpeech-Language TherapistDr. Deepashini HarithasanLecturer

Prof. Dr. Siti Zamratol-Mai Sarah MukariDirector/Professor in AudiologyProf. Dr. Goh Bee SeeDeputy Director/ENT SurgeonAirenchara HabirProject Coordinator Hear and Be HeardRosmiza MusaAdministrative OfficerTiagarajan AnnamalayCounsellor

Associate Members of Institute-HEARS 2017Principal Associate FellowsProf. Dr. Asma AbdullahProf. Dr. Kartini AhmadProf. Dr. Hamzaini Abdul Hamid

Senior Associate FellowsAP Dr. Rogayah A RazakAP Dr. Manisah Mohd AliAP Dr. Cila UmatAP Dr. Rafidah MazlanAP Dr. Faizah Mohd ZakiAP Dr. Rafidah Mazlan

Associate FellowsDr. Nashrah MaamorDr. Haniza Abdul WahatDr. Wan Syafira IshakDr. Kew Thean YeanDr. Noor Dina HashimDr. Fahrin Zara Nasseri

Cochlear Implant CliniciansAudiologistsDr. Marniza Omar (Lecturer)Steven Lee Onn Wah (Lecturer)Afiq Ikmal SahakLim Bee YingNadiah Abdul AzizNur’Izzati Md YusoffWan Fazlina Wan HashimMohd Khairil Azahar JamaludinSpeech-Language TherapistsDr. Rahayu Mustaffa Kamal (Lecturer)Fatin Hanim Mohamed YusoffHooi Poh MengLee Kai LeaNor Shahrina Mohd ZawawiSherin SokmumSiti Munirah HarisClinical PsychologistAP Dr. Hjh. Normah Che Din (Lecturer)PaediatricianDr. Juriza Ismail (Lecturer) Here@HEARS presents Institute-HEARS in review for the year

2017. This issue highlights selected events as the Institutecontinues to expand and grow together with our partners andalliances, in line with our objective to transform lives withhearing. As we welcomed new faces to the team, the institutealso bid farewell to one of its founding members, Dr. BasyariatulFathi Othman. 2018 promises to be yet another exciting year asthere are more programs and research projects in the pipeline.We at Institute-HEARS are geared up for the future of the hearingimpaired community and we welcome collaborations fromeveryone. Join the conversation and have a great 2018!

Institute of Ear, Hearing & Speech (Institute-HEARS)Block 8, 3rd Floor, Fakulti Sains Kesihatan, UKM,

Jalan Temerloh, 53200 Kuala Lumpur.T: +603 9289 5132 F: +603 2698 6039

W: www.ukm.my/ihears E: i-hears@ukm.edu.my

About Institute-HEARS

Established in 2013 to close the gap between individuals withhearing loss and their normal hearing peers. We achieve thisthrough multifaceted platforms which include fundamental andapplied research related to hearing and hearing loss, clinicalservices, upskilling of professionals involved in the management ofhearing impaired individuals and improving hearing loss awarenessamong professionals and the general public.

We are a group /team of dedicated and passionate professionals(audiologists, speech-language therapists, otologic surgeon,linguist, special educationist, counsellor, pediatrician, researcher)of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Our clinical services arethe Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist clinic, audiology, speech-language therapy, counselling sessions, and a more specialized CIclinic that has been running since 1995.

Thousands of patients are currently receiving treatment from UKM.All patients with hearing loss in UKM are under the care of atransdisciplinary team who provide a family-centered /patient-centered care. This distinguishes Institute-HEARS from otherhearing loss clinics /programs in Malaysia. Institute-HEARS also hasthe biggest pool of experts from various background who worksynergistically in the management of hearing loss. By empoweringindividuals with hearing loss to live and function in the mainstreamsociety, we are maximizing their full potentials.