Miss-Delectable
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Aker's quiet, that's a good sign | Herald Sun
BULLDOGS star Jason Akermanis doesn't need his ears to communicate with Estelle.
Aker is proficient in Auslan (Australian Sign Language), which he learned to communicate with wife Megan's parents.
Yesterday he helped launch Where to from hear?, a booklet aimed at the families of newly diagnosed deaf and hearing-impaired children. It was compiled by Estelle's mother, Joanna Fricot, after Estelle was diagnosed with severe hearing loss at the age of 20 months.
Ms Fricot received complex medical information on hearing aids and early intervention centres, but needed something more personal. "The deaf world was an unknown world for us . . . I needed to hear another mother's experience."
She decided to collect real-life stories written by parents of deaf and hearing-impaired children, in collaboration with Deaf Children Australia. The result was the booklet, which Ms Fricot said was an inspirational message to parents of newly diagnosed children. "It doesn't have to be daunting. It doesn't have to be overwhelming . . . There is a future."
Akermanis, fresh from his heroics against Port Adelaide on Sunday, said he learned Auslan to communicate with his in-laws, who are both deaf.
"I wanted to be a part of her life and her family's life," he said, adding his mother-in-law's lip-reading ability had caused her to "almost fall off her chair" when TV showed particularly nasty on-field sledging. His daughter Charlotte, 2, is also fluent in sign.
BULLDOGS star Jason Akermanis doesn't need his ears to communicate with Estelle.
Aker is proficient in Auslan (Australian Sign Language), which he learned to communicate with wife Megan's parents.
Yesterday he helped launch Where to from hear?, a booklet aimed at the families of newly diagnosed deaf and hearing-impaired children. It was compiled by Estelle's mother, Joanna Fricot, after Estelle was diagnosed with severe hearing loss at the age of 20 months.
Ms Fricot received complex medical information on hearing aids and early intervention centres, but needed something more personal. "The deaf world was an unknown world for us . . . I needed to hear another mother's experience."
She decided to collect real-life stories written by parents of deaf and hearing-impaired children, in collaboration with Deaf Children Australia. The result was the booklet, which Ms Fricot said was an inspirational message to parents of newly diagnosed children. "It doesn't have to be daunting. It doesn't have to be overwhelming . . . There is a future."
Akermanis, fresh from his heroics against Port Adelaide on Sunday, said he learned Auslan to communicate with his in-laws, who are both deaf.
"I wanted to be a part of her life and her family's life," he said, adding his mother-in-law's lip-reading ability had caused her to "almost fall off her chair" when TV showed particularly nasty on-field sledging. His daughter Charlotte, 2, is also fluent in sign.