To celebrate our historic legacy, we launched The Story of NextSense at the opening of our new centre for innovation, and were pleased to welcome the descendants of some of the people who helped make us what we are today.

When our organisation began 164 years ago, society had no expectation that a child with hearing or vision loss would even receive an education.  We have come such a long way since. NextSense pioneered compulsory education and teacher training. We advanced technology through computerised braille production and the first digital Auslan dictionary. We built one of the world’s largest and most respected cochlear implant programs for people of all ages. And we led the way in remote service delivery and early intervention. 

The Story of NextSense details this history and the people who made it possible. On display in the foyer of our new centre, the book is a tribute to what's come before, and how innovation is in our DNA.

Among the faces at our launch were descendants of Alice Betteridge, the first deafblind person to be formally educated in Australia, and Harold Earlam, who became Superintendent of our School in 1911 and held the position for more than three decades.

Harold was a progressive educator who would change the face of education in Australia and question the way things were. He championed compulsory education in the 1900s for children who were deaf and blind, and extended the use of braille within the school, to ensure children had access to the best available braille equipment and books. In the 1930s he became the first president of the National Association of Australian Teachers of the Deaf. And he began a program of work that we continue today: supporting children who are deaf and hard of hearing attending mainstream schools.

Harold's grandson Michael, 89, travelled from the north coast of NSW to attend the event. He brought his grandfather’s news clippings with him, and fond memories of living with his grandparents at the Darlington Institute, which was our home for 90 years. Opened in February 1872, the five-acre site provided us with more room to support the children in our care, and it eventually became the largest school of its kind in Australia.

As a young boy, Michael had great adventures there, sliding down the bannisters, playing with the students, exploring the stables, and watching the cricket being played on the nearby oval.

‘Living at Darlington had a great influence on me, it was fun and exciting. And I remember how popular my grandfather was with the children,’ Michael says. 'He was very level, it took a lot for him to be stern. He was a great bloke.'

Alice Betteridge's niece, Sharon, made the journey from Maitland in NSW to also join us at the event.

Alice, who was born in 1901, was taught braille by her teacher Roberta Reid—another important figure in our history—and she became a fluent reader and writer. Reid also introduced young Alice to finger spelling, as was being used by Helen Keller in America.

Sharon remembers her aunt's fierce determination, her ’cheeky’ outlook on life, her gift for teaching others, and her giving nature.

We are so pleased that Michael and Sharon could be with us to celebrate our rich history and what's next for our organisation.