Healthy Harold has a new friend

When Healthy Harold visits Central Coast schools this year, the children will notice a difference in the teaching modules they are shown.

In an Australian-first, 10-year-old Charlie is the first child Auslan presenter to feature in an Australian education program.

She has been filming alongside Life Ed’s iconic mascot, Healthy Harold, to translate key education experiences in Auslan to make the Life Ed health prevention program more accessible to deaf children like herself.

“I’m so happy to be a part of this amazing project to help other kids using Auslan so they can understand the whole experience, because they deserve to know,” Charlie said.

“Auslan is very special.

“I like it because it’s able to give a language to people that can’t hear or are hard of hearing.

“I had a lot of fun helping Life Ed and working with Healthy Harold.”

As Education Program Development Co-ordinator for Life Ed, Wamberal resident Michelle Weisbaum was largely responsible for the initiative.

“We have had a need to have Auslan added to more of our content for a long time,” she said.

“Typically adult interpreters are used.

“But I had the idea that because young people are at the heart of what we do they would relate more to a peer as a presenter.

“That started us down a long road.

“We reached out to groups in the deaf community and Sign Hear introduced us to Charlie, who was born deaf and has cochlear implants.

“She has lived experience (of hearing loss) and was a beautiful choice for us.

“We spent a lot of time working on the project.”

Weisbaum said there were now 42 pieces of content in teaching modules shown to children which now have Auslan interpretation on screen.

This follows the arduous task of perfecting Auslan scripts to accurately reflect the spoken content.

“Then a working group in the deaf community analysed the language choices and reworked the wording so it would be easily understood by children,” she said.

“Then followed a long rehearsal period and four different filming days in 2024 before the new video pieces were imbedded in the teaching modules.

“What we are teaching is vital and has to be accessible to every child  – we want to see every child see themselves in the modules.”

Weisbaum stressed that Charlie is a presenter of Auslan, not an interpreter, and was guided during rehearsals and filming by Auslan experts and interpreters.

Weisbaum, who has been with Life Ed for seven years, says she has “the best job in the world”.

“The program has been going for 45 years and was initially focused on drugs and alcohol advice,” she said.

“But we have evolved and now include topics such as respectful relationships, consent, physical health and online safety/digital wellbeing.”

Life Ed has partnered on the project with Sign Hear, an organisation dedicated to bridging the gap between the deaf and hearing communities.

Sharon Xabregas of Sign Hear said the organisation was thrilled to be part of the project.

“Seeing a young deaf person like Charlie involved gives hope and joy to many deaf and hard-of-hearing children by providing representation in educational programs,” she said.

“Charlie is a heartwarming role model and I hope to see more initiatives like this in the future.”

Life Ed Australia CEO Russell D’Costa said education had the power to lift people up, but this was only possible when it was accessible.

“At the core of our education work, we believe that all young Australians should see themselves in the Life Ed program,” he said.

“Having Charlie proudly showcasing her Auslan skills and leading by example to her peers is a great example of this.

“The Life Ed team continues to work with young people, teachers, communities and peak bodies to ensure content is accessible and inclusive across all modules and material.

“This work has included embedding closed captions within all of our middle and upper primary modules, featuring an inclusive range of young Australians in our content, and consulting with people with lived experience as we develop material.”

Terry Collins