History

The Shepherd Centre was founded in 1970 by Dr Bruce Shepherd AM and his late wife Annette. Both of their children were born profoundly deaf and at that time there was no suitable program in Australia for teaching deaf children to speak.

The Shepherds believed that given the opportunity and with training, children who were born deaf or hearing-impaired should be able to take their place in the hearing world. After a long and intensive search, the John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles was used as the model for teaching. The Shepherds believed this method best encompassed the educational and family ethos they wished to emulate.

With just five families, The Council for Integrated Deaf Education, later having a name change and becoming ‘The Shepherd Centre’ for Deaf Children and their Parents, was established.

Today The Shepherd Centre helps approximately 200 families each year in five centres in both NSW and ACT. The Shepherd Centre also helps families from rural and remote areas of Australia and overseas countries via its residential workshop program and a correspondence program.

We work with children aged 0 to 5 in their formative years of speech and language development.  Our aim is to have 90% of our children go to mainstream school ensuring that they can complete their education and participate fully in the hearing world.