Desperate parents' pleas for Auslan tutor to help young daughter go unanswered

Tilly Linturn is a delightful, energetic preschooler full of curiosity and a million questions. Twelve months ago, when Tilly's NDIS funding was approved, Jane Linturn was hopeful that her daughter would finally get the help she needed to learn Auslan. "We were sent to Sydney's Children's Hospital for testing, and it turned out her right ear is profoundly deaf," Ms Linturn said. Ms Linturn took the opportunity to purchase the Lisa Mills program and has been learning sign language herself so she can teach Tilly simple words like "please" and "thankyou", but she has concerns. "Learning from a deaf Auslan user, ideally in a face-to-face setting, allows for an authentic introduction to the language, but also the cultural and historical significance of Auslan to the deaf community," he said.