In conversation with Tash Shallita – on building trust and being flexible

Tash Shallita is a Senior Listening and Spoken Language Specialist from The Shepherd Centre in Australia, currently on an exchange with The Hearing House in Aotearoa New Zealand. During her time here, Tash has been working closely with the paediatric speech and language therapy team, focusing on early intervention, cochlear implantation, and strengthening interdisciplinary practice. We caught up with her six months into her role.

Tash Shallita from The Shepherd Centre

Q: Tash, what has been the main focus of your work with the paediatric SLT team at The Hearing House?

At its core, it’s really been about coming back to basics — particularly around hearing and what we call access to sound. With cochlear implants, children aren’t hearing in the same way as someone with typical hearing, so instead of just talking about “hearing,” we talk about how well a child has access to sound.

A big part of the work has been helping clinicians understand what optimal access to sound actually looks like, from very young babies through to older children and teenagers. How do we check that? What behaviours tell us a child is hearing well? And if they’re not, what does that look like in their speech and language development — and what can we do about it?

The team already had strong skills, so it wasn’t about starting from scratch. It was more about fine-tuning clinical thinking, sharpening the lens we’re using, and building confidence with hands-on, practical problem-solving.

Q: What does that look like in practice, day to day?

A lot of it is very practical and very real. For example: how do you run a listening activity if a child is distracted, or not particularly motivated, or not yet a strong listener? What toys do you use? How do you present sound so it’s engaging? And if something doesn’t work, what’s the next step?

We’ve been working through that step-by-step clinical reasoning — if a child can do this, then what do we do next? And if they can’t, how do we adjust? That kind of structured problem-solving is really powerful, especially in early intervention.

We’ve also spent time thinking about children with additional diagnoses — where physical, cognitive, or global developmental differences mean they may not respond in typical ways. In those cases, how do we interpret their behaviours to understand how they’re hearing, even if they’re not talking yet?

Q: How does this link in with audiology?

That connection is crucial. All of this clinical information feeds directly into how a child’s cochlear implant is programmed — what we call MAPing. Speech sounds sit across different frequencies, and each sound carries bursts of acoustic energy. Understanding that helps us check whether a child is actually hearing speech clearly enough to learn language.

When SLTs understand the acoustic properties of speech and can observe how a child responds to different sounds in play or structured tasks, they can give meaningful, targeted feedback to audiologists. That creates a much stronger feedback loop between teams.

Audiology and speech pathology think differently, so part of my role has been helping bridge that communication — making it more frequent, more fluid, and more effective. Ultimately, that means better outcomes for children and confidence that we’ve done everything we can to support their potential.

Q: You’ve worked in both Australia and New Zealand. What differences have stood out to you?

There are definitely structural differences. At The Shepherd Centre, I worked within an early intervention model for all children with hearing differences — not just those with cochlear implants. That meant children with hearing aids automatically had access to therapy funding, and if their hearing changed or they weren’t progressing, that transition toward cochlear implant assessment could happen quite quickly and seamlessly.

In New Zealand, children with hearing aids don’t always receive speech and language therapy unless a delay is identified. That can mean opportunities are missed, because the potential for children with hearing aids is actually very high when they’re well supported.

Funding streams, population size, and service structures are also quite different. Those are bigger, system-level factors that take time to change, but they’re important to recognise.

Q: Has your time here changed how you think about practice?

Absolutely. Working alongside First Signs and Deaf Aotearoa has been a new experience for me, as has working more closely with Māori and Pacifica families. It’s deepened my understanding of cultural context, engagement, and the hesitations some families may have with health services.

It’s shaped how I think about building trust, meeting families where they are, and being flexible in how we deliver services. That’s something I’ll definitely take back to my practice in Australia.

Q: Outreach is a big part of The Hearing House’s work. How does that compare to Australia?

In Australia, much of the regional work I’ve done has been online, which tends to work best with families who have high capacity and resources. Outreach here is different — it’s about physically going to families who might otherwise not be able to access services due to distance, finances, language barriers, or lack of trust.

That’s where initiatives like the outreach van are incredibly powerful. You’re not waiting for families to come to you — you’re going to them. It’s challenging, but it’s also where the impact can be greatest.

Q: Finally, how have you found your time in New Zealand personally?

I’ve loved it here. I haven’t travelled extensively yet, but outreach has taken me to places like Northland and the Bay of Plenty, which has been special in its own way.

I love nature and animals — I saw my first hedgehog recently, and I’ve become slightly obsessed with native birds. Tūī and pūkeko are my favourites so far, and I was even given a Birds of New Zealand poster.

Coming from Australia’s east coast, experiencing the black-sand west coast beaches and sunsets here has been pretty magical – especially at Piha. I’m really looking forward to seeing the seasonal colours in the South Island and doing some of the Great Walks and other hikes.

I’m really grateful for the warmth of the team at The Hearing House —I feel very lucky to be part of it.

New Zealand through Tash’s eyes — nature, animals, and adventure.