Hearing support teacher for the Department of Education Beverly Walls said the snot monsters, made out of plastic plates and party horns, helped the children learn how to blow their noses properly. The group watched a play about falling ill to reinforce the message. 

Beverly warned parents about the threat of otitis media, a disease of the middle ear, which affects 83 per cent of children aged three and under. 

Causing mild to moderate hearing loss for 4-6 weeks, Beverly said that otitis media could have serious consequences for children if left untreated. Thirty per cent of those between 3-8 years and 75 per cent of Indigenous children go on to have a recurring middle ear infection.

She said that recurring otitis media could cause speech and language delays as children were not hearing sounds clearly and consistently. The disease may also cause them to fall behind in school.

Symptoms of otitis media include constant colds and flus, earaches and runny ears. Children may pull at their ears, be noise sensitive and clumsy, may not follow instructions and say ‘what?’ a lot. Many frown in concentration when spoken to, have short attention spans and lack confidence in school. 

Five ways to reduce a child’s risk include blowing the nose, washing hands, eating crunchy healthy foods such as raw carrots and exercising every day. 

Beverly warned parents not to clean out ear wax with cotton buds as they could easily put a hole in the eardrum or impact the wax further.

She urged parents to see a community health nurse, audiometry nurse, doctor or Aboriginal Medical Service if they believe their child has otitis media.

Beverly visits schools, preschools and playgroups to teach children about ear health, how to blow their noses and help reduce the occurrence of otitis media. She also offers information sessions for parents and educators of preschool and school aged children.

She will speak at the library’s storytime session again this Thursday, March 2.