Our Team

People, partners and communities working together with care.

This page will introduce the people and organisations shaping the mission as the project develops.

Julie Tait

Education & Language Access

Teacher of the Deaf, Auslan interpreter and Deafblind consultant supporting communication access and educational collaboration.

Julie Tait is a Teacher of the Deaf, Auslan interpreter and Deafblind consultant with almost four decades of experience working alongside Deaf children, families and educational communities across Australia.

Her work within Focus Matters focuses on communication, language pathways, educational collaboration and the development of culturally respectful resources that support Deaf children and their families in Laos.

Read More Expanded Biography

Julie began working in Deaf Education in 1986 after completing a Graduate Diploma in Educational Studies (Hearing Impairment & Language Disorders). Over the past four decades she has worked across specialist Deaf education, mainstream support services, interpreting, TAFE, regional advisory roles and statewide educational projects.

Julie has extensive experience supporting Deaf children with additional disabilities, including Deafblindness, and has worked closely with families, schools and multidisciplinary teams throughout Australia. Her professional background includes work as a Teacher of the Deaf, Auslan interpreter, regional consultant and statewide Auslan advisor.

Through Focus Matters, Julie’s role includes relationship building, educational collaboration, language resource development and supporting pathways for communication access within the Laos mission partnership.

Alongside her professional work, Julie is also a passionate traveller and photographer, with a strong interest in culture, language and human connection.

Peuples et Montagnes du Mékong

Peuples et Montagnes du Mékong (PMM) is a French non-government organisation supporting community-based projects across Laos, with a focus on education, health and sustainable development.

Focus Matters is connected to PMM through an evolving partnership supporting the School for the Deaf in Luang Prabang and the broader development of communication and hearing support initiatives within Laos.

The mission continues to grow through collaboration between educators, medical professionals, families and community partners across Laos, France and Australia.

Peuples et Montagnes du Mékong Official Website

Lao Friends Hospital for Children

Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC) is located in the UNESCO World Heritage City of Luang Prabang in rural northern Laos. The hospital provides compassionate paediatric medical care free of charge for children from across northern Laos. LFHC also serves as a referral and teaching hospital, supporting the development of clinical paediatric leadership in Laos.

A paediatrician from LFHC will provide an important clinical link within the proposed multidisciplinary mission team.

Mission Coordination

Our proposed mission team brings together health, education and communication specialists, including ENT, audiology, speech pathology, paediatrics and education/language-access expertise. Confirmed team members include Dr ENT, Dr Antoine Perdu, Education and Language Specialist, Julie Tait, Mission co-ordinator, Maïna Reslinger and Auslan Advisor, Julie Lyons.

Additional specialist roles include a French audiologist, a French speech pathologist, and a paediatrician from Lao Friends Hospital for Children (LFHC).

Project Coordination

Maïna Reslinger

Project Manager – Health Missions

Peuples et Montagnes du Mékong

Medical Collaboration

Dr Antoine Perdu

ENT Surgeon / Medical Lead

Portrait to be added

Audiology

French Audiologist

Specialist role supporting hearing assessment, listening pathways and multidisciplinary planning.

Portrait to be added

Speech Pathology

French Speech Pathologist

Specialist role supporting communication, language development and collaborative education planning.

Portrait to be added

Paediatrics

LFHC Paediatrician

Paediatrician from Lao Friends Hospital for Children supporting child health and developmental perspectives.

Resource Adaptation & Student Connection

Julie Lyons

Deaf Consultant/Teacher connected with Our Lady of Lourdes (OLOL) Sunnybank in Brisbane, Australia.

Julie will assist with translations and adaptations of the Social Story and Language Experience Reader templates, supporting accessible bilingual and signed resources. She will also help foster connections between students at OLOL Sunnybank and students at the Deaf School in Luang Prabang through shared learning and communication projects.

Educational Partnerships

Early support for the project has included conversations and contributions from educational communities in Australia who recognise the importance of communication access, language development and inclusive learning opportunities for Deaf children.

Focus Matters gratefully acknowledges the support of Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School for their contribution of iPads to support communication, literacy and digital learning initiatives connected to the Laos mission partnership.

Future team bios and links

Additional team profiles, partner acknowledgements and collaborative resources will be added as the mission develops.