Jo Richards
Preferred pronouns: she/her
Jo worked as a Teacher of the Deaf for over 5 years, she is very passionate about Deaf and hard of hearing children’s education and ensuring they have the best access to their learning. She was also an Auslan teacher for over 10 years to a wide range of people from all walks of life in the community. Jo is from Bendigo and has a history of volunteering, organising deaf gathering for social events.
Jo has been part of Deaf sport where she participates in squash and played for the first Deaf women’s cricket in Victoria a few years ago before the pandemic started. Jo had meningitis as a baby and was diagnosed profoundly deaf at the age of two. She grew up mostly spoken English language and when Auslan become a recognised language, she became more confident and has used Auslan with fluency ever since.
Jo’s primary and preferred language is Auslan (Australian sign language).