Nasir started on Auditory Verbal UK’s family programme in  2008, following diagnosis that he was deaf in both ears. Parents Abdul and Shamaila share their story and update us on how Nasir is doing now.

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Born in 2005, we first suspected that Nasir was deaf in one ear at six months old, when he wasn’t responding to our voices as expected. A few months later, it was confirmed that he was actually deaf in both ears. He would eventually be given hearing aids at around 2 years old, but we were desperate for more support, and unsure of what the future would hold for Nasir.

At this point we were speaking with a Teacher of the Deaf who told us all about Auditory Verbal UK. So in 2008, we decided to book an initial appointment with the charity. It was from this first session that we began to understand more about how Nasir’s hearing aids were only amplifying sound for him, but that it would take work for Nasir to learn to make sense of that sound and for him to learn to speak with his hearing friends when he started school. Once we had this information things changed for us.

We signed up for AVUK’s family programme when Nasir was four years old. We were incredibly nervous at first. We were welcomed to AVUK’s centre near Bicester in Oxfordshire by their wonderful staff.

Finally, we felt like we had a plan, and that Nasir was being supported by people who had the highest of expectations for what he could achieve. They taught us how to use play and speak with Nasir to encourage him to use his own voice to express himself.

The truth is we learned so much from AVUK. They didn’t just support us in moving Nasir towards age-appropriate spoken language. When we were most in need AVUK helped us get the financial support needed to pay for our taxi’s to and from their centre and our home in Swindon. Without this help from AVUK's generous supporters we may have had to stop Nasir’s therapy and that was the last thing we wanted to do. This was before the days of telepractice, so being able to get Nasir to AVUK was the only way we could receive the support we needed.

 At the age of 12 we found out that Nasir’s hearing was actually deteriorating, and he was subsequently given two Cochlear Implants. Fast forward to now and Nasir is 17 years old and thriving.

He’s studying Business Studies at college and loves playing video games. We look back on all the support we had at AVUK as being crucial for his development and would recommend the families of deaf children consider AVUK's family programme. Auditory Verbal therapy has given Nasir the ability to express himself amongst his family and peers. When we think back to those early days of anxiety and worry about Nasir’s future, we wish we could go back and tell ourselves that it was going to be alright.

Abdul and Shamaila, Nasir’s parents

 

Find out more about AVUK’s family programme.