UK evidence on outcomes

Language development

In the UK, approximately 80% of all deaf children who spend at least two years on our programme at Auditory Verbal UK achieve age-appropriate language[59] and most attend mainstream school[60]. In addition, it was shown that 97% of deaf children without additional needs reached at least age-appropriate spoken language at the end of their Auditory Verbal therapy programme[60].

On average, deaf children with additional needs double their rate of language development whilst on the Auditory Verbal UK programme, and one in two children reach age-appropriate spoken language at the end of their programme[60].

This suggests that Auditory Verbal therapy continues to be an effective intervention even if a child has additional needs.

For children both with and without additional needs, the earlier they start the programme, the better the prognosis for language development[60],[61]. The target-focussed, collaborative approach adopted by Auditory Verbal practitioners[62] influences the outcomes for families of children who have hearing loss alone and of those who have additional challenges[63]. The holistic approach of Auditory Verbal intervention promotes best outcomes through transdisciplinary working.

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Literacy and Educational attainment

Evidence of the literacy outcomes attained by deaf children in the UK whose families had chosen a listening and spoken language approach and accessed Auditory Verbal therapy were collated by AVUK in 2022[64]. The research shows that most deaf children following the Auditory Verbal therapy programme are attaining educational outcomes on a par with hearing children. 

Over 80% of deaf children who have followed an Auditory Verbal approach, are reaching or exceeding nationally expected standards at Key Stage 1 for Reading, and Mathematics. Over 75% are attaining or exceeding these standards for Speaking and Listening and for Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling. At Key Stage 2, the percentages of children reaching or exceeding nationally expected standards were 81% and 78% for Reading and Mathematics, respectively.

The percentages of children reaching or exceeding nationally expected standards for Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling was over 75% and 76% for Science[64].

By considering these outcomes and the national attainment figures for, hearing children and, deaf children in both key stage one and two [below], we see that the percentage of graduates from AVUK achieving competency as measured by the national SATs is at a level at least equivalent to their hearing peers. This data includes data of children with additional needs.

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Outcomes for multi-lingual families

Not only are children in the UK being supported to develop effective spoken language skills in English, but in some families they are able to be multi-lingual and examples from children attending an AVUK programme include Lola who has learnt to speak in English, French and Spanish.

A research project conducted by Emily Wright in 2021-2022 from the University of Reading examined the beliefs of professionals on the ability of a deaf child to acquire two spoken languages and the advice professionals give to parents considering spoken language bilingualism for their deaf child. In an evolution of practice over the last decade, most participants believed deaf children can achieve spoken language bilingualism and would advise parents to speak in their home language, regardless of the parents’ English proficiency[65].