Auditory Verbal UK has contributed to new research on support for deaf children aged 0 to 5 years.

MESHguides are designed to support teaching as an evidence-informed profession. The papers provide summaries of research and evidence to underpin educators’ professional judgement.

This MESHGuide has been designed by practising and retired Educational Audiologists, Teachers of the Deaf and Researchers to bring together a wealth of knowledge and experience in working with families and deaf children in the early years after diagnosis.

This guide is intended to provide a summary of the available support for deaf children and their families to inform health professionals and families alike.  It presents an overview of recent domestic and international research and aims to increase awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by deaf children and their families.  

For parents of deaf babies and children there are various approaches to communication and development that they may choose for their child. The weight of this decision for families can be heavy.  Therefore, it is best practice for health and education professionals to enable parents to make an informed choice about which approach they would like their child to follow. This MESHGuide can be used in conjunction with other MESHGuides on specific approaches to communication which are currently being developed, to enable the reader to explore these in more depth.

Read the guide here.