Auditory Verbal^UK (AV^UK) welcomes the NDCS’ report on deaf children's services – ‘Right from the Start’. Far too many deaf children are underachieving at school due to a lack of access to information and effective early intervention support. 80% of the young deaf children attending the award-winning charity Auditory Verbal^UK close the language gap with their hearing peers and get an equal start at school.

At AV^UK parents are coached by highly skilled auditory verbal therapists to develop their child's listening, talking, thinking and social skills, enabling them to get the best from modern technological devices such as hearing aids and cochlear implants. 

“Selin is certainly a credit to you! She is 8 ½ now and excels in school. She has a reading age of 11 ½ and a vocabulary of the same. She is happy and outgoing and many people are unaware of the hearing loss – a real miracle!”     

Mother of a girl who lost her hearing as a toddler

Chief Executive, Anita Grover says “Far too many deaf children are missing out on vital support in the early years. The first three and a half years are critical for the development of listening and talking skills and the foundations for literacy and numeracy. With effective intervention deaf children can achieve on a par with their hearing peers. There should be no barriers to deaf children realising their full potential. The NDCS report calls on Government to act in five key areas and we look forward to demonstrating the outcomes possible from an auditory verbal therapy programme which is bucking the national trend of underachievement by deaf children.”

Anita Grover went on to say “Last night’s Channel 4 news ‘NoGoBritain’ report highlighted the lack of early years support for deaf children. It is vitally important that parents know what is possible and what it will take to enable their child to communicate in the way that they want to.  It is about choice. Over 90% of children who are born deaf have hearing parents and the vast majority of them want their child to communicate in the same way and have the same opportunities as them. For those who want their child to listen and talk, listening and spoken language specialist programmes, like the one that we run at AVUK, are delivering very successful outcomes at home and abroad and enabling deaf children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.  Government investment in auditory verbal therapy training for those working in the NHS and local authorities, will enable many more families of deaf children under the age of 5 to access a programme of this kind.”