Joao, or JP as he is known, moved with his family from Brazil to the UK when he was 7-months-old. His parents became increasingly concerned about his lack of speech and at 2-years-old he was diagnosed with hearing loss. JP received his cochlear implants aged three and embarked on the AVUK programme with sessions conducted in Portuguese and English. Read more
Mia is a bright, charming, determined and courageous little girl. Mia loves princesses, dancing, dressing up and all things pink. She is very social, loves to talk and being with her family and friends. She was born with CHARGE syndrome, a rare genetic condition that can affect different parts of the body and has defied all the odds. Read more
Shoshana Mae Turner arrived 2.5 weeks early on 9 August 2018. She failed the newborn hearing screening twice. The first screening, in the early hours towards the end of our first night at the hospital. The nurse said it was probably nothing and I didn’t think about it again. The second time Shoshie failed the screening she was two two weeks old and Dan was concerned as he’d noticed she hadn’t responded to a loud alarm at the hospital the day after she was born. Read more
Louis’ hearing loss is a genetic issue and typically leads to progressive hearing loss, leading to complete deafness. Read more
Since Auditory Verbal UK founded in 2003 we have supported over 1,000 families. Approximately 80% of children who have been on our programme for two years graduated with language on a par with typically hearing children. Below are some of the stories written by our families.
After a healthy pregnancy, Orson was unexpectedly born three months early. It was fair to say that after 61 days across intensive and neo-natal care we had gone through every possible emotion and we were ready to leave hospital. Read more
We are Joanna and Andrew Callaghan. And this is the story of, our son, Sam. Read more
When our daughter, Grace, failed her first newborn hearing screening test, we were reassured Grace was likely congested as she had only marginally failed. It was only at the follow up appointment six weeks later, when it was confirmed that she had bilateral severe-to-profound hearing loss, that we were completely devastated by the news. Read more
Onna, was born prematurely at 28 weeks, alongside her typically hearing twin sister, Sala. Onna passed her newborn screening. However, by about 10 months old, she had progressively but quickly lost all her hearing. Onna’s hearing loss was initially misdiagnosed but she was finally diagnosed with severe-profound hearing loss and Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder. She received bilateral cochlear implants a month before her third birthday and started the Auditory Verbal UK a few months later. Read more
On the 4th of July 2014, our beautiful little girl Mia was born. It was a very bittersweet day and a complete blur. I was overwhelmed with so much love for our first born. Not only that but I was also anxious to find out whether our little girl would have a hearing loss due to my history. I was born with profound hearing loss and was informed during my pregnancy that there is a fifty percent chance that our child would have a hearing loss too. Read more
When our baby daughter Aimee failed her newborn hearing screening test, we thought nothing of it. It was only at the follow up appointment six weeks later when we learned that she had a bilateral moderate to severe hearing loss that we felt that our world had crumbled. Read more
Alana’s hearing loss was identified by the newborn hearing screening. She was born with a moderate-severe loss and received her first set of hearing aids at 3 months old old. Read more
My name is Charlie and I’m 13 years old. I play the violin, piano, drums and guitar and I also play tennis, football and table tennis. Read more
Leah is the eldest of five siblings (pictured above) and was born with a profound hearing loss. She is now a happy and fun-loving teenager at mainstream school. Here, her mother Deena shares her story. Read more
Joshua’s hearing loss was picked up through the newborn screening test at just one day old. Read more