Susannah Burden, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand BSc (Hons) SLT, Cert MRCSLT, PgDip Auditory Verbal Therapy, LSLS Cert. AVT® Susannah is a listening and spoken language specialist, certified Auditory Verbal therapist. She is currently working at our Oxfordshire centre, with time spent in clinical work with families and in training therapists. Susannah trained to be a speech and language therapist at De Montfort University and completed her postgraduate diploma in Auditory Verbal Therapy at Aston University. She was mentored towards LSLS CertAVT® by Jacqueline Stokes, Donna Sperandio, Rosemary Richardson and Catherine White whilst working at Auditory Verbal UK. Susannah has specialised in delivering therapy to children with hearing loss since qualifying, and since 2011 as a certified auditory verbal therapist. Susannah is one of the trainers on the AVUK distance training course and has been mentoring and supporting professionals towards certification for a number of years. Susannah also delivers therapy to families both in person and via telepractice and has a specialist interest in speech development and supporting children with additional needs. Susannah works Wednesday and Thursday between 9am-5pm. Email: [email protected] Facebook: Susie Avuk
Frances Clark, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist and Clinical Lead Expand BA Speech and Hearing Therapy (Speech Pathology and Audiology), LSLS Cert. AVT® Frances qualified as a speech-language pathologist and audiologist at The University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa in 2004. After working in a South African hospital as a speech therapist/audiologist for one year, she moved to England in 2006. She worked for the Oxford Cochlear Implant Team and Oxford Primary Care Trust as a highly specialist speech and language therapist in deafness. She then worked as a highly specialist speech and language therapist for The Elizabeth Foundation, for pre-school deaf children and their parents, developing the speech and language therapy programme there. In 2013, she began training in Auditory Verbal Therapy through our Part 1 course. In October 2013, she joined the team at AVUK and in August 2015 she qualified as an LSLS Cert. AVT. Frances is the Clinical Lead for AVUK. Frances regularly presents at conferences and delivers training both in the UK and abroad. She has a special interest in using books in therapy, Theory of Mind and Sensory Integration. She obtained a postgraduate certificate in Sensory Integration through Ulster University in January 2018. In 2019 she won a scholarship for Henley Business School and completed a Professional Certificate in Coaching. Frances is a member of the Global Matters committee for A G Bell. Frances works Monday-Thursday 8:30am – 5:30pm at the London centre and via telepractice. Email: [email protected] LinkedIn:Frances Clark Facebook: Frances Avuk Twitter: @frances_AVT
Melanie Davis, Senior Philanthropy Manager Expand Melanie joined AVUK in September 2023 as the Senior Philanthropy Manager to help champion the 10-year vision to help all families who want their child to be able to listen and talk to access Auditory Verbal Therapy. Her career spans well over a decade in the charity sector in both the United States and Australia. Melanie loves building relationships with donors to help them achieve their philanthropic goals of seeing real change for others. She is also a Trustee of the Junior League of London and is currently serving as the Fund Development Vice President for 2023-2024 in a volunteer capacity. Melanie works 8:30am - 4:30pm every day except Wednesdays. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/her
Tony Deans, Programme Manager Expand Tony Deans has joined AVUK on a six-month secondment from the UK Civil Service Fast Stream. He will be assisting in instituting a programme management structure to help AVUK overcome barriers to its training of professionals. Prior to joining the Civil Service, Tony served in the Royal Navy. Tony works from home on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 - 4pm and in the office on Tuesday from 9 - 5pm. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: he/him
Rebecca de Vyea, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand Rebecca is a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and Auditory Verbal Therapist. Rebecca trained to be a speech and language therapist at the University of Newcastle in 2002, qualifying with a master’s degree in Language Pathology. She began training with AVUK in October 2018 and qualified as an Auditory Verbal Therapist in 2023. Rebecca has specialised in delivering therapy to children with hearing loss since 2008. She works with babies, pre-school, and some older children with varying degrees of hearing loss and language levels. Rebecca works- Tuesdays 8:30-4:30; Thursday 1pm-5pm; and Fridays 8:30-4:30. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/her
Rachel French, Operations Manager Expand In January 2022 Rachel celebrated 15 years' at AVUK. As part of the Operations team her role encompasses governance, HR, facilities, IT, clinical administration and scheduling. She is also responsible for the scheduling and administration for all of AVUK's Foundation and Advanced training courses and Continued Mentorship programmes. Rachel works flexi-hours and is primarily home-based, her core hours are Mon-Thurs 09.30-17.30. Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: Rachel French
Estelle Gerrett, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand LSLS Cert. AVT, B.Ed (Hons), Adv Post.Grad Dip HI Estelle's career in working with hearing loss and speech development began under personal circumstances. Her son, Nathan, contracted meningitis when he was one, and lost his hearing as a result. Despite being told that Nathan would not be able to develop speech, Estelle believed there must be a way. So Estelle, who already had a career as a primary school teacher, went to University and gained a Masters in Hearing Impairment and Speech Development so she could teach her son to talk. She later certified as an Auditory Verbal Therapist and over the past 14 years has coached hundreds of parents to develop their children’s listening, talking and social skills at the Hearing House in New Zealand. In September 2017 Estelle moved to the UK and joined the team of Auditory Verbal therapists at Auditory Verbal UK. At the end of 2021 Estelle returned to New Zealand but will continue to mentor trainees virtually and online. Estelle works in two week rotations. the first week she works on Tuesday and Wednesday 9am-5pm (in New Zealand local time), and in the second week she is contactable by email only. Email: [email protected]
Anita Grover, Chief Executive Expand Anita became Chief Executive of AVUK in 2013 following a 20 year career in the public sector. As a senior civil servant, she led communications on the government’s disability, employers, pensions and poverty agendas, working with a succession of cabinet ministers, business leaders and third sector organisations. Anita is profoundly deaf, having lost her hearing progressively from childhood. She had successful cochlear implant surgery in 2006 and brings to the role personal insight into hearing loss and a passion for improving outcomes for deaf children. In 2014 Anita became the first CEO of a UK-based charity to be awarded the Macquarie David Clarke Social Innovation Fellowship and was nominated for the 2015 Rising CEO of the Year at the Third Sector Awards. In Dec 2016 Anita was awarded a Fellowship by the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. Anita is a Fellow of the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a former governor of a primary school in Buckinghamshire. From 2018-2020 she supported smaller charities in the health sector as a consultant on the Kings Fund Cascading Leadership programme and is currently a coach on the GSK/Kings Fund Grow programme. Anita usually works Monday- Thursday, sometimes spread across Friday also. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @AnitaGrover Facebook: Anita Avuk Pronouns: She/Her
Sylvia Hallahan, Senior Partnerships Manager Expand Sylvia joined AVUK in November 2022 and brings with her a wealth of knowledge from working with global and national brands on consumer lead fundraising initiatives, as well as Charity of the Year partnerships and special events. She is passionate about empowering brands, employees and donors to make a real difference and raise expectations and outcomes for deaf children through access to Auditory Verbal Therapy. Sylvia works Monday – Friday both remotely in France and from the London centre. Email: [email protected]
Mariana Helbig, Senior Auditory Verbal Educator Expand MA CED LSLS Cert. AVEd Mariana is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she received a BA in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from the University of Buenos Aires in 1999. After finishing college, she settled in St. Louis, Missouri, United States with her husband; where she continued her professional development. In 2000 she obtained a scholarship from the Oberkotter Foundation, with which in 2002 she completed her Masters in Early Intervention in Deaf Education and the career of Teacher of the Deaf, as well as Teacher for the Deaf at Fontbonne University. In 2006, she obtained the certification as a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist - Auditory-Verbal Educator (LSLS Cert. AVEd). From the year 2000 to 2018, Mariana worked at the Moog Center for Deaf Education in St. Louis, Missouri, United States; first as a classroom assistant, and since 2002, providing early intervention to children with hearing loss and their families (0-5 years). Through the Moog Center, she acted as a consultant for two centers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Lima, Peru. In the year 2018, Mariana co-founded and created Escuchar sin Límites, a web page dedicated to supporting listening, spoken language, and cognition development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing through family empowerment, professional training, and access to information in Spanish. The opportunity of working in the United States and in Latin America, allowed Mariana to experience the disparity of access to resources and information available to Spanish speaking families and professionals, who support the development of people with hearing loss to the maximum of their potential, so they are active and full participants in their society. Mariana serves as a member of the AGBell Academy's Certification Committee since 2018, and the AGBell Academy's Board of Directors since 2021. In her spare time, Mariana spends time at home, travels, or visits her family and friends in Argentina. She enjoys the outdoors, hiking, skiing, walking, and paddleboarding. She currently resides in Düsseldorf, Germany with her husband, Sebastian, and their four sons, Santiago, Matías, Nicolás, and Tomás. Mariana generally works Monday – Thursday typically between 8am and 12pm. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/her
Sarah Henry, Senior Development Manager Expand Sarah joined AVUK in April 2023 as Senior Development Manager to support our 10-year vision to help all families who want their child to be able to listen and talk to access Auditory Verbal Therapy. Sarah started out in the private sector working in the financial marketing world but in 2018 made the jump into the charity sector. Since then, she was worked for Carers Trust and Royal Voluntary Service managing their national corporate partnerships and business development. Sarah was also a Trustee of the London branch of the RSPCA and is passionate about volunteering. Sarah generally works Tuesday to Friday between 9am and 6pm, with flexible Mondays. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/Her
Sarah Hogan, Research Coordinator, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist and Bicester Clinical Lead Expand Clinical Scientist (Audiology), DPhil, PgDip Auditory Verbal Therapy, LSLS Cert AVT® Sarah was awarded her MSc in Audiology from University of Southampton in 1985. She started her career as a paediatric audiologist within the NHS and moved to the Welsh Hearing Institute to collaborate on applied research for both paediatric and adult populations. She conducted longitudinal, prospective research into the development of binaural hearing in children for her doctorate at the University Laboratory of Physiology in Oxford. She was the first Clinical Director of The Burwood Centre, an independent assessment centre for children with permanent hearing loss. Sarah lectured on the BSc Audiology at Aston University prior to joining AVUK. Sarah joined AVUK in 2006 as our Research Coordinator and was mentored towards certification, qualifying as an LSLS Cert AVT® in 2012. Sarah coordinates the development of our evidence base through research as well as working directly with families on our programme. She delivers training on various AVUK programmes and presents at national and international conferences. Sarah has several publications in peer reviewed journals and has recently co-authored book chapters with colleagues including, Stacey Lim LSLS Cert AVT; Elizabeth Tyszkiewicz LSLS Cert AVT; Kathryn Ritter LSLS Cert AVT, Denise Hayward and Noel Kenely LSLS Cert AVT; and Ellie Goldblatt and Anita Grover. Sarah works Monday-Thursday 08.30-16.00 at our Oxfordshire centre and remotely. Email: [email protected]
Noel Kenely, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist and London Clinical Lead Expand Noel qualified as a speech and language therapist from the University of Malta in 2004. He has worked as a speech and language therapist and a sign language interpreter with The Deaf People Association (Malta). He moved to the UK in 2006 where he has worked as a speech and language therapist with different NHS Trusts and as a mainstream teacher at a secondary school in North London. Noel started training with AVUK in 2012 through the Foundation Course which he describes as his light bulb moment when he realised the importance of maximising listening to achieve spoken language. Noel joined the AVUK team in October 2014 and qualified as a Cert. AVT in 2016. Noel leads the outreach work at AVUK and is the clinical lead for the London team. He has a special interest in the use of Telepractice and working with families of deaf children with additional needs. Noel works Monday-Friday between 8:30am- 4:30pm and works remotely and from the London centre. Email: [email protected] Facebook: Noel AVUK Pronouns: He/Him
Alex Kewn, Communications and Engagement Officer Expand Having carried out an internship with AVUK over the summer of 2016, Alex has since graduated from the University of Sussex, worked in communications for a national disabilities charity, and re-joined the organisation on a permanent basis. During his first two years back with AVUK Alex also studied for a Masters degree at University College London, and has since progressed to the rank of Officer. Alex works full-time and is responsible for various aspects of AVUK’s communications including producing digital content and printed material, internal communications, and data analysis. Alex also manages many of AVUK’s events for various stakeholders, including Power of Speech, held biannually at the House of Commons. In addition, Alex is AVUK’s Diversity and Inclusion Champion. In this role he leads on events for staff to come together to discuss a range of issues, and most recently contributed to a Best Practice Language Guide to help all staff in achieving AVUK’s ideals of Diversity and Inclusion. Most recently, Alex has began co-management of Auditory Verbal UK's partnership with Atticus Communications, with the aim of influencing public policy in line with AVUK's mission and values. Alex works full-time between 9am-5pm. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: He/his
Chelsie Nicholls, Communications and Marketing Manager Expand Chelsie has over 9 years’ marketing experience in the charity sector. Chelsie joined the team as the Communications and Marketing Manager in February 2020 and leads on our communications and marketing activities. Chelsie works full-time, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @AuditoryVerbal Pronouns: She/Her
Vicky Parker, Head of Fundraising Expand Vicky joined AVUK in April 2022 as Head of Fundraising to support our 10-year vision to help all families who want their child to be able to listen and talk to access Auditory Verbal Therapy. For 12 years Vicky has led fundraising teams at organisations such as The Prince’s Trust and Centrepoint where she has developed fundraising strategies aligned with strategic aims. Vicky has grown and developed many teams of fundraisers over the years and is passionate about enabling the AVUK Fundraising team realise the organisations vision. Vicky is also a Trustee of the charity A Mile in Her Shoes where she offers strategic direction and governance support to the team helping women move on from homelessness. Vicky thrives on developing meaningful, transformative partnerships so please do get in touch directly if you would like to explore what a partnership with AVUK could look like for you. Vicky generally works Monday to Thursday between 9am and 5pm. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/Her
Rosie Quayle, Clinical Advisor Expand BSc (Hons) SLT, Cert MRCSLT, PGDip Auditory Verbal Therapy, LSLS Cert. AVT® Rosie qualified as a speech and language therapist in London at University College London. She moved to Oxfordshire in September 2007 to join the team at Auditory Verbal UK. She completed her diploma in auditory verbal therapy and qualified as an LSLS certified auditory verbal therapist in 2009, after training at Auditory Verbal UK. Rosie has undertaken training in the PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) technique for assessment and management of children with oro-motor speech production difficulties. She lectures and delivers training in auditory verbal therapy to parents and professionals across the UK and internationally and mentors professionals towards certification. Rosie was Clinical Lead at Auditory Verbal UK from April 2013-June 2016. She now works as Clinical Advisor, splitting time between delivering training, direct services to families and overseeing the Quality Assurance process for Auditory Verbal UK. Rosie is a Churchill Fellow, having undertaken a fellowship visit to AV centres in Australia and New Zealand in 2015. Rosie works flexibly one day per week. Email: [email protected] Publications Quayle, R. (2021). Using Problems in play to develop communication. SEN Magazine, August 2021. Using problems in play to develop communication • SEN Magazine Quayle, R.A., Ashton, L. & Estabrooks, W. (2020). The Development of Play and Auditory-Verbal Therapy. IN Estabrooks, W., McCaffrey Morrison, H. & Maclver-Lux, K. Auditory-Verbal Therapy Science, Research and practice. Plural Publishing Inc. Estabrooks, W., Maclver-Lux, K., Ashton, L. & Quayle, R.E, (2020). The Auditory-Verbal Session: Planning, Delivery and Evaluation. IN Estabrooks, W., McCaffrey Morrison, H. & Maclver-Lux, K. Auditory-Verbal Therapy Science, Research and practice. Plural Publishing Inc. MacIver-Lux, Lim, S.R., Rhoades, E.A., Robertson, L., Quayle. R. & Honck. (2016). Milestones in Auditory-Verbal Development: Auditory Processing Speech, Language, Emergent Literacy , Play and Theory of Mind in Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K. & Rhoades, E.A. (Ed), Auditory Verbal Therapy For Young Children with Hearing loss and Their Families and the Practitioners Who Guide Them (pp219-262). Plural Publishing Inc. Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K., Honck, L. & Quayle. R. (2016). Blueprint of and Auditory-Verbal Therapy Session in Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K. & Rhoades, E.A. (Ed), Auditory Verbal Therapy For Young Children with Hearing loss and Their Families and the Practitioners Who Guide Them (pp 341-350). Plural Publishing Inc. Estabrooks, W., Honck, L., Tannebaum-Katsaggelos, S., de Melo, M.E., Clem, B.C., Sindrey, D., Katz, L., MacIver-Lux, K & Steacie, P. (2016). Auditory Verbal Therapy in Action: Step-by-Step Session Plans in Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K. & Rhoades, E.A. (Ed), Auditory Verbal Therapy For Young Children with Hearing loss and Their Families and the Practitioners Who Guide Them (pp 351-472). Plural Publishing Inc.
Gary Rainbird, Database and IT Manager Expand Gary joined AVUK in May 2017 bringing a wealth of IT, Database Management and Research experience from across the charity, recruitment and media sectors. Mainly based at home Gary visits both AVUK centres as required. Gary works full-time Monday to Friday between 9am-5pm. Email: [email protected]
Stuart Robertson, Director of Finance and Operations Expand Stuart joined AVUK in August 2020 as Director of Finance and Operations. He works full-time, Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm. Email: [email protected]
Amy Spicer, Family Support Manager Expand Amy holds a Psychology degree from the University of Southampton. After graduating Amy developed a passion for working in the early intervention field and supporting families with children under 5. Amy became the Early Support co-ordinator for a Phase 1 Sure start Centre in Hampshire supporting families with children with disabilities and bringing professionals together to ensure families got timely and cohesive help from professionals. Amy moved on to work in Family Support in Oxford City Children's Centres and then managed two rural centres, one of which was developed to run as a charity model under Amy's leadership. Amy is a parent educator and able to help with all aspects of family support and bursary funding. Her working days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8.30-4.30pm. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/Her
David Tatham, Trusts and Foundations Manager Expand David joined AVUK in April 2020. He trained originally as a Landscape Architect but joined the Voluntary Sector soon after graduating and has over 21 years’ experience in charity fundraising and development, during which time he has focussed primarily on Trusts and Foundations and Corporate income generation. Prior to AVUK David worked in homelessness, supported housing, the arts and heritage and conservation sectors, including ten years at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. David works full-time, Monday to Friday, 9-5pm. Email: [email protected]
Other helpful resources and activities Expand As a response to school closures, National Literacy Trust have developed a comprehensive web portal for parents, to support you during this time. Visit National Literacy Trust Family Zone National Society for Deaf Children are working hard to provide as much support as they can to deaf children and their families.Visit the National Society for Deaf Children website
Elizabeth Tyszkiewicz, Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand I certified as an Auditory Verbal Therapist (AVT) in 2000, and was involved in the founding of AVUK with Jacqueline Stokes in 2003. My last job, at Midlands Hearing Implant Programme, involved an active caseload of children, who were cochlear implant, hearing aid, or bone-anchored hearing aid users, and their families. I also worked with their support teams, providing training, information, demonstrations, and ongoing collaboration. The job involved a range of training and mentoring activities, as well as presentations at relevant national and international meetings. The caseload at Birmingham Children’s Hospital was very diverse, and I have a particular interest in making Auditory Verbal therapy as accessible and inclusive for as many people as possible. The other area I am keen to focus on is training and professional development, so that the skills of teams supporting children who use hearing technology keep up with the ever-increasing opportunities it provides. My activities since I left my full-time position at Birmingham Children’s Hospital have included delivering training, mentoring individual professionals, and providing consultancy services in the UK, as well as in Spain, Finland and France.
Activity worksheets test Expand Washing animals Make animal prints and then clean them up. Making boats Make a boat and make it float. Ice excavation activity Hide small toys in a block of ice for a fun sensory activity. Crowns Make use of the leaves you find outside to make colourful crowns. Spiders Create spiders out of paper plates. Paper plate fans Stay cool with a homemade fan. Rocky Road Little ones will love getting involved in cooking this simple treat in the microwave. Hot chocolate Make hot chocolate together for a tasty warming treat. Bird cookies Mix together birdseed and coconut oil to make treats for your feathered friends. Watch our video on developing deaf children's language through storytelling
Jane Warriner, PR Manager Expand Jane joined the team at AVUK in January 2020. She has more than 25 years of experience in communications including PR and media with a background and training in journalism. Jane leads on PR and is the first point of contact for all press and media enquiries. She works Tuesday to Thursday, between 9am-5pm. Email: [email protected] Twitter:@AuditoryVerbal Facebook: AuditoryVerbalUK
Victoria Watermeyer, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand LSLS Cert. AVT, SLT, Cert RCSLT, Audiologist, PGCert Hearing and Development Vicky is dually trained as a Speech and Language Therapist and Audiologist and obtained her degree at the University of Pretoria in 2002. Vicky has specialised in delivering audiology and speech and language therapy across a range of different settings to various client groups since qualifying in 2002. She completed her postgraduate Certificate in Hearing and Development at Aston University in 2010. After joining the team at AVUK in October 2012, she was mentored towards LSLS CertAVT® by Jacqueline Stokes, and Rosie Quayle, Sarah Hogan, Susannah Burden and Louise Honck and she obtained her certification in April 2017. She spends her time in clinical work, supporting families and also delivers training on various AVUK programmes for parents and professionals. Vicky has a particular interest in working with young babies (0-24 months) and children with additional disabilities on an Auditory Verbal Programme. Vicky works Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, between 9am-3pm as core hours. Email: [email protected] Facebook: Vicky Avuk Pronouns: She/her
Activity worksheets Expand Washing animals Make animal prints and then clean them up. Making boats Make a boat and make it float. Ice excavation activity Hide small toys in a block of ice for a fun sensory activity. Crowns Make use of the leaves you find outside to make colourful crowns. Spiders Create spiders out of paper plates. Paper plate fans Stay cool with a homemade fan. Rocky Road Little ones will love getting involved in cooking this simple treat in the microwave. Hot chocolate Make hot chocolate together for a tasty warming treat. Bird cookies Mix together birdseed and coconut oil to make treats for your feathered friends. Watch our video on developing deaf children's language through storytelling
Sophie Williams, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Expand Sophie is a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and has been practicing since she qualified from Leeds Beckett University in 2017. Sophie has specialised in working with deaf children since 2018 where she worked in primary and secondary schools with additionally resourced provisions for deaf children. Sophie then went on to work for a regional Auditory Implant Service assessing children who were candidates for cochlear implants and managing their rehabilitation post implantation. It was here that Sophie completed AVUK's Foundation course and offered speech and language therapy according to Auditory Verbal principles to families of cochlear implanted children who wanted listening and spoken language outcomes. Sophie now works as an independent therapist in Yorkshire and volunteers with AVUK at the London centre and online. She continues to work towards certification as an Auditory Verbal Therapist on AVUK's advanced course. Sophie works on Fridays 09:00-16:30. Email: [email protected]
Previous activities of the day Expand Make animals with egg boxes Use an egg box to make creative animal puppets. Use the long part of the separation between the egg box to be the snout of the animal next to 2 round spaces that will be the ears . Cut the ears in the shape closest to the real shape of the animal's ears. Choose pencils or paint to colour the animals. Your animal could be a fox, bear, mouse or a monkey. With younger children talk about the animals they are making: "let's paint pink inside the mouse's ear", "let's paint black outside the fox's snout". For older children talk about what you will do and after ask them: “First we will cut it and then we will colour it. First we will _______ and then _____” For older children use descriptive language e.g. we will need long whiskers, a pointed snout etc. Talk about where the animal might live and then play some pretend role play games with the finished puppet. Water activity The aim of this game is to discover whether objects sink or float in water. Tell to your child that you are going to pick some objects up to take to the container with water. Let them hunt for some too. E.g. When the object is floating say: “Oh, Look… it goes up, up, up” When the object is sinking say: “Oh, Look… it goes down” Download the worksheet Loading the washing machine Encourage your child to help with washing a few clothes. Pick up two baskets, look at which clothes are daddy’s and which are mummy’s. Put a few pieces in a basket and ask for your child to take daddy's sock and "put it in", then mummy's shirt and "put it in". Ask them to press the button to “switch on” and talk about “we are going to wash, wash…” and the clothes will be “all wet”. When finished, use the same routine to “take it out” and “put it in” the dryer or “hang it up" if using a clothesline. Encourage older children to help hang and fold the clothes. Talk about how to fold and/or talk about the colours of clothes and the size of each person's clothes, which are easy to fold and which are difficult. Birdwatching Set your child the task of looking out for birds through the window or in the garden. Agree on a phrase that they have to say each time they see a bird, it could be “I saw a bird!”. With older children you can look for defining features of the bird and make a list of all the different birds that have been spotted. The RSPB has a good guide of birds to look out for. Make a rainbow for key workers Many of us will have seen the colourful rainbows displayed in windows to show appreciation to all key workers. Use the rainbow template we’re providing to encourage your child to colour in the rainbow. With the little ones you can talk about how rainbows always come out when there is rain and sunshine at the same time. With the older children you can talk about the symbolism behind the rainbow as a sign of hope and peace. Ask them how do they feel when they see a rainbow? Talk about your own emotions when you see a rainbow. Download our rainbow template Create your own audiobook We are encouraging parents, grandparents and other family members, to record an audiobook for their children. Choose a familiar story and record yourself or another family member reading the story and then listen to the audiobook with your child. Listen to Frances Clark, LSLS Cert. AVT read her book ‘Violet’s story’ and find out more tips below. Create your own audiobooks Making a Sandwich Invite your child to prepare a sandwich with you. Talk ahead about the type of sandwich you are going to prepare and ask them to think about which ingredients are needed. Ask “what will we need?”. For younger children, encourage them to listen to the name of the ingredients used and tell you what to do e.g. ”mix it, spread it, cut it”. For older children, ask them to think of 3 ingredients and then ask them to bring them to the table. Make a plan about how to make the sandwich: “first we spread the butter, then add the cheese, and then cut the sandwich”. Biscuits Choose an easy biscuit recipe that you like, or use a bought biscuit, talk ahead about decorating the biscuit. “We are going to ice it…yum". For younger children, talk about “mix and roll” until the dough forms and draw their attention to the timer telling them when it will be ready. Perhaps help them to ice a face on the biscuit “eyes, mouth, nose”. ” If the child is older, talk about the ingredients they are going to use, put the ingredients one at a time into a bowl and then talk about which colour they will use to ice it and what picture they would like make on each biscuit. Perhaps a face or a pattern? Bowling Do you have water bottles or juice bottles ? They make great skittles. Play with your child showing them how to throw the ball toward the bottles. For younger child you can talk about “waiting” and “ready,steady…go” You could also use these skittles for a Ling check activity. For an older child you can play a True or False game You say a sentence and they need to say whether is true or false and the ball should only be thrown after a true sentence. Play the ‘mystery bag’ game Use any big bag you have, fill it with random objects, example: a duck, a carrot, a tea bag, a ball, a pen, a toilet roll. Play with your child so that they find what have inside the bag. For little ones, encourage them to “pick it up” and ask “what is this?”. They should say the name and then you say something about the object “oh thanks, I need a pen to write. I need a pen to _____”. For older child, you could play a guessing game by giving them a description and they can then guess what is in the bag or they could close their eyes and feel around in the bag. You can ask them to describe how it feels if it’s hard/soft/squishy etc. They can talk about the shape, size, and texture, then they can guess the object or ask someone else to guess before they take the object out. Curl up with some books Ask your child to pick out 2 or 3 of their favourite books and engage in a productive conversation with them. For younger child, ask them to find the book that has the specific character, talk ahead about the story before you read it and then find the characters together and explore the page with the scene you are talking about. If the child is older ask about their favourite book and ask why it is their favourite. Talk about what might be happening in that story from the front cover and who wrote the book. Maybe ask them if they can remember what happened next. Make sure your child understood the message of the book. Peg Leg Animals Use a toy plastic animal and outline the animal on the paper or if you are confident in drawing, draw your own animal. All animals should be drawn without legs. Use some pegs to make the animal legs. For the youngest children help your child to put the legs on “put it on”; “squeeze the peg” “ Let’s see how many we need. Create a scenario for the animals “jump in the puddle”; “eat the grass”; “go inside/outside the house”, “over/under the bridge” or just have the animals talk to each other. For older children, you can ask what the animals they want to draw, what do we need to do to show which animal it is, how many legs each animal has, what the colours/patterns they have, where each animal lives, talk about the size of animals and maybe what they would like to eat, Easter activities Why not organise a treasure hunt? Hide chocolate eggs around a room in the house and give your child clues to find them (you can swap the chocolate eggs for puzzle pieces, or small toy cars – whatever your child will be motivated to find!) You might start with an empty bowl or basket and talk ahead about the problem of the missing eggs i.e. for younger children you might say ‘Uh oh! There’s no eggs! Where are the eggs?’ For an older child you might explain they need to listen for clues and search the room “Look under something with pages that you read”. Or check out our Easter activity sheet. I spy. Play a variation of the classic game of ‘I spy’ by describing the object that you see. “I spy with my little eye, something that is round, and boils the water”; “I spy with my little eye something that is square, soft and full of feathers”. Adapt the description so that your child can be successful at guessing the object but then see if at the next round you can make it slightly harder. For the little ones you can describe the object by its function “something that we use to eat yoghurt”. For older children ask them to describe an object that you have to guess. Today’s recommended activity is for our younger children (6 -18 months) as we know at this age children love to put things in and take things out. Fill a muffin tin with different toys and loosely secure them in place with a piece of masking tape. Let your child explore the textures and develop their fine motor skills as they peel back the tape and retrieve the toy. This is a great opportunity to practice reading your child’s thought bubble and giving words for their thinking and their message. Acoustically highlight the words for their message and think about some functional verbs that might be useful “pull pull puuuull”, “take it ooooout”, “uh oh!” and “it’s stuck” etc. Spider web doorway. Help your child become Spiderman for the day by creating a spider web in one of your doorways! It’s all about the process, so ensure you talk and involve your child each step of the way. Start by talking about why spiders build their webs and then talk about what could be long and sticky that we could use instead? Get some sticky tape (ideally masking tape so it doesn’t leave marks!) and get your child to help you place strips of tape from one side to the other of the door cross-crossing all the way up. Then make paper-planes or scrunch up pieces of newspaper, and throw them at the giant web to see how many stick without falling. Help to change the bed sheets. This is a routine that gets done regularly. Involve your child by talking about the process. Your two key strategies will be to ask open questions and pause so that your child has time to think about what you said and give you an answer: “how do we wash the old sheets?”; “where are the new sheets?”. Keep talking about the process and give clear verbal directions e.g. “you hold this corner”, “fold it over” and “tuck it in”. Preparing breakfast. Try giving your child some small choices at breakfast. These could be “do you want toast or cereal?” or a smaller choice like “do you want jam or butter?”. For the older child ask an open question such as “what do you want for breakfast?”. Be prepared to talk about ‘why’ having ice-cream for breakfast is not a good idea! Remember to talk ahead about the options so that your child is listening to the verbal options. Create a pretend tight rope or bridge. Place some tape or string across the floor and say to your child that you must walk only on the rope and not fall in the river. Talk about who might be living in the river. A little tip… this game is great for calming down your children as it helps them to focus on walking slowly. Make a hammock for your teddy. Use a pillowcase to tie two opposite corners to the back of two chairs to make a teddy hammock. Before making the hammock talk to your child about how teddy needs a nap. Ask an open question, where can teddy have a nap? Then suggest that we can have a nap in different places not just in a bed. Explain how a hammock can be built. Listen to how the child is copying this new word, are there any sounds that they are finding tricky? Try whispering the word to highlight the consonants. Create a Treasure Den. Place a bedsheet over two chairs or a table and call it the ‘Treasure Den’ talk with your child about what are his/her treasures and then make a list of these treasures that they need to find around the house and place in their treasure den. Make sure you wait for your child to say his/her ideas.
Tanya Saunders - Cambridgeshire Expand Tanya’s daughter, Onna, was born prematurely at 28 weeks, alongside her typically hearing twin sister, Sala. Her hearing loss was initially misdiagnosed but (to cut a long story short!) she was finally diagnosed with severe-profound hearing loss and Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD). She received bilateral cochlear implants a month before her third birthday and started on the Auditory Verbal UK programme two months later. When Onna’s condition was first confirmed, her father and I immediately made the decision to do whatever was necessary to give her the best chance to learn to listen and speak. This involved uprooting our family, moving countries and changing our careers – but we made the decision without hesitation. Onna attends mainstream school alongside her twin sister. She has a one-to-one teaching assistant and although she is still speech delayed compared with her peers, she is chatty, engaged with her learning, reading well, making friends, and loving sports of all kinds from football and cycling to swimming and gymnastics. Read more about Onna here. Tanya said: “I passionately believe that deaf children deserve the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers. I feel that the inevitable and necessary hard work early on will pay off for these amazing children in the long term. It is not for us to set limits on what they can achieve but rather to give them the platform they need to learn, grow, and attain their goals alongside their hearing peers. I believe that AVUK’s aspirational and personalised approach can literally be life changing for deaf children and their families and would like to see Auditory Verbal Therapy become widely available across the UK, as it is in many other countries around the world.” The Saunders family are based near Ely, Cambridgeshire. If you would like to request to speak to Tanya about her experience please email [email protected]