After more than 30 years working with deaf babies and children Charlotte Lynch, based in Devon,  is now celebrating qualifying as an Auditory Verbal Therapist Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Certified Auditory Verbal Therapist (LSLS AVT Cert).

Charlotte explained: “I have been a Teacher of the Deaf since 1983 and have seen many technological advances. Having also grown up with moderate to severe deafness, the focus of Auditory Verbal (AV) therapy on the power and potential of the listening brain was of great interest to me. I attended a short course about AV therapy  and the quality and relevance of the training was very impressive, so I signed up to the AVUK foundation course – Working through audition, and began in 2018.”

Charlotte knew she wanted to continue her AV therapy training journey after completing the foundation course, so signed up for the advanced course in 2019 and received her certification in June 2024.

She explained: “AV therapy is so much more than just listening and speaking. It’s an approach that looks at the whole child and aims to make the best use of their hearing and technology for the best possible outcomes, whatever their ultimate communication choice. I have grown so much in my understanding of topics like Theory of Mind and Executive Functioning and the strategies I use have helped all of the families I work with.”

And Charlotte loved the challenge and support she received as part of the online training programme;  “The podcasts were well put together and interesting and the webinars were led by skilled mentors. Although submitting video clips of our practice was initially daunting it was a supportive safe space and we learnt so much from each other. I am still in contact with most of my cohort and I regularly seek advice from AVUK who have been hugely supportive.

“I was lucky to receive a bursary from AVUK for both the foundation and advanced course and couldn’t have done it without this. For any professionals considering training in the Auditory Verbal therapy approach I would say don’t hesitate, it’s so valuable and it’s my belief that the foundation training should be an essential part of any training for Teachers of the Deaf whether newly qualified or experienced.”

Charlotte  now works as an Independent Teacher of the Deaf consultant and Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Certified Auditory Verbal Therapist.

Find out more about AVUK’s training course