Aurora (12), Noah (7), and Katie (13), who are all deaf, shared their experiences of learning to listen and talk with Auditory Verbal therapy and how they are challenging perceptions of what deaf children can achieve with the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Chris Quinn, and Junior Minister Pam Cameron in September.

Alongside their families, the three young people discussed with Chris and Pam what they are doing now and their ambitions for the future, following early, effective support to develop language and communication when they were young children.

Katie is a typical 13-year-old who loves Taylor Swift and football and dreams of playing in the top collegiate USA Women’s Soccer League. She wears cochlear implants and was supported to listen and speak with Auditory Verbal therapy.

Her Mum Abbie said: “Katie is the youngest of three children and by far the most confident and independent. She has always wanted to do everything on her terms and been determined that being deaf will not stop her doing anything at all. But deaf young people in Northern Ireland are still at a disadvantage to their hearing peers. This has to change.”

Katie graduated from AVUK’s family-centred Auditory Verbal therapy programme aged five with spoken language skills ahead of a hearing child her age and has always attended mainstream school. She is now at a high performing grammar school in Belfast where she has a wealth of friends and interests.

During the meeting Noah’s Mum Pamela said: “We never thought that Noah would come into a room and communicate like this. He is proof that anything is possible.”

Katie shared her story as recent research shows 41% of adults in Northern Ireland believe it is not possible for a child born profoundly deaf today to learn to speak as well as a child without hearing loss. Katie, and the other children at the event, prove it is possible with early, effective support.

Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Chris Quinn, said: “It was inspirational to hear first-hand how Auditory Verbal therapy has benefitted these children and the impact it has had on their lives. It is evident that lives have been transformed by specialist auditory verbal therapy, which has supported them to learn to listen and speak.”

There are approximately 200 deaf children under five in Northern Ireland, but currently there are no certified Auditory Verbal therapists in the country working in local services, with just one certified Auditory Verbal therapist, Rosie Gardner who works in private practice and was at the meeting. This has resulted in little to no access to Auditory Verbal therapy for deaf children and their families via publicly funded services.

It is estimated that around £800,000 is needed over the next 10 years to train a small proportion of the current public sector workforce in the approach, whilst AVUK supports some of the most venerable children directly. By doing this, we can enable all deaf children under the age of 5 in Northern Ireland the option to access an Auditory Verbal therapy programme via publicly funded services close to where they live.

AVUK Chief Executive Anita Grover who has previously met with Junior Minister Cameron alongside Junior Minister Reilly to discuss the issues, explained: “It was wonderful to have the opportunity to show the difference early support has on the lives of deaf children like Katie, Noah and Aurora to the minister and commissioner. But they are the exception rather than the rule.

“Even though Northern Ireland has one of the best Newborn Hearing Screening programme in the world, deaf children are not currently achieving the outcomes that we know are possible and we are not currently maximising the return on the investment being made in screening and technology. When deaf children have access to early and effective support to develop language and communication, whether their families choose to communicate with spoken language, sign language or both, outcomes are transformed.”

The Commissioner added: “This meeting also allowed my team and I to discuss what we can do to enable more deaf children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.

“These children rarely get an audience with politicians but their lives and futures matter. We want those in power to know what action they need to take so their rights are being respected and they can thrive.”

AVUK is proud to be working with speech and language therapists, teachers of the deaf and audiologists  across Northern Ireland to being their training in Auditory Verbal therapy. One practitioner is expected to qualify  early next year, after completing her three-year training programme,

Anita added: “For those families who want their deaf children to learn to listen and talk, the benefits of Auditory Verbal therapy are clear. By improving outcomes, we can unlock significant savings for Health and Social Care Northern Ireland and the wider economy estimated to be around £4.5 million over the next ten years. But urgent investment in the workforce is needed now so that more children can be supported to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.”

We’re grateful to Chris Quinn and Minister Pam Cameron for meeting with deaf children and their  families and discussing how together we can increase the access to Auditory Verbal therapy and improve outcomes and opportunities for deaf children.