Following our successful workshop on auditory verbal therapy for parents of children with permanent hearing loss in Belfast during April 2013, we were approached by Our New Ears (ONE) to host an online chat for Irish parents to ask questions about AVT in January 2014. ONE has been a driving force in Ireland for support for deaf children. They successfully campaigned for the introduction of bilateral cochlear implants for children in Ireland and have also worked with the John Tracy Clinic in the USA to support families wishing to learn more about the Auditory Verbal therapy approach. 

With increasing demand for AVT services in Ireland, four committee members from ONE visited the AV^UK centre in London and had the opportunity to see our listening and spoken language programme in action by joining in live sessions. AV^UK was invited to host a two day workshop on AVT for parents and professionals in Ireland in January 2015. The talks included an introduction to Auditory Verbal therapy and strategies for working with young deaf children. The response from the professional group was phenomenal. Ten professionals indicated that they would like to attend our Working Through Audition training course as the starting point for making Auditory Verbal therapy more widely available across the Republic of Ireland. The training began in September 2015 and was delivered across three visits to Dublin. AV^UK has also supported six children and their families with sessions on each of our visits to Dublin.

The project was funded by the efforts of the Our New Ears Group and by a generous donation from a charitable foundation, based in Ireland.