HearUsNow We are calling on UK governments to invest in early and effective support for deaf children in the UK. Early and effective support to develop language and communication should be available for all deaf children whether their families choose to communicate with spoken language, sign language or both. We want all families who want their child to learn to listen and talk to have the opportunity to access Auditory Verbal therapy through publicly funded services. Support the campaign now We need to urgently address the current postcode lottery and inequality of access to Auditory Verbal therapy and radically increase the number of specialist Auditory Verbal Therapists working in the NHS and local public services. Currently less than 15% of deaf children under 5 in the UK that could benefit from Auditory Verbal therapy can access it. The Hear Us Now campaign is calling on UK governments to make an investment of £21.5 million over the next 10 years, so we can transform services and provide a sound future for deaf children. Auditory Verbal therapy is already state funded in countries including Australia, New Zealand and Denmark, and UK governments should strive to match this investment. How do we achieve this? By training a small proportion of the current public sector workforce of speech and language therapists, teachers of the deaf and audiologists, we can embed 300 specialist Auditory Verbal Therapists in the NHS and local public services. This will enable the estimated 7,200 deaf children under the age of 5 in the UK who could benefit from Auditory Verbal therapy to have the opportunity to access this specialist support. Economic benefits Economic analysis has shown that an investment of just over £2 million per year, for the next 10 years, we can transform services for deaf children across the UK and deliver around £152 million of economic benefit, rising to around £11.7 billion within the next 50 years, through improved quality of life, employment prospects, lower costs of schooling and avoided injuries. How you can help Writing to your local representative, such as Member of Parliament (MP), Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), Member of the Senedd (MS) and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), is a really effective way to raise awareness of Auditory Verbal therapy, the Hear Us Now campaign and the mission of ensuring all deaf babies and children to have the opportunity to access Auditory Verbal therapy. PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE Share your support on social media Share this graphic (below) and use the hashtag #HearUsNow and tag us to show your support for the campaign on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn. Find out more Our Power of Speech event celebrates what deaf children can achieve and why it is so important that families are able to access early and effective support in the critical first few years of their child’s lives. In 2022, seven young people, who learnt to listen and talk as very young children with Auditory Verbal therapy, shared their stories at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. Want to find out more? Contact our engagement and campaigns team via [email protected] to find out more about how you can support our mission to increase access to Auditory Verbal therapy for deaf babies and children. Manage Cookie Preferences