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Auditory Verbal therapy is a family-centred specialist approach to developing spoken language through listening for deaf children. It supports pre-school deaf children, from birth to five years of age, learn how to make sense of the sound they receive through their hearing technology, like cochlear implants and hearing aids, and develop spoken language so they can learn to talk like their hearing friends.  

Our programme may be suitable for you and your family if:

• You would like your child to learn to communicate through listening and spoken language.
• Your child is 0 to 5 years old.
• Your child has a mild to profound hearing loss.
• Your child has been fitted with or will be fitted with hearing technology such as hearing aids or auditory (cochlear) implants

How an Auditory Verbal therapy programme works:

• It is a parent-coaching programme. Typically, during fortnightly sessions, for an average of 2 and a half years, your family is supported to develop your child’s language skills so that you can use the techniques at home.
• The best outcomes are achieved when your child’s hearing technology (hearing aids or cochlear implants) are working optimally through liaison and working closely with your audiology team.
• It is a play-based approach. Through play, we work to enable your child to listen and talk, and to improve your child’s confidence and their peer interaction. A strong basis in listening provides a solid foundation for the skills needed for learning to read and write. These are all important for time spent in the playground, the classroom and throughout their lives.
• It is individualised. The programme is designed for your child and their needs. The programme is designed for your child and their needs, and you and your child are seen together. Goals are set within a developmental framework and progress is closely monitored in partnership with your family and other professionals who work with you.
• We work together with you to share learnings with professionals, including your teacher of the deaf and speech and language therapist, so the whole team around you are working together to support you and your child.

Through the Auditory Verbal approach, your child develops a listening attitude so that paying attention to the sound around them becomes automatic. Hearing and listening become an integral part of communication, play, education and eventually work. The approach is distinctive in the way it makes the most of your child’s use of hearing as the main sense for developing spoken language.

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What are the results?

Our research has found that 97% of deaf children without additional needs reach at least age-appropriate language and over 80 percent of children, including those with additional needs who have been on the programme at AVUK for more than two years leave with age-appropriate language. They can play, plan and negotiate with their friends and many children enjoy music just like their hearing friends. For some children, additional difficulties may mean that age appropriate spoken language is not a realistic goal. In these cases, we can still equip you with the skills you need to enable your child to have the best possible listening and talking skills.

Please click here to find out more about the evidence base of Auditory Verbal therapy. You can also read case studies from parents who talk about their experience on the programme here.

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Locations

AVUK welcomes families from all over the UK. Our sessions are available in person, online via telepractice or a mix of the two. 

We offer appointments online or in person at our London, Oxford, Leeds or Glasgow centres.

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How much does the programme cost?

AVUK is a charity and through the support of generous individuals and organisations we are able to offer subsidised access to our regular programme with the subsidy based on household income. Our latest fees and bursary support can be found here.

Thanks to generous donations made in memory of Claire Campbell, former Chair of Trustees and passionate advocate of Auditory Verbal UK, we are able to provide two initial appointments at no cost, each month, for those families who need it most.  

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Additional support

We also offer additional support throughout the programme in a variety of forms. For more information head to our Family support page. 

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FAQs

Have a question about our programme? Head to our FAQs page for more information.