Kalifa Coleman-Best qualifies as an Auditory Verbal Therapist

Kalifa Coleman-Best is a Speech and Language Therapist and Director of the Language in Bloom Deafness Clinic in Hampshire.  

Kalifa recently qualified as a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Auditory Verbal Therapist after completing her Advanced Level course in Auditory Verbal therapy with Auditory Verbal UK and passing her exam from the international accrediting body, AG Bell. Kalfia is now one of 34 certified Auditory Verbal Therapists in the UK.  

Talking about her experience on the training programme, Kalifa said, “I signed up to AVUK’s Advanced course to gain a better understanding of the importance of early intervention and how we can support parents and families to improve the listening and spoken language outcomes of their deaf children.” 

Kalifa received a training bursary from the charity to help her undertake the training. She told us about her experience on the programme: “I attended the advanced course whilst working in a mainstream school with a deaf unit. I thoroughly enjoyed the frequent group sessions and the discussions we had; specifically, those related to our caseloads. The conversations were supportive and informative, and I appreciate the guidance our tutor Estelle provided to continue our learning.” 

Talking about the impact the training has had on her practice, Kalifa explained, “My confidence in both the hearing technology children use and my own ability to develop the language skills of the children I work with has grown immensely. I can coach parents with ease with a range of approaches and am now consistently supporting each of the families I work with to have high expectations for their deaf child.” 

Kalifa told us the best thing about the training course was the support from her group mentors and tutor. She also says that the huge wealth of online listening and spoken language resources helped her along the way. Kalifa added, “the podcasts and therapy videos helped to shape the way I work with many of my families.” 

Finally, Kalifa encourages other professionals working with deaf children to sign up to AVUK’s foundation and advanced course. She said “I would say to anyone who is thinking of undertaking Auditory Verbal UK’s training to do it as it will improve your confidence and coaching skills tenfold. We cannot build these skills independently and learning how to empower the adults around the child will have a huge positive effect on their development.” 

Find out more about AVUK’s training course.