Our Power of Speech event celebrated what deaf children can achieve and why it is so important that families are able to access timely and effective support in the critical first few years of their child’s lives. We had the privilege of hearing from seven young people, who learnt to listen and talk as very young children at Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK). 

Khush Gopal aged 11, Ava Pearson aged 15, Alana Burton aged 10, Callum Herholdt aged 7, Lauren Press aged 16, Jasper Loten aged 14 and Isabelle Cavanough aged 7 all demonstrated that their hearing loss is no barrier to their achievements and why we must have much higher expectations for children who are deaf and ensure the necessary investment is made in the early years to enable children to achieve the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers. 

See the photos

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Connecting across the globe 

At the event, we showed this video of AVUK’s graduate, Alana Burton connecting with Harper, graduate from The Shepherd Centre. Watch them chat over zoom about their dislike of vegetables and other very important matters. 

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Stepping stones to literacy 

We also published our research that highlights that deaf children following our specialist early intervention programme are attaining educational outcomes on a par with hearing children. 

DOWNLOAD THE RESEARCH 

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How you can help 

Far too many deaf children are underachieving at school, have poorer employment prospects and are at higher risk of bullying and social exclusion. This is why we have launched our #HearUsNow campaign. 

There are a few ways you can help: 

• Write to your MP or ask to meet them in person to raise awareness of what deaf children can achieve when they have access to early and effective support. Visit www.avuk.org/hearusnow for more tips and to download a template letter.
• Respond to the Government green paper on the future of the SEND system. Visit sendreview.campaign.gov.uk to share your views