Skip over main navigation
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  • Professionals' Portal
  • Staff Wellbeing Portal
  • Contact us
Auditory Verbal
SUPPORT FOR YOUR CHILD
We are here to help
DONATE
Need to talk?
01869 325 000
  • Twitter
Menu
  • Home
  • About us
    • Our mission and values
    • Our strategy
    • Our history
    • People
      • Staff and Volunteers
      • Trustees
      • Voluntary Advisory Board
      • Ambassadors
      • Our founder
      • Our patron
    • Diversity and Inclusion Statement
    • How we're funded
    • Work for us
    • Policies and publications
    • Media centre
    • Events
  • Families
    • Latest information about our services
    • Meet an Auditory Verbal therapist
    • Programme for families
    • Family portal
    • On your doorstep
    • Graduates
    • Book shop
    • Professionals
      • Co-working
      • Referring a family
      • Training
      • Recommended resources
  • Auditory verbal therapy
    • What is Auditory Verbal therapy?
    • Early intervention
    • Evidence base for Auditory Verbal Therapy
    • Telepractice
    • Case studies
    • FAQs
  • Training
    • Auditory Verbal therapy training package
    • Course dates
    • Training stories
    • Recommended resources
  • Our impact
    • News
    • Changing lives
    • Facts and figures
    • Family quotes
    • Our awards
    • Our projects
    • In the media
  • Support us
    • #HearUsNow
    • Write to your MP
    • Fundraise for us
    • Set up a regular donation
    • Leave a gift in your will
    • Supporters
    • Other ways to support
      • Small businesses
      • Family Bursary Fund
      • School fundraising
      • Other ways to give
  • Loud Shirt Day
  • Donate
  • Admin
    • Log in
    • Professionals' Portal
    • Staff Wellbeing Portal
    • Contact us
  • Basket: (0 items)
  • Our history
  1. About us
  2. Our history

Our history

Auditory Verbal UK was founded to raise expectations for deaf children and to provide access to Auditory Verbal therapy for the first time in the UK.

Our Founding Director, Jacqueline Stokes (LSLS Cert AVT®) brought Auditory Verbal therapy to the UK after training in Canada and seeing what could be achieved for deaf children. The Auditory Verbal approach forms part of mainstream support for deaf children in North America, Denmark and Australasia. After working with children from her home in Oxfordshire, Jacqueline established the charity, Auditory Verbal UK and led it until her retirement in 2012.

Key moments

In 1996 Jacqueline Stokes certified as an Auditory Verbal therapist and in 1999 began delivering Auditory Verbal therapy to families for the first time in the UK.

In 2002 Stokes recruited our first trustees and registers as a charity under the name The Auditory Verbal Centre to be able to deliver therapy to families who are unable to pay.

In 2006 the charity recruited a research coordinator to begin demonstrating the successful outcomes of the approach. In 2008 we launched our Reach Out programme to help widen access to low income families. We now have our Family Bursary Fund which enables over 70% of the families we work with to access our programme.

To be able to make Auditory Verbal therapy more accessible to families across the country, we launched our Foundation course in Auditory Verbal therapy in 2012. In 2013 our first Advanced course in Auditory Verbal therapy began, meaning that professionals working with deaf children can undertake all training and mentoring required to sit the LSLS Cert AVT qualification through AVUK’s training package. To date, we have worked with over 1,000 professionals working in the NHS and local authority settings.

In 2013 Anita Grover was recruited as the Chief Executive of the organisation following Jacqueline Stokes’ retirement.

In 2016 and 2018, we hosted an event at the House of Commons, called Power of Speech, which showcased the incredible listening and spoken language skills of our graduates. This event now takes place once every two years to help raise awareness of the communication approach for deaf children amongst MPs and sector leading professionals.

Since it was founded, Auditory Verbal UK has worked with over 1,000 families. Our research team has published a number of outcomes studies demonstrating the success of our work. A ten-year audit, published in 2018, demonstrated that 97% of deaf children without additional needs who accessed our programme for at least two years received age-appropriate language. 1 in 2 deaf children with additional needs, such as Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy, achieved age-appropriate language.

We are now embarking on our 10 year plan to enable all families who want their child to learn to listen and talk, to be able to access Auditory Verbal therapy through publicly funded services. With an investment of £21.5m over the next 10 years, we can provide a sound future for deaf children and unlock an economic benefit of £152m, rising to £11.7 billion over 50 years. With children at risk of falling further behind as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic there has never been a more important time to invest in early and effective support for deaf children in the UK. Read more in our position paper.

Working under the direction of our trustees and chief executive, our team of over 25 staff members is made up of fundraisers, therapists, research coordinators, communications professionals and an operations team.

We have received a number of awards to acknowledge our sector leading work, including the Model of Excellence from the Centre for Social Justice, and highly commended Charity of the Year at the Third Sector Awards. A number of our graduates have also received national awards in recognition of their successes.

The charity receives no direct government funding and relies on the generosity of trusts, organisations and individuals to continue our work. If you are interested in supporting, please head to our donate page or contact our fundraising team on fundraisi[email protected] or 020 7394 4353.



Published: 8th September, 2022

Author:

Share this page
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Latest

  • Auditory Verbal UK launch BBC Radio 4 appeal to transform the lives of deaf children

    Auditory Verbal UK launch BBC Radio 4 appeal to transform the lives of deaf children

  • Rebecca de Vyea's journey to become an Auditory Verbal Therapist

    Rebecca de Vyea's journey to become an Auditory Verbal Therapist

  • AVUK's charity appeal on BBC Radio 4

    AVUK's charity appeal on BBC Radio 4

  • Our latest Position Paper:  Raising expectations for deaf children

    Our latest Position Paper: Raising expectations for deaf children

Related

  • Work for us

    Work for us

    Do you have an interest in transforming children’s lives? See our vacancies.

  • Policies and publications

    Policies and publications

    Our policies and publications to ensure we deliver high quality services to families and professionals.

  • Our mission and values

    Our mission and values

    At Auditory Verbal UK, we want all deaf babies and children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.

  • How we're funded

    How we're funded

    How we get our funding.

  • Our patron

    Our patron

    Janine Roebuck became AVUK‘s first Patron in 2010.

  • Our founder

    Our founder

    Jacqueline Stokes was an inspirational woman; the first Auditory Verbal therapist in the UK, with a heartfelt belief that all deaf children should be allowed to achieve their full potential.

  • Our strategy

    Our strategy

    Based around our Theory of Change, our strategy explains our plans over the next five years.

Most read

  • What is Auditory Verbal therapy?

    What is Auditory Verbal therapy?

    Auditory verbal therapy is a highly specialist early intervention programme which equips parents with the skills to maximise their deaf child’s speech and language development.

  • Training to be an Auditory Verbal Therapist

    Training to be an Auditory Verbal Therapist

    Find out how you can train to become an Auditory Verbal Therapist in the UK.

  • Evidence base for Auditory Verbal therapy

    Evidence base for Auditory Verbal therapy

    Deaf children can learn to listen and speak – like their hearing peers. What's the evidence?

  • Our mission and values

    Our mission and values

    At Auditory Verbal UK, we want all deaf babies and children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.

  • Work for us

    Work for us

    Do you have an interest in transforming children’s lives? See our vacancies.

  • Foundation level

    Foundation level

    This 6-month course is available in an online learning format. Designed to equip professionals with the core skills needed to develop auditory practice when working with children with hearing loss and their families, we are also able to deliver this course in-service to employers wishing to train groups of staff.

  • The Education, Heath and Care Plan process

    The Education, Heath and Care Plan process

    Families have shared that the Education, Health and Care Plan process can sometimes feel daunting or confusing so we have collated the most frequently asked questions to try and help clarify the process.

  • Early intervention

    Early intervention

    What are the benefits of an early intervention programme?

  • Therapy sessions

    Therapy sessions

    Auditory Verbal therapy (AVT) is about enabling your child to learn to talk through listening. Read more about the therapy we provide.

  • Session activity ideas

    Session activity ideas

Tag cloud

AVUK news case studies Changing lives family news MP3 our stories youtube

Latest tweet

Sign up for our newsletter

      • Twitter
      • Facebook
      • YouTube
      • Instagram
      • LinkedIn
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Diversity & Inclusion statement
  • Terms & conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Media Centre
  • 01869 325 000

Auditory Verbal UK is a registered charity (charity no:1095133). Registered company number: 4569764. Registered in England & Wales. Auditory Verbal UK is the operating name of the Auditory Verbal Centre.

GSK 2020 IMPACT Award Winner 
Manage Cookie Preferences