Our vision is that all deaf children have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.

We want to raise expectations and outcomes for deaf children. We work to increase awareness, understanding and access to Auditory Verbal therapy by providing services directly to families and sharing our expertise with health and education professionals so that many more families can access Auditory Verbal therapy close to where they live.

Founded in 2003, Auditory Verbal UK has grown to be the leading provider of Auditory Verbal therapy in the UK. Our charity and its leaders have won numerous sector awards and continue to collaborate with organisations working in the field in the UK and worldwide.

What we do

Our organisational focus is in four main areas:

• Supporting families through our Auditory Verbal therapy programme.
• Training professionals through our internationally accredited training programme.
• Conducting research to strengthen the evidence base for our work.
• Increasing awareness and expectations of what deaf children can achieve.

Our strategy

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 strategy. 

Our Values

Achieving the best

• We believe in having high expectations for deaf children’s futures.
• We strive for excellence in everything that we do and have high professional standards.
• We continually review our ways of working to deliver the very best outcomes for deaf children.
• We want to be the best organisation we can be to work for and to work with.
• We are evidence-based and continually learn and improve from others in the public, private and voluntary sectors in the UK and internationally.

Family-centred

• We view parents and carers as the child’s ‘best expert’.
• We understand that there is an emotional journey that families face following a diagnosis of deafness and strive to provide the support they need
• We support and provide guidance to families on additional resources and challenges they may face
• We empower parents/carers to develop their child’s listening, speaking and social skills.
• We support parents and their children to become strong advocates for themselves.

Respectful

• We respect and value diversity.
• We respect language and communication preferences.
• We recognise and respect other professionals and each other.
• We value all our supporters equally.

Diversity and Inclusion 

• We strive to be inclusive and to embrace diversity.
• We strive to be inclusive in all that we do. We believe that diversity brings strength to our organisation. We celebrate different points of view and strive for a workplace where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, authentic selves to work. We believe diversity drives innovation and will continue to challenge and review our processes and practice, recognise where we need to improve and take action where needed.

Collaborative

• We work collaboratively with professionals, organisations, children and parents in partnership.
• We identify and build bridges with people and organisations that can help us to make a difference for deaf babies and children in the UK.
• We work closely with our international partners who have been delivering listening and spoken language programmes for a number of years.
• We work collaboratively as a team to find solutions to challenges and learn from others.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion statement

AVUK believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) matters, and strives to be an organisation that explores and promotes EDI. We are committed to fostering an organisation where everyone feels valued, and respected, regardless of background or identity. We recognise that diversity strengthens our organisation, bringing new perspectives, experiences, and ideas that help us grow.

We actively challenge and review our practices, identifying areas for improvement and taking action. We value the importance of lived experience and work in partnership with families, professionals, and colleagues to continuously enhance our knowledge, understanding, and impact in relation to EDI.

Over the past year, we have taken concrete steps to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion at AVUK. In 2024 we established an EDI working group, with representation from all the different teams at AVUK, to boost diversity of thought and progress towards the goals of our EDI Action Plan. Our key areas of focus have included:

 Enhancing Awareness & Lived Experience Engagement

• Providing regular opportunities for staff and trustees to learn about the rich diversity of deafness directly from a range of individuals, gaining insight into different lived experiences around deafness and other protected characteristics.
• Creating safe spaces for conversations with colleagues who identify with or have lived experience of different protected characteristics to deepen our understanding of their experiences and what we can do to support them.
• Is it our intention to foster and embrace a cultural transformation of EDI through these frequent learning opportunities.  

Embedding Inclusive Language & Communication

• Reviewing and updating our Language Guide to ensure respectful, inclusive communication across our organisation.
• Implementing a quarterly review of AVUK’s website and other communication channels, as well as a larger yearly review, to ensure content is aligned with our EDI Language Guide.

Promoting Fair & Diverse Recruitment

• Practicing anonymised recruitment processes and advertising roles through diverse job platforms and agencies to attract a wider talent pool.

Increasing Representation in Therapy Resources

• Expanding our collection of toys, books, and therapy materials to reflect a broader range of cultures, identities, and experiences.

Measuring Our Progress & Listening to Families

• Conducting our annual Family Survey to assess inclusivity, with:
  • 95% of respondents agreeing that AVUK respects and celebrates diversity (representing a 12% improvement on the previous survey).
  • 91% agreeing AVUK to be an inclusive organisation (representing a 10% improvement on the previous survey).
• Using feedback from families to further improve our inclusivity and ensure that every family feels welcomed and represented in our work.

While we are proud of our progress, we acknowledge that our journey is ongoing. We remain committed to continuing this journey and to the ongoing implementation of our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.