Deena Bamberger - London Expand Leah was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf at 9 months of age - she was born a few months before the Newborn Hearing Screening was started. Parents Aron and Deena were terribly worried about Leah's ability to access speech, but after the first few appointments at AVUK with Elizabeth and Jacqueline, they were hopeful of a bright future for Leah. Leah was fitted with her first cochlear implant at 22 months, and the second one shortly before her fourth birthday. With incredible support from AVUK, Leah learned to speak clearly and to be a good listener. Leah is now 13 years old and the oldest of five children, three brothers and a sister. She is a happy, chatty and fun-loving and is well integrated into the mainstream school system with LSA support where necessary. The Bamberger family live in North West London. If you would like to speak to Deena about her experience, please email [email protected].
Dominic and Shamim Byrne - Nottinghamshire Expand Dominic and Shamim Byrne daughter, Sarosha, who was born in 2000: “There was no hearing screening at birth at that time and we didn’t know Sarosha had a profound bilateral sensorineural loss until she was around nine months old. She got a unilateral cochlear implant at 23 months of age and a second CI just before she was seven. We started auditory verbal therapy (AVT) at about 12 months and continued until Sarosha was nearly four. It’s been fantastic and we’ve got so much to be grateful to AVUK for. “Outcomes have been really good. Sarosha started school with better than age-appropriate listening and speech. Thanks to AVT and the CI, she had more than closed the gap between her and her hearing peers, and she started at local mainstream primary school without any particular special needs. She’s now in her late teens, having obtained excellent A level results is studying English and Psychology in one of the top ten university's in the UK. AVT didn’t end when we stopped regular sessions. The support and awareness it gave us has meant we’ve been well-equipped to help Sarosha get the listening environment she needs throughout education." The family is based in Nottinghamshire. If you would like to request to speak with Dominic and Shamim about their experience, please email [email protected]
Giulia Bove - London Expand Giulia’s son Max was born in 2014. Max has a severe to profound hearing loss and received cochlear implants just after his first birthday. Max is now doing very well at school. He attends Laycock Primary School which has a unit for deaf children. He loves reading and writing and is going from strength to strength. Giulia's second child Olivia was born in 2017 and has a moderate hearing loss. Giulia was previously a trustee of Auditory Verbal UK. The family is based in Rotherhithe, London. If you would like to request to speak with Giulia about her experience, please email [email protected]
Katie Brewer - London Expand Katie is one of our parent ambassadors and her son Henry is profoundly deaf. Katie was instrumental in helping AVUK build a partnership with Garden House School which raised a transformational amount of money for the charity in 2011/12. Katie’s husband Simon also raised an amazing total for us through taking part in the Patrouille Des Glaciers in 2008. Katie is working to raise our profile with schools and companies. She tells her personal story in her own words here. The family is based in London. If you would like to request to speak with Katie about her experience, please email i[email protected]
Kate Cadman - Lincolnshire Expand Kate’s daughter Beatrice was born profoundly deaf in 2003 and her hearing loss was identified by the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme. When Beatrice was 16 months old, she started the programme at Auditory Verbal UK and graduated when she was five. Kate frequently speaks about her experience at conferences and events to help raise awareness of Auditory Verbal therapy and Beatrice now shares her own experiences as a Young Ambassador. Beatrice spoke at our Power of Speech event at the House of Commons in June 2016 You can see Beatrice’s speech here. Read Kate's story in her own words here. The family is based in Lincolnshire. If you would like to request to speak with Kate about her experience, please email i[email protected]
Jo & Andy Callaghan - East Sussex Expand Andy and Jo Callaghan’s son Sam was born profoundly deaf in 2011. Sam received cochlear implants just before his first birthday. Early intervention with Auditory Verbal Therapy enabled Sam to attain age-appropriate speech and attend mainstream Primary School. Andy was previously a trustee of Auditory Verbal UK. You can read more about Sam, Jo and Andy here. The family are based in East Sussex. If you would like to request to speak with Jo and Andy about their experience, please email [email protected]
Angela Conlan - London Expand Angela’s daughter Lily was diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss when she was two-and-half years old. Despite being given hearing aids, Angela was told a genetic condition meant Lily’s hearing would deteriorate. Angela heard about AVUK through another parent at school and Lily started her programme in 2015. Lily was fitted with cochlear implants in 2017, aged five, and continued with Auditory Verbal Therapy. Her “beautiful” speech is improving every day and in 2019 Lily introduced guest speakers at the London Early Years' Conference at City Hall. Angela is an ambassador for Auditory Verbal UK and has set up her own organisation to support other families with deaf children. Angela is also studying for a level 3 qualification in British Sign Language. Read Angela's story in her own words here. Lily and Angela are based in north London. To speak to Angela about her experience email [email protected]
Emma Curtis - London Expand Emma has been a great supporter of Auditory Verbal UK for many years. Emma’s son James, was born profoundly deaf and first visited our founder Jacqueline Stokes when he was 10 months old. James excelled in mainstream school and knows he can achieve anything he wants to. James is now studying History at Durham University. Emma is driven by an ambition to see Auditory Verbal Therapy become more widely available in the UK and to break down the barriers for deaf children to succeed in education and employment. The Curtis family are from north London. To find out more about their story or to arrange an interview with Emma email [email protected]
John & Kirsty Cunningham - Glasgow Expand John and Kirsty Cunningham's daughter Hope was born with profound hearing loss, and was recommended for cochlear implant surgery at around fourteen months old. This resulted in a significant delay in speech & language development prior to being implanted. The family joined Auditory Verbal UK's programme after Hope's surgery and she started school with age appropriate language. John and Kirsty said: "Accessing Auditory Verbal therapy from AVUK was a real game-changer. The incredible work done by AVUK staff with Hope, and the invaluable skills they pass on to parents to help them coach their kids, meant that her speech & language were completely age appropriate by the time she started primary school." The family is based in Glasgow, Scotland. If you would like to speak with the family about their experience, please email [email protected]
Becky Dennis - London Expand Becky’s daughter Hope was born in 2010. After failing the Newborn Hearing Screening Test, Hope's parents were informed that she had a profound hearing loss. When Hope was nine months old, she received cochlear implants in both ears from Great Ormond Street Hospital. At the time, Hope was one of the youngest babies in the UK to have bilateral cochlear implant surgery. This meant that by 14 months, Hope’s communication skills were judged as age-appropriate. Hope was the youngest participant of our Power of Speech event at the House of Commons in June 2016. You can see Hope’s speech here. The family is based in North London. If you would like to request to speak with Becky about her experience, please email [email protected]
Bhavika Gopal Expand Bhavika's children, Dhyana and Khush are both profoundly deaf and successfully graduated from Auditory Verbal UK when they were younger. Dhyana and Khush are now attending mainstream schools, which they enjoy. The family is based in Kent. If you would like to request to speak with Bhavika about her experience, please email [email protected]
Victoria Oram - Wiltshire Expand Victoria and her husband Steve have three daughters, Sade, Topaz and Tallulah. Sade was diagnosed with a profound hearing loss when she was two years old and received a cochlear implant at three years and two months. Topaz, who is two years younger than Sade, was also born with a profound hearing loss, which was diagnosed at two months old. Both sisters were taught to listen and speak at Auditory Verbal UK and presented our Power of Speech event at the House of Commons in 2016. The family are based in Wiltshire. If you would like to request to speak with Victoria about her experience, please email [email protected]
Deborah Pezzuto - Somerset Expand Deborah has three children Keisha and twins Zack and Dylan. Zack and Dylan, were born with severe to profound hearing loss in July 2011 in New York. They were fitted with bilateral cochlear implants at 6 months old and began Auditory Verbal Therapy in New York. Two years later the family moved to the UK and joined Auditory Verbal UK's programme. Deborah is a fantastic advocate for AVUK and regularly shares her story with the media. She said: "I’m a very positive person and very focused on my kids development. I never give up and I always encourage them to reach any target they want in the best way possible." Read Deborah's story in her own words here. The family are based in Bath, Somerset. For more information or to arrange an interview email [email protected]
Jim & Becky Shearer - East Staffordshire Expand Jim and Becky's son Louie was diagnosed with a high-frequency moderate sensorineural hearing loss at his newborn hearing screening; he was born prematurely at 34 weeks. He attended Auditory Verbal UK from six months of age and went from strength to strength with each session he attended. He is now thriving at mainstream school. Becky said: "AVUK showed me that having a hearing impaired child did not mean he should be held back in any way. They provided me, as Louie's mother, with strength and positivity and I can honestly say that I do not know what we would have done without AVUK." The Shearer's are based East Staffordshire. If you would like to speak with Jim and Becky about their experience, please email [email protected]
Tanya Saunders - Cambridgeshire Expand Tanya’s daughter, Onna, was born prematurely at 28 weeks, alongside her typically hearing twin sister, Sala. Her hearing loss was initially misdiagnosed but (to cut a long story short!) she was finally diagnosed with severe-profound hearing loss and Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD). She received bilateral cochlear implants a month before her third birthday and started on the Auditory Verbal UK programme two months later. When Onna’s condition was first confirmed, her father and I immediately made the decision to do whatever was necessary to give her the best chance to learn to listen and speak. This involved uprooting our family, moving countries and changing our careers – but we made the decision without hesitation. Onna attends mainstream school alongside her twin sister. She has a one-to-one teaching assistant and although she is still speech delayed compared with her peers, she is chatty, engaged with her learning, reading well, making friends, and loving sports of all kinds from football and cycling to swimming and gymnastics. Read more about Onna here. Tanya said: “I passionately believe that deaf children deserve the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers. I feel that the inevitable and necessary hard work early on will pay off for these amazing children in the long term. It is not for us to set limits on what they can achieve but rather to give them the platform they need to learn, grow, and attain their goals alongside their hearing peers. I believe that AVUK’s aspirational and personalised approach can literally be life changing for deaf children and their families and would like to see Auditory Verbal Therapy become widely available across the UK, as it is in many other countries around the world.” The Saunders family are based near Ely, Cambridgeshire. If you would like to request to speak to Tanya about her experience please email [email protected]
Simi Rughani - Hertfordshire Expand Simi Rughani – Hertfordshire Simi’s son Shivaay was diagnosed with a severe hearing loss at his newborn hearing screening in 2021. The family were living and working in Kenya and had returned to the UK to have Shivaay, their second child. They made the life changing decision to move back to ensure they could get the best support for Shivaay, and, after finding out about Auditory Verbal therapy from professionals at Great Ormond Street Hospital, joined the family programme at AVUK when Shivaay was only six months old. Initially the family had telepractice and then later in person sessions which Shivaay is still attending, supporting him to listen and speak and meet his targets at pre-school. Read more about Shivaaay’s journey here If you would like to request to speak with Simi about her experience, please email [email protected]