James Curtis Expand My name is James Curtis. I was born profoundly deaf, but it was not until I was 8 months old that my parents discovered my hearing impairment. Luckily, thanks to the amazing work of the team at Auditory Verbal UK and my mum’s tenacity and determination for me to speak, I speak as well as any of my friends. If anything, I speak too much! Thanks to my hearing technology, focused Auditory Verbal Therapy (which, might I add, was a lot of fun!), and the superb efforts of my parents who never stopped believing that I could achieve as much as any other child, I am incredibly happy, fulfilled and can communicate with whomever I choose. I enjoyed the full experience while attending Durham University including a range of sports and achieved a First-Class Honours in History (B.A.). I currently work at J.P. Morgan as an Investment Banking Analyst. James is 22 and from north London. If you would like to speak to James, please email [email protected]. Read more about James here.
Jess Curtis Expand My name is Jess Curtis and my brother James was born with profound bilateral hearing loss. James started therapy with the founder of AVUK Jacqueline Stokes in her kitchen in Oxford before the charity even existed. Since the evolution of AVUK, I helped with the set up of the London office by donating my toys and books and helping to clean the new offices and start it up when I was very young. I have advocated for AVUK on many occasions by giving school assemblies and nominating the charity to be the recipients of funding. My most recent contribution was when I raised money by challenging myself to trek to the Base-camp of Mount Everest. Through this I also had the opportunity to raise the profile of the charity.
Max Stroemer Expand My name is Maxwell Stroemer and in July of 2000, I was diagnosed with bilateral profound hearing loss. I am a high school student at the Zurich International School, serving as President of the Student Council and acting as the Co-Captain for the Debate Team. Being deaf, I value the power of public speaking as a means to inspire. Moreover, I am fascinated by History and Politics and will welcome any conversation on current events. I also enjoy alpine skiing and playing rugby. My time with AVUK started at age two and I am grateful for the developmental support that this organisation provided me with; particularly from the late Jaqueline Stokes. When I ask myself what life would be like had I been born without my disability, I have never once resented the fact that I am deaf. I believe that those who embrace their challenges and disabilities have an edge on life because they are able to see, feel and sense things that others simply aren’t. This understanding has empowered me and given me the very courage to write and share my story with audiences and interested readers. As I said in a TED Talk that I delivered at a symposium in Zurich during March of 2017, “everyone has their own type of hearing impairment and if they’re lucky, they’ll have their own type of hearing aid too.” Please find the link to the TEDx Talk here (https://vimeo.com/221600931) Please find the link to the Opinion Article here (http://ablemagazine.co.uk/normal/)
Beatrice Cadman Expand My name is Beatrice and I was born profoundly deaf. My hearing loss was identified by the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme. When I 16 months old, my parents too me to Auditory Verbal UK. I soon began to speak and graduated from Auditory Verbal UK when I was five years old. I now share my experience with others in the hope of raising expectations for deaf children. I have won awards for my communication skills and I am delighted to have passed all my GCSEs and I am now studying for A Levels then I hope to train to be a nurse or midwife. Many people still don’t realise that with the benefits of new technology and the right support, deaf children can achieve anything they want to in life. Beatrice is from Lincolnshire. To find out more about her story or arrange an interview visit [email protected] Beatrice gave a speech at our Power of Speech event at the House of Commons in June 2016. You can watch her speech by clicking here.
Nideeshwaran Chandrasekar Expand My name is Nideesh. I was diagnosed with a hearing loss at 12 months old, in India. I received my first cochlear implant aged three and my second aged six after moving to the UK. My parents contacted Auditory Verbal UK for support when I was four years old and I graduated before sixth birthday. I am currently at a mainstream grammar school and my favourite hobby is swimming. Nideesh spoke at our Power of Speech event at the House of Commons in June 2016. You can watch his speech by clicking here.
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]
Dr Dimity Dornan Expand AO, Associate Professor UQ, PhD UQ, HonDUniv USQ, BSpThy, FSPAA, CpSp, LSLS Cert AVT Dr Dimity Dornan, AO is the Executive Director and Founder of Hear and Say, Australia. Hear and Say was established in 1992 by Dimity with just six children. The organisation now provides services and programs to over 600 children, young adults and families across six centres as well as e-Auditory-Verbal Therapy and e-Audiology programs for rural and remote areas. Read more about Dimity on the Hear and Say website here.
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]
Jane Barry, Chair of Trustees Expand Jane Barry has spent over two decades within the civil service and has two teenage children, one who has moderate permanent hearing loss. It was Auditory Verbal UK's aspirations for deaf children and the hugely positive affect the programme has on the whole family and society in general which inspired Jane to take up the role which she did in March 2020. Her current job on secondment to the Metropolitan Police as Director of Change, focusses on ensuring cross-UK capabilities are ready for the challenges ahead and planning for change.
Katherine Bartrop, Trustee Expand Katherine is an experienced leader in the charity sector, with her most recent role as Head of Regional Fundraising at Parkinson’s UK, where she doubled their fundraised income and developed a series of products including fundraising walks across the UK. Her professional interests include mentoring, learning and development, building and delivering a strategy and managing remote teams. Katherine joined the AVUK trustee board in 2022 and is excited to bring her strategic skills to the role at a time of ambitious growth for the charity. She has two young sons, Joseph and Robin. Robin is profoundly deaf with cochlear implants and joined the AVUK programme at nine months old. Outside of work, Katherine enjoys the theatre, sewing and making the most of the outdoors with her young family.
Paul Clifford, Treasurer Expand Paul is a former Company Director. An Oxford graduate, he spent most of his working life in publishing, the last 15 years as MD of Lion Hudson plc, the UK’s largest independent Christian publisher. He also had a spell of 8 years, mid-career, working for Oxfam in marketing and general management and promoting fair trade. In addition, he has been a lay minister in the Church of England for more than 25 years. Now retired, he is vice-chair of the board of governors of his local primary school. He is married with two adult daughters and two grandchildren. Paul joined the board as the Treasurer in October 2016.
What does a child need for Auditory Verbal therapy to be effective? Expand The foremost pre-requisite for AVT to be effective is that the child has supportive and encouraging parents or carers who will celebrate their child’s achievements. The people who know their child best are the parents or carer and they must be able to share their expertise of their child with their Auditory Verbal Therapist and incorporate the Auditory Verbal strategies into their everyday life, each and every day. An accurate diagnosis of the hearing loss together with the most appropriate and optimally programmed hearing technology (hearing aids or implantable devices such as a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA), cochlear implant (CI) or auditory brainstem implant (ABI)) are also essential components to get right at the start of the Auditory Verbal programme. Each parent must be confident with their child’s hearing technology and the child must be happy to wear their hearing technology consistently. Lastly, early intervention is vital if a child is to develop the language and communication skills they need to be ready to start schools alongside their hearing peers.
We cannot afford your fees. Do you offer financial support? Expand With little to no provision of Auditory Verbal therapy currently available through the NHS or publicly funded services, Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK) is the only UK-wide charity that provides this support directly to deaf children and their families. We provide a programme of support for deaf children across the UK whose families want them to learn to listen and talk. As a not-for-profit organisation, we fundraise to cover the costs of providing this support to families. We ask families to make a contribution to this cost based on household income, with the remaining balance funded by donations from our generous supporters. We receive no funding from central government. Nearly 80% of families on our programme receive financial support through the bursary scheme. Should you not qualify for a bursary or require further financial help, we offer support to find other financial options you can apply for. Some families have been able to secure partial or full funding to join the programme from other charitable trusts and organisations, for example the Moondance Foundation has supported families in Wales, and the Birkdale Trust has also supported families with grants. Other families have secured funding based on, for example, their employment, geographic location or specific circumstances of their child. Some families have received support with funding from their local authority through their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Click here to find out more. We have a dedicated team who can provide support and answer any questions you might have about the bursary scheme or other financial options. Contact us on [email protected] or call 01869 325 000.
Have you worked with families where the parent(s) also have hearing loss? Expand Yes, we have worked with families where the parent(s) also have a hearing loss. If you have any specific questions or concerns please do get in touch with one of the clinical team.
We live overseas for a significant part of the year. Can we still do AVT? Expand We have experience of working with families who live or spend frequent periods of time out of the country. For example, we have worked with families in the Forces, families caring for relatives overseas and families who have needed to relocate for work. In each of these cases we have been able to offer a package that overcomes the obstacle of distance. This can include Skype sessions and telephone consultations where necessary, or a more intensive block of appointments during time spent in the UK. Please speak to one of our therapists about the options available to you.
My baby can’t hear so why bother with hearing aids? Expand If your baby has a profound hearing loss and you haven’t seen any responses to sound yet, this doesn’t always mean he/she can’t hear at all. It is actually more common for children with a profound hearing loss to have some useful hearing still. The important thing is to make sure that your baby’s hearing aids are set so that she can use his/her hearing well. This happens by working together with your local audiologist. The sessions with your auditory verbal therapist will then focus on teaching your baby to learn that sound is meaningful. See our YouTube channel to find out what babies with a profound hearing loss can do!
Help! My baby keeps pulling his/her aids out. Expand Don’t panic, this is a familiar situation for many parents and can be very frustrating at times. When a baby consistently pulls his/her hearing aids out, this can be an indication that there is an issue either with the way the hearing aids have been programmed or the hearing aid itself is uncomfortable. This is important information that you should share with your local audiologist to help them set your baby’s hearing aids appropriately. Our experience is that if a baby is getting auditory benefit from their hearing aids and they are comfortable to wear, they will not pull them out.
How effective is AVT for children with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD)? Expand Auditory Verbal therapy is especially useful for children with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) as it equips you with the tools you need to be able to check your child’s listening at home whenever you feel your child’s hearing levels have changed. This enables you to make adjustments to your input and environment and these techniques can be used in the home as well as by staff in nursery or school. With the changeable nature of ANSD, it is really important that as much information is gathered as possible so that you can make a decision and a plan about how best to manage your child’s hearing loss as soon as possible. For children with ANSD we offer a diagnostic period for three months to look specifically at what your child is hearing day to day and what they can functionally do with their listening and we train you as the parent/carer to be the best observer of your child so that you can confidently judge when he or she is or isn’t hearing you and how well he or she is hearing you. We have a large number of children on our caseload with ANSD who are showing, with the appropriate amplification, that they have the ability to learn to listen and talk. For further information, see https://alicesears.com – a blog written for parents of children with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD). Alice graduated from Auditory VerbalUK in 2013 with age-appropriate language.
Milly Ehren, Trustee Expand Milly joined the Board of Trustees in 2021. Milly is an experienced strategy professional, with a passion for creating social value and lasting impact. She is currently working at the City of London Corporation as Strategic Project Lead for Bridge House Estates (an ancient charitable trust). Milly brings her skills in articulating organisation-wide thinking on strategic issues and implementing transformational projects to support AVUK as it embarks on its major investment programme. Milly will act as Board lead for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and will support AVUK to further develop and implement its DEI policies and plans. Milly is a strong advocate for people with disabilities and brings her personal experience of living with a chronic invisible illness. Milly’s lived experience affords her a natural insight and empathy that will help support families in their journeys through Auditory Verbal therapy.