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“I would blast off in a rocket every morning and fly to the moon and back each day if it would help my son hear better.” -The Parrish Family

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The Auditory-Verbal Approach

Never before in the history of hearing impairment education have there been so many options for individuals to access hearing. With improved technology in hearing aids and cochlear implants, resources to support hearing have also increased. Whether children learn to use their hearing to develop language skills and speech, depends on the therapy they receive once their hearing potential has been accessed.

Auditory-Verbal therapy, a form of auditory rehabilitation, is an option that greatly affords children the opportunity to communicate and develop socially with their hearing peers. Auditory-Verbal therapy follows the progression of communication and development of a hearing child:

Development of auditory skills
Comprehension of spoken language
Use of spoken language
Clear production of speech, monitored by children listening to themselves

One goal of Auditory-Verbal therapy is to enroll the child in environments with hearing peers such as education, extra-curricular and family activities. The approach also focuses on giving the parents various techniques to teach their child to be a listening and speaking individual.

The foundation of the Auditory-Verbal approach follows the international principles set forth by the Alexander Graham Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language (AG Bell) www.agbellacademy.org.

Click Here to See the Principles.

Based on the principles of Auditory-Verbal therapy, AVC is committed to providing the best quality professional services to each child. Our commitment to the following premises are essential for every hearing impaired child to learn to listen and speak.

Early Age implementation
Initiating Auditory-Verbal therapy as early as possible is essential because the child's greatest capacity for learning language auditorily, occurs during the first two to three years of life. In order to effectively learn spoken language, a child's hearing and listening skills must be stimulated during this critical time.

Hearing vs. Visual Stimulation
Many hearing impaired children have been taught to use their unimpaired visual sense at the expense of their impaired auditory sense. However, with the Auditory-Verbal approach, the primary input or means of language stimulation is by hearing and not seeing, lip reading, sign language or finger spelling. In the Auditory-Verbal approach, spoken language is developed through listening and, thus, is an ideal teaching method for a beginning auditory learner.

Parent-Centered Modeling
Parents are the major influence in a young child's development, acting as primary role models and the most effective teachers. For this reason, the Auditory-Verbal approach is parent-oriented. The Auditory-Verbal therapist develops a working partnership with parents to teach speech and language to the child at home and throughout their daily routines. Direct parent-child interaction is required through both structured listening sessions and ongoing language work. Parental feedback through observations is also important in planning the child's language program.

Classroom-Placement
Full inclusion into a regular classroom is also one of the fundamental premises of Auditory-Verbal approach. Children develop speech as they develop hearing, therefore imitatating what they hear. Consequently, Auditory-Verbal children must be exposed to normal language and speech models in daycare, school and other learning environments. These children should never be grouped with other hearing impaired children, ensuring that natural and normal language models are consistently available. Interaction with hearing peers provides the experience needed to develop comfort and confidence in typical learning environments.