Principles of
AV Therapy
>
Auditory-Verbal Therapy
> Definition
of an Auditory-Verbal Therapist
> Principles
of Auditory-Verbal Practice
Definition of
Auditory-Verbal Therapy
Auditory
Children who are
deaf/hearing impaired learn how to listen.
Verbal
Children who are deaf/hearing impaired learn
how to talk.
Therapy
Parents/caregivers attend one-to-one
lessons with their child and learn how to teach their child
in everyday
situations.
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Auditory-Verbal Therapy:
- Is a world-recognised approach for educating
children who are hearing impaired.
- Is different from other approaches to teaching
children with a hearing impairment. The Auditory-Verbal approach
emphasises hearing rather than vision.
- Believes that children who are deaf can
be taught to listen, understand language and speak, thus enabling
them to live enriched lives in the hearing and speaking world.
- Is also beneficial for school-aged children
who are hearing impaired as it facilitates their integration
into the academic community.
- Supports the option for children with all
degrees of hearing impairment to develop the ability to listen
and speak within his/her own family and community.
Due to amazing advances in medical technology, almost all children
with a hearing impairment can learn how to listen using powerful
hearing aids or cochlear implants. Auditory-Verbal Therapy teaches
these children how to maximise their listening skills in order
to develop age-appropriate spoken language. The aim of Auditory-Verbal
Therapy is for the children to be integrated into their regular
community and local school with appropriate speech and language
skills.
The Auditory-Verbal approach considers parents/caregivers as
essential team members whose contribution to their child's development
is invaluable. Parents/caregivers are the primary models for
listening and spoken language development. The therapist's role
is to teach the parent/caregivers how to fulfill this role to
the utmost benefit for their child. Parents/caregivers learn
to provide a positive learning environment in which their child
learns through listening. |

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Definition
of an Auditory-Verbal Therapist
An Auditory-Verbal Therapist
is first qualified as one or more of the following:
Therapists receive advanced, specialised instruction and practical
experience through university courses, specific Auditory-Verbal
centres and/or from certified Auditory-Verbal clinicians. They
may be certified by the AG Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken
Language.
Auditory-Verbal Therapists seize the auditory component
of any life experience and promote and develop the use of sound
for speaking
and understanding spoken language. They also embrace
the
knowledge that children are motivated to learn language
most effectively
when playing and interacting with family who love them.
To obtain information on becoming a Certified Auditory-Verbal
Therapist ®,
please visit the Alexander
Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing |
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Maria (left), whose loss was identified early, has the opportunity
to learn to listen and talk like Jessika-Lee (right). Jessika-Lees's
family says she doesn't stop talking! |
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Principles
of Auditory-Verbal Practice*
- Promote early diagnosis of hearing loss
in newborns, infants, toddlers and children, followed by immediate
audiological
management and Auditory-Verbal Therapy.
- Recommend immediate
assessment and use of appropriate, state-of-the-art
hearing technology to obtain maximum benefits of auditory
stimulation.
- Guide
and coach parents to help their child use hearing as
the primary sensory modality in developing spoken language
without the use of sign language or emphasis on lipreading.
- Guide
and coach parents† to become the primary facilitators
of their child's listening and spoken language
development through active, consistent participation
in individualised
Auditory-Verbal therapy.
- Guide and coach parents to create
environments that support listening for the acquisition
of spoken language throughout
the child's daily activities.
- Guide and coach parents
to help their child integrate listening and spoken language
into all aspects of the child's life.
- Guide and coach parents
to use natural devevlopmental patterns of audition, speech,
language, cognition and communication.
- Guide and coach parents
to help their child self-monitor spoken language through
listening.
- Administer ongoing formal and informal diagnostic
assessments to develop individualised Auditory-Verbal
treatment plans,
to monitor progress and to evaluate the effectiveness
of the plans for the child and their family.
- Promote educations
in regular classrooms with typical hearing peers and with
appropriate support services from early childhood
onwards.
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(Adapted from the principles developed
by Doreen Pollack, 1970)
* An Auditory-Verbal Practice requires
all 10 principles.
†The term "parents" also includes
grandparents, relatives, guardians and any caregivers who interact
with the child.
Adopted by the AG Bell Academy for Listening
and Spoken Language®, January 11 2006.
©AG Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken
Language® |