Why Auditory-Verbal Therapy (AVT) is Important?
Hearing loss can occur to anyone at any age . When a problem occurs in one or more parts of an ear or ears , it causes a number of physical as well as mental distractions. In the case of newborns or infants, it causes a delay in the language-learning process.
No one can deny this fact: hearing loss affects children’s lives and their development. With technology and other changes, there are several approaches that have been developed over recent decades to help hearing-impaired children develop language skills.
Hearing loss is the most common birth defect. It exists when there is a lack of sensitivity to the sounds normally heard. It has been known for some time that children with hearing loss will pass the usual stages in learning speech-language through prompt referral and by using appropriate reinforcement devices such as hearing aids.
When children are at a younger age and are provided with language instructions in a “critical period of learning speech and language”, their performance in terms of the level of learning and communication is more acceptable while they are growing up.
What are auditory-verbal and auditory-based therapy?
Auditory-verbal therapy is a type of early intervention therapy for young children who face hearing disorders or use hearing technology such as hearing aids or cochlear implants.
At Asha’s speech and hearing clinic, our professional therapists provide one-on-one sessions to the children. Even if your child’s hearing loss is severe to profound, our advanced and expert therapists are always there to teach them how to listen to and communicate through spoken language. In this therapy, parents and other family members also play a very crucial part as they actively take part in the therapy lessons and continue the activities at home.
However, the main The goal of this auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) is to make learning to listen easy for kids who have some kind of hearing disorder so that they can learn to listen and have the same ability to speak as children who can hear without feeling any dependency or inferiority .
How effective is auditory-verbal therapy? Is it successful?
Hearing impairment is the most common congenital condition, but this does not mean children having any hearing disorder or difference can’t learn to hear . In fact, children with hearing aids or cochlear implants can often achieve impressive audibility at our clinic with the proper supervision of our experts along with the support of parents and families.
However, by the time they reach first grade, the majority of children with hearing differences or who are hard of hearing and who receive auditory-verbal therapy have similar — or even better — spoken language skills than their hearing peers. Studies have also shown that these children do better in school than those who have hearing loss but don’t take part in AVT.
How does auditory-verbal therapy work?
At Asha speech and hearing clinic, we provide professional and dedicated experts who perfron auditory-verbal therapy sessions for children. In this session, your child will be taught how to listen and speak through natural interactions like:
- Playing.
- talking
- singing.
- playing games.
However, there are some principles that our auditory-verbal therapists go by:
- We always try to promote and give proper suggestions to parents about the early diagnosis of hearing loss in newborns, infants, toddlers, and young children, followed by immediate audiologic management and auditory-verbal therapy.
- Our experts always recommend immediate assessment and use of appropriate state-of-the-art hearing technology to obtain the maximum benefits of auditory stimulation.
- The main aim of our experts is to guide and coach parents to help their children use hearing as the primary sensory modality in developing listening and spoken language.
- Our experts are always available to guide and coach parents to become the primary facilitators of their child’s listening and spoken language development through active and consistent participation in individualized auditory-verbal therapy.
- We always try to understand and guide and coach parents to create environments that support listening for the acquisition of spoken language throughout the child’s daily activities.
- We help them to understand that parents can help their children integrate listening and spoken language into all aspects of their lives.
- Our professionals always supervise and guide parents to use natural developmental patterns of audition, speech, language, cognition, and communication.
- We always guide and coach parents to help their children self-monitor spoken language through listening.
We believe that with the application of the above-listed principles, parents can become the most important “change agent” for their children, and in conjunction with today’s incredible “hearing sensory technology,” even children with severe and profound hearing loss can make use of auditory information to develop spoken language—through listening!
Who can take part in auditory-verbal therapy?
Auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) is most successful when children start as young as two to three months old. If your young child is deaf or hard of hearing, and they’re using either hearing aids or cochlear implants, they may benefit from auditory-verbal therapy. However, parents always have to make sure that their newborn goes through the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) so that if they have any kind of hearing disorder it can be treated as soon as possible.. If needed, babies can be fitted with hearing aids. Also, If hearing aids aren’t sufficient, your child can be evaluated for cochlear implants as early as nine months of age.
It doesn’t matter if your child was born deaf or hard of hearing or if something else caused their hearing difference. They may benefit from auditory-verbal therapy if they struggle to hear out of one or two ears, if their condition is permanent or temporary, or if their hearing loss is mild through severe/profound.
Conclusion
At Asha’s speech and hearing clinic, we offer auditory-verbal therapy, which has lifelong benefits for children. It provides children with a strong foundation, where spoken language and listening are just a normal part of life. Moreover, with the help of our expert supervision along with the guardian of the children’s auditory-verbal therapy and hearing technology, your children can easily learn to listen, communicate effectively, and reach their greatest potential.