Deaf children and their families are joining charity calls for a Government commitment to invest in the early support which is transforming the lives of deaf babies and children across the UK.
Three babies are born deaf every day in the UK and there are approximately 7,200 deaf children under the age of five, but currently only around 10% of deaf babies and children can access Auditory Verbal therapy and its benefits.
Ahead of the June Spending Review (June 11th) deaf teenager Hope Dennis is joining charity Auditory Verbal UK urging the Government to commit the necessary investment to address the current inequality of access to Auditory Verbal therapy which transformed her life.
The call comes following a meeting the charity had with Health Minister Stephen Kinnock in March this year where he recognised the benefits of Auditory Verbal therapy and would look at how the government can increase access to the support Hope and other deaf babies and children have benefited from.
Hope (14), from Yorkshire, was diagnosed as deaf as a baby and wears cochlear implants. Despite her parents being told she wouldn’t be able to hear a jumbo jet taking off next to her, she was supported to learn to listen and talk with the family-centred Auditory Verbal therapy programme.
Now thriving in mainstream education and loving sport, music and art, Hope is proving that with early and effective support the possibilities are endless for deaf babies and children and they can learn to talk just like their hearing friends.
Hope said: “Deaf children should never be written off by their disability. We live in an amazing time of technological advancement and I am proof of what can happen when technology, like cochlear implants, is paired with Auditory Verbal therapy. The fact that so many deaf children do not have access to Auditory Verbal therapy is just not fair – investment is needed now to change this and ensure more deaf children have the same opportunities as their hearing peers, just like I have had.”
Auditory Verbal therapy helps deaf children process the sound they receive from hearing technology, like hearing aids and cochlear implants, and supports them to develop their spoken language.
But this support needs to be offered early in a child’s life, while their brain’s neural pathways are developing, to ensure they have the very best opportunities to achieve their potential. International evidence shows that four out of five children who attend a family-centred Auditory Verbal therapy programme achieve spoken language skills on a par with hearing children.
AVUK Chief Executive Anita Grover said: “The Government has committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and ensuring that every child has the best start in life, but this will not be realised until there is investment in early and effective support for deaf children. This early support is vital for all deaf children, whether their families wish to use sign language, spoken language or both.
“With deaf children in the UK currently facing a lifetime of disadvantage, action is urgently needed. By investing in Auditory Verbal therapy today we can not only improve outcomes and opportunities for children whose families want them to learn to listen and talk and address the currently inequality of access, but we can also unlock significant economic benefits. It is time to Hear Us Now.”
The YouGov* survey commissioned by AVUK shows 85% of UK adults believe Auditory Verbal therapy should be available to all deaf children via publicly funded services like the NHS. While only 2% said they believed it should be paid for privately.
AVUK’s #HearUsNow campaign is calling on the Government to make an investment of £21.5m over the next 10 years, to provide a sound future for deaf children. This investment would enable the training of a small proportion of the current public workforce working with deaf children under five in Auditory Verbal therapy so that families can access skilled practitioners wherever they live in the UK through public funded services like the NHS. It would unlock an economic benefit of £152m, rising to £11.7billion over 50 years from savings including more income due to higher skills level, increased quality of life, avoided injury, less 1 to 1 support needed in school and increased employment.
