Once your child has been equipped with a hearing assistive device, you might be wondering what the next steps are. Auditory Verbal Therapy, or AVT, can guide your child through all the new sounds they are experiencing. At Doctors of Audiology, we can get your family started with this process. Soon enough, they’ll be fully engaged with sounds in the classroom and on the playground.
What Is Auditory Verbal Therapy?
During AVT, children starting hearing loss treatment programs and their families receive training on how to engage with sounds. Children are taught how to develop their listening and spoken language skills, and families receive guidance on how to support them.
Who Performs AVT?
When your family starts AVT, you’ll work with a certified auditory verbal therapist. Around the world, there are approximately 205 of these professionals.
What Are the Goals of AVT?
According to Auditory Verbal UK, AVT strives to:
· Detect hearing loss or impairment in children as early as possible and provide them with treatment plans like hearing aids or cochlear implants.
· Assist parents and caregivers in facilitating spoken language development in their children.
· Help children develop their listening skills.
· Help children monitor their voices to improve their speech.
· Assist children in group and one-on-one settings.
· Provide support services to allow children to participate in mainstream classrooms.
What’s a Typical Session of AVT Like?
Sessions will vary based on your child’s needs and age, but the goal is to encourage them to use hearing as an active sense. Activities might include reading, sensory play and talking through daily activities. Family members are included in sessions and learn ways to encourage their children to use their hearing.
Learning to socialize with other children is another important part of AVT. Our provider might suggest playgroups or other events to allow your child to adapt to the hearing world from an early age.
We understand that AVT can sometimes be a significant lifestyle change, and our team is here to support your family through this process. Whether you have questions about activities during sessions or how best to support your child outside of sessions, we’re here to answer them.
How Can I Support My Child During AVT?
Our provider will share activities that will help with your child’s specific needs, but in general, the following are beneficial:
· While they are in infancy, encouraging them to use babbling.
· As they get older, encouraging them to speak by talking to them naturally and giving them time to process what was said.
· Encouraging them to use sounds for learning.
· Limiting uses of gestures to replace understanding of spoken words
What Are the Next Steps?
As a parent, you want to help your child as much as you can, and AVT is a great way to do this. It might feel overwhelming to navigate the ins and outs of living with pediatric hearing aids or cochlear implants. No matter your child’s age or extent of hearing loss, our providers can create a customized AVT treatment plan that works for them. We’re here to guide you through this process and answer any questions you have.
Call Doctors of Audiology for more information or to schedule an appointment.