You assume music, conversation, laughter, birdsong won't be part of his world," she says. Sapna Sharma was advised to bring up her son with British Sign Language. David Buxton, chief executive of the BDA, says: "Deaf children who communicate orally (as opposed to using sign language) were assessed and the results showed that these deaf children had severe reading difficulties and in some cases were more severe than problems faced by hearing children with dyslexia." ![]() In a statement the RCSLT said that signing is "fully adequate and accessible". The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and the British Deaf Association both promote the use of sign language. There is also a "total communication" method, in which speech, signing and writing are developed alongside each other. Some families say they have been told by speech therapists and teachers of deaf children to choose between sign language and AVT. Yet there is still resistance, she says, with AVT often not flagged up as an option. She would like to see AVT become as routine in the NHS as screening babies' hearing. If you don't continue to talk to your child, which many parents won't, you're not keeping that approach alive." "There is a small window when you can make a significant impact. "When you've got the early diagnosis, what are you putting in place?", asks Anita Grover, chief executive of AVUK. While this has allowed cochlear implants to be fitted to younger children on the NHS, it has revealed the shortage of trained speech therapists. ![]() Since 2001, babies have been routinely screened by the NHS for hearing loss, which has helped detect problems far earlier. Chris adds: "I don't think our hopes are any different for Alice and Olly than for their older brother, Joseph." "What surprised us was the low expectations the professional community had," says Claire. The Campbells are passionate advocates of AVT, charting their daughter's hearing loss in the blog Alice's Ears, which has become a resource for parents globally. Advocates argue that it also helps children's social and emotional development.ĪVT has been pioneered in the UK by charity, AVUK, which helped both Alice and her younger brother Oliver. According to a 2008 study of 37 deaf children, AVT raised the language skills of 80% of them to those of their hearing peers by the time they started school.
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