Auditory Verbal Services

Role of Auditory-Verbal Therapists

The primary purpose of an Auditory-Verbal Therapist (AVT) is to guide and coach parents in developing listening and spoken language in their child. Our Auditory-Verbal Therapists have obtained Masters Degrees in Speech Pathology, Audiology, and/or Education of the Hearing Impaired. They also hold or are in the process of obtaining their Listening and Spoken Language Specialist® Certification (LSLS Cert AVT®) through the AG Bell Academy. Maximum participation in the hearing and speaking world is the therapist’s goal for all therapeutic and educational decisions.

Therapy Format:

The Auditory-Verbal Therapist (AVT) creates a therapy plan based on the individual child’s hearing capability, stage of development and the parent’s needs. The plan is comprised of weekly sessions and at-home activities that focus on the following:

• Session activities…. Follow a natural progressive process wherein the therapist introduces the child to auditory, new language, and cognitive concepts, as well as, expands upon ones taught previously. The session also serves as a diagnostic time for the AVT to assess the child’s progress.

• At-home activities… During the session, the AVT also educates the parents so that they have the knowledge and skills to follow-through daily at home in both formal and informal lessons. The AVT provides the parent with a copy of the lesson plan, various articles related to child development and other materials for home use. Structured activities as well as everyday situations are utilized to foster their child’s language development.

Participation:

Parents and children typically attend a one-hour Auditory-Verbal session each week. Each session includes the therapist, at least one parent, and the child. It is essential that parents make a 100% commitment to participate and implement all activities as suggested by the Auditory-Verbal Therapist.

Therapeutic Timetable:

A baseline evaluation is conducted upon enrollment to determine a child’s skills and needs when entering the program. Completion of the program will be based on the child’s acquisition of age appropriate communication skills, which averages between 2-5 years. Some factors that can affect the length of treatment for a child are: the age at diagnosis, severity of hearing loss, developmental delays, and level of participation by parents.

Home Center:

The Auditory-Verbal Center has a mock home environment used to demonstrate activities as a part of daily living. The Home Center provides families the opportunity to practice A-V strategies they will implement at home. This clinic has also been used to provide 3-5 day intensive programs to families outside of the metro-Atlanta area.