Evidence base for Auditory Verbal Therapy
Ching, T. Y., Dillon, H., Leigh, G., & Cupples, L. (2018). Learning from the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study: Summary of 5-year findings and implications. International journal of audiology, 57(sup2), S105-S111.
This study compared outcomes of 470 children in Australia who received early or later intervention, It showed that the earlier hearing aids or cochlear implants were fitted, the better the speech and language and functional outcomes were for the child. These outcomes correlated with better pyschosocial development.
Auditory Verbal UK (2018) Raising the bar for deaf children with additional needs: a study of spoken language outcomes for children attending Auditory Verbal UK from 2007-2017.
A longitudinal study of 129 children who were on the programme at AVUK for two or more years. Overall, 80% of children achieved age appropriate language (AAL) by the time they left the programme. Over a third of children had additional needs. On average they doubled the rate of language development, with 50% achieving AAL. 97% of children without additional needs achieved AAL.
Percy-Smith, L. (2017) Auditory verbal habilitation is associated with improved outcome for children with cochlear implant.
This research from Denmark compared speech and language outcomes in children post cochlear implant. AV intervention was associated with improved outcomes compared to standard intervention.
Kaipa, R., & Danser, M. L. (2016). Efficacy of auditory-verbal therapy in children with hearing impairment: A systematic review from 1993 to 2015. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 86, 124-134.
This is a systematic review of studies on AVT outcomes for children. The studies suggest that AVT can have a positive impact on developing speech and language skills in children with HI. The authors highlighted the need for further studies to strengthen the evidence base for AVT.
Sound Outcomes: First Voice 2015 speech and language data
First Voice is an association of centres in Australia & New Zealand providing Listening & Spoken Language early intervention Services. Their data on outcomes of 696 children with hearing loss showed that 73% achieved scores within or above average range for typically hearing children on standardised language assessments.
Dornan, D., Hickson, L., Murdoch, B., Houston, T., & Constantinescu, G. (2010). Is auditory-verbal therapy effective for children with hearing loss? The Volta Review, 110(3), 361–387.
The authors analysed outcomes for a group of 29 children with hearing loss and a matched group of hearing children over 50 months, They found no significant differences between the groups on speech, language and self esteem measures.