AVT Benefits

COST EFFECTIVENESS for Society......

It typically costs at least $25,000 per child per year to attend a classroom for deaf children; for an average of ten years, this represents a taxpayer expense of more than $250,000 per child. The AV Approach is far less expensive, typically costing only $5,000 per year per child; for an average four years, this represents a cost of approximately $20,000 - a taxpayer savings of $225,000!

The typical deaf adult is functionally illiterate, reading at about a third to fourth grade level due to insufficient language skills. Language is the foundation of literacy. The typical auditory verbal deaf adult is literate because the language is heard and spoken.

HUMAN POTENTIAL OPTIMIZATION for Children......

The child is integrated into the fabric of his family’s naturally spoken communication system. The child learns how to function in the mainstream of his school and community. The child becomes an adult who is assimilated into his larger society with relative ease, so that he is not dependent on interpreters for using telephones or learning about life.

COST BENEFIT for Schools......

Schools won’t be obligated to contract for outside AV therapists if their own therapists and teachers are trained in the AV Approach.

 

The following is a rewritten summary of an article published in the first issue of The Volta Review, 2000, 102 (1). LANGUAGE PROGRESS WITH AN AUDITORY VERBAL APPROACH FOR CHILDREN WITH SIGNIFICANT HEARING LOSS Ellen A. Rhoades, Ed.S. & Theresa H. Chisolm, Ph.D. This study focused on the language growth of 40 heterogeneous children with significant hearing loss (no other pre-selection criteria were used), both hearing aid and cochlear implant users, who received intensive auditory verbal intervention (auditory comprehension-based model of a functional language 'road map') over a period of one to four years. Their average CA upon initiation of AV intervention was 44 mos. At the outset of this study, 2/3 of children were hearing aid users and about half of these became CI users.  The mean unaided better ear PTA of Hearing Aid-only group was 75 dB. Of all 27 CI users, 1/3 were Clarion users and remainder used either N-22 or N-24 device.     Although fifteen percent of the children were diagnosed as cognitively delayed, only one was in a special education class. Over the course of this study, 78% were referred for Sensory Integration evaluations and 2/3 of them were found to have moderate or severe SI dysfunctions, with at least 60% of all 40 children receiving SI therapy. About half of all children were referred for oral-motor therapy. Five percent required medication for both ADHD and psychologically diagnosed bipolar disorder.    Three global language assessment instruments (SICD-R, PLS-3, OWLS) were administered to the children at semi-annual intervals following initiation of auditory verbal services. Mean equivalent receptive language ages were higher than mean equivalent expressive language ages. Group performances in receptive and expressive language for each year indicate that a reasonable overall minimally expected rate of growth should be 100% for each year of AV intervention, even for older preschool children. Furthermore, performance of the 'graduates' show that the gap between chronological age and language age was closed, i.e., these children essentially attained syntactical competency at levels commensurate with normally hearing peers. These "graduates" attained from 100-240% language growth rates during each year of AV intervention. To view the PowerPoint presentation made by Ellen Rhoades at NHS2000, the International Conference on Newborn Hearing, Screening, Diagnosis, and Intervention in Milan Italy, please click here - Language Development for Auditory-Verbal Children For the written content of her presentation, please click on Language Progress with an Auditory-Verbal Approach for Young Children with Hearing Loss.