Ellen Rhoades with a young child with a cochlear implant at one of her workshops.

Who provides this AV Training?

A consultant who has been deaf (85 dB bilateral hearing loss) since birth.....among the first wave of deaf children who learned how to hear and speak in the 1940s.....a lifetime user of hearing aids and, more recently, cochlear implants, Ellen Rhoades is the world’s only totally deaf certified auditory verbal therapist.

For more than 30 years, Ellen Rhoades has served as highly experienced AV therapist, director, supervisor, trainer, and coordinator. She is a founding director and charter member of Auditory Verbal International and past director (six years) of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf. She continues serving both organizations in a variety of capacities, such as Southeast Regional Contributing Editor and Southeast Regional Children’s Rights Coordinator.

Ellen Rhoades founded a nonprofit auditory verbal center and was its executive director for 17 years, and then became executive director of an auditory oral center that she converted into an auditory verbal center with satellite sites. Given the fact that there are less than ten independent nonprofit AV centers in the USA and that the two AV centers she guided are still the two largest ones in the USA, this is quite an accomplishment. Ellen also established three auditory verbal early intervention programs that have brought the AV lifestyle to innumerable deaf children and their families.

Moreover, she has been providing AV training to other professionals since 1980. Her AV "ripple effect" can be seen all over the world. Ellen A. Rhoades (aka EAR) has also served on a variety of boards in an advisory capacity and as consultant or instructor for universities and nonprofit programs. She is a frequent presenter at conferences and has authored a variety of articles.

Although Ellen lost her residual hearing in 1996 and became a cochlear implant user, she remains committed to the implementation of the AV approach for both hearing aid and cochlear implant users, for both hard-of-hearing and deaf children. She has worked with children and adults who are hearing aid users since 1971 and with children and adults who are cochlear implant users since 1984. Prior to her experience as AV Therapist, Ellen was a regular preschool teacher, a regular elementary school teacher, and a teacher for deaf children of all ages in public school systems as well as in a private auditory-oral school for deaf children. Her special love is working with infants and teens as well as counseling with parents.

Ellen Rhoades has received three internationally-recognized professional awards: "Outstanding Auditory Verbal Clinician of the Year" award from AVI, "Professional of the Year" award from the A.G. Bell Association, and the "Nitchie Award in Human Communication" from the League for the Hard of Hearing plus a host of other statewide and local awards. Under her leadership, auditory-verbal programs have received the "Outstanding Program of the Year" award (A.G.Bell Association) as well as such statewide awards as "Outstanding Nonprofit Management Award of the Year."

	Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education (B.A., Oglethorpe University, 1967)
	Master’s degree in Deaf Education/Audiology (M.Ed., Emory University, 1970)
	Educational Specialist degree in Special Education Administration & Supervision (Ed.S., Georgia State University, 1974)
	Completed all doctoral coursework and written exams, specializing in the development of auditory memory, infancy, and family therapy (Georgia State University, 1980)

Where does the AVT Consultant-Trainer go? 

Anywhere! She will travel to any state and any continent so that more children can benefit from her services. To date, Ellen Rhoades has provided consultation or training workshops for individuals and/or groups in the USA, Canada, Central America, and Europe. And she will gladly provide more wherever she is invited.

How do I get in touch with Ellen Rhoades? 

Any way or time that is most convenient for you. You can e-mail her at ellenrhoades@comcast.net  (click here), or you snail mail her, fax her, or phone her at: 

Ellen A. Rhoades, Ed.S., Cert. AVT, CED 561-504-4349 (voice)

What has she published?

Ellen has contributed a number of articles to publications:

Rhoades, E.A. (2008) Learning a second language: Potentials and diverse possiblities. Hearing Loss (in press).

 

Rhoades, E.A. (2007) Sound-object association. In S. Easterbrooks & E. Estes (eds.). Helping children who are deaf and hard of hearing learn spoken language. NY: Corwin Press.

 

Rhoades, E. A. (2007). Working with multicultural and multilingual families of young children.  In J. R. Madell & C. Flexer (eds.). Pediatric audiology: Birth through adolescence.  NY: Thieme.

 

Rhoades, E.A. (2006). Research outcomes of Auditory-Verbal intervention: Is the approach justified? Deafness & Education International, 8(3), 125-143.

 

Rhoades, E.A. (2006). AVT for school-aged children? In W. Estabrooks, (ed.) Auditory Verbal Therapy and  practice. Washington DC: A.G. Bell Association.

 

Rhoades, E.A. (2005). Ellen..In W. Estabrooks, (ed.), We learned to listen, 149-176. Washington D.C.: A.G. Bell Association.

 

Rhoades, E. A. (2005). Reconciling bilingualism with ‘the AV way.’ The Listener. Summer issue, 108-111.

 

Rhoades, E.A. (2005). AVT: What it is and how to get there. National Association of Future Doctors of Audiology Newsletter, Spring.

 

Rhoades, E.A., Price, F., & Perigoe, C.B. (2004). The changing American family and ethnically diverse children with multiple needs.. The Volta Review, 104(4), 285-305.

 

Wilson, J. & Rhoades, E.A. (2004). Ciwa Griffiths: celebration of a pioneer. Volta Voices, 11(3), 34-35.

 

Rhoades, E.A. (2004). Learning to listen while coming of age. ASHA Division 9: Perspectives on hearing and hearing disorders in childhood, 14(2), 4-8.

Rhoades, E. A. (2003). Morphosyntax: Evidence-based AVT. The Listener.

Rhoades, E.A. (2003). Lexical-semantic and morpho-syntactic language assessment in auditory-verbal intervention: A position paper. The Volta Review, 103 (3).

Rhoades, E.A. (2002). Hearing Aids for Children: Who Pays? Volta Voices, 9 (2), 5-6, 21.

Rhoades, E.A. & Powell, K.R. (2002). Paying to Hear: An Online Poll. Hearing Loss, 23 (4), 23-27.

Rhoades, E.A. (2001). The voiced-voiceless contrast: A therapy technique for the newly implanted teen or adult. Volta Voices, 8(6), 29-31.

Rhoades, E.A. (2001). The Voiced-Voiceless Contrast: A Therapy Technique For The Newly Implanted Teen Or Adult. Volta Voices, 8 (6), 29-30.

Rhoades, E.A. (2000). Hearing in South Africa. Contact, 14 (4), 10-13.

Rhoades, E.A. (2001). Language Progress with an Auditory-Verbal Approach for Young Children with Hearing Loss. International Pediatrics, 16 (1), 41-47.

Rhoades, E.A. & Chisolm, T. (2001). Global language progress with an auditory-verbal approach for children with hearing loss. The Volta Review, 102 (1), 5-24.

Rhoades, E.A. (2000). Sex & the Cochlear Implant. Contact, 14 (2), 36-38.

Rhoades, E.S. (2000). Auditory Developmental Scales (0-6). Helpful Resources section of www.AuditoryVerbalTraining.com

Rhoades, E.A. The learning to listen sounds. Module on www.listen-up.org, 2000.

Rhoades, E.A., Colarusso, R. & Layne, B. (1985). Child Evaluation, UNIsensory Project ERIC Reports, (ED 250 888, EC 171 125).

Rhoades, E. A. (1982). The Auditory-Verbal Approach to Educating Hearing-Impaired Children. Topics in Language Disorders, 2, 8-16.

Rhoades, E. A.(1975). A Grandparent's Workshop. The Volta Review, 77, 557-560.

CONTRIBUTOR TO OTHER PUBLICATIONS:
(2001) W. Estabrooks, W. (Ed.) 50 FAQs About AVT. Toronto, Canada: Learning to Listen Foundation.
(1995) M. Chaikof, interviewer. Because of you, we hear that bell. Contact, 9-13.
(1980) B. B. Griffin (Ed.) Family to Family. Washington DC: A.G.Bell Assn for the Deaf.
(1980) R. R. Star (Ed.). We Can! Washington, DC: A.G. Bell Assn for the Deaf, Vol. 2, 41-50.
(1974-1975) Home Aids and Devices for the Hearing-Impaired. NY: Children's Hearing, Education and Research Development Series.
(1974) Information About Parent-Infant Education: A resource packet and Mudpies and Media; Activities for Teachers. Knoxville, TN: Southeast Regional Media Center for the Deaf Publications.

If you want to read the trainer's detailed vita, please click here.

[References furnished upon request]

Email: ellenrhoades@comcast.net