Auditory Verbal Therapy: Guide

Global picture of AV provision

AV therapy is government funded in Australia, New Zealand and Denmark and a mainstream approach in North America.  There are also AV practitioners working in Argentina, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom (UK) and more.

In Australia there are many centres that offer Auditory Verbal therapy.  The Shepherd Centre, inspired by the work at the John Tracey Clinic in the US, was the first early intervention organisation to teach ‘Auditory-Oral Therapy’ to children with hearing loss in Australia.  You can read about the different Australian centres’ histories here:

• Can: Do 4kids
• Hear and Say
• Next Sense 
• Telethon Speech & Hearing
• The Shepherd Centre

In New Zealand AV therapy has been offered to children and their families at the Hearing House.  You can view their history here.

In Denmark, since the early 2000s, a non-profit organisation called Decibel campaigned for AV therapy to be available for all children.  In 2017, funding was allocated so that all children aged 0-5 years with bilateral hearing loss above 40 dB, regardless of the type of hearing technology, could access a 3-year AV therapy course. In 2022, following a successful government-funded 3-year pilot programme, Auditory Verbal therapy became part of the standard healthcare system in Denmark. Evaluation of the pilot showed that 84% of the children acquire age-equivalent spoken language after 3 years of Auditory Verbal therapy.

In the UK there are around 30 AV practitioners as of August 2023. These practitioners work within voluntary organisations such as Auditory Verbal UK, NHS CI programmes such as the Manchester Auditory Implant Centre, and local authorities and private practices. There are now many Teachers of the Deaf, Speech and Language Therapists and Audiologists training in AV practice in the UK and worldwide.