Effectiveness of auditory verbal therapy in the education of children with cochlear implant

Abstract

Introduction: Listening and speaking are very essential component for language and holistic development of a child. It provides a base to strengthen the ability to read, write, and perform basic operations with numbers. It is a necessary foundation and an indispensable prerequisite for all future schooling and lifelong learning (NEP 2020). Auditory-Verbal Therapy is a highly specialist early intervention programme which facilitates optimal acquisition of spoken language through listening since infancy period in young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Material and Method: The study describes two cochlear implanted children, first one is aged 4 years 3 months boy child using advanced bionics implant in both the ears and second child 7 years of girl child using the Kanso 2 Sound Processor with bilateral severe to profound hearing loss and speech-language problem. Results: The therapist kept giving guidance to the parents, and giving therapy to the child at home as well as clinic. After the post therapy sessions both the children showed the excessive improvement in listening and linguistic skills.Conclusion: The study revealed that auditory verbal therapy impacted the children’s auditory, behavioural, and linguistic functions. Therefore, AVT is beneficial to children after the implant.