Auditory-Verbal Strategies

•Repeat exactly what the child says
•Whisper, sing, emphasize elements of syntax, segmental or suprasegmental info
•Ask – what did you hear? As precursor to repeating spoken stimuli
•Encourage and coach parent as primary model
•Best listening conditions
•Sit near better ear
•Speak close to child’s HA or CI
•Speak at regular volume
•Minimize background noise
•Use interesting speech –repetitive, rich in melody, expression, rhythm
•Acoustic highlighting
Children learn when actively engaged in relaxed meaningful interactions
•Teach through Parent and caregivers
•Diagnostic sessions
•One-one therapy focus
•Maximum use of hearing
•Teach child as part of a team pf professionals
•Move closer to microphone
•Rewording, provide alternatives, repeating previously heard info
•Waiting +/or pausing for responses
•Putting spoken language directly back into hearing after a required visual tactile or kinesthetic cue

•Hand cue -

What is the hand cue?
•Signals “listen intently”
•Used to assist child to integrate all 5 senses
•Adult covers her mouth
•Encourages listening
•Adult moves her hand toward the child in a nurturing way as a prompt for vocal imitation or signal turn taking

More AV Strategies:
•‘set the stage’ for listening
•Key word at end of sentence
•Key word in mid sentence
•Smiling with expectation
•Eye contact
•Leaning forward
•Talk about it before showing it
•Not touching child for attention
•Comment throughout play
•Auditory closure
•Changing task from open set to closed set
•Providing rhyming words
•Referring to a “hearing age”

What is "Waiting" in AVT?
Child might need time to process and respond to what he hears
Pause and give time for the child to hear you
Give a little pause before one very important word; “I want you to pick up your …pause…shoes.” Pause to signal changes to facilitate speech processing

Daniel Ling says:

“Hearing is the most effective sensory channel for the development of spoken language – vision and touch maybe supplementary or complimentary channels.”


“Speech is an invaluable asset for the child who is deaf or hard of hearing and hence its development merits high priority.”

"Feedback is vitally important –Auditor Feedback LoopSpeech acquisition needs to be funPrevention of faults through systematic development is easier that their cure through remedial teachingNormal speaking models = normal speech patterns."

Perception and Production enhance each other:
•Reinforce each other
•Continuous, perceptible growth in the quantity and variety of sound patterns

Aucoustic Highlighting

•Enhance the audibility of spoken language
•Move from most audible to least audible
•Move from known to unknown
••Every child has different quality & quantity of hearing
• Simser's 3 Es –
Easy to hear
Extensive experience through play
Expect child to hear them

Develop an Auditory Function

Most critical concept in all of AV thinking is the concept of "The Listening Function".
Integrate hearing into the personality of the child with poor auditory acuity.

This is the goal of AVT and this goal (in the estimation of many) is what separates AVT from other treatments.

What does an AVT do? “help a child with hearing loss develop an auditory function”. This expectation and attitude permeates all our we do in the therapy process.

The concept of an Auditory Function is mentioned in the work of Doreen Pollack, Daniel Ling, Helen Beebe, Arthur Boothroyd, and Judith Simser.

Review, Repeat, Rephrase!

Learning occurs when we integrate information into our long-term memory through a process called rehearsal Owens (2001).

As children learn new material it is integrated within the structure of information already stored in long-term memory.

The child learns through interaction with more experienced members of society (Berk, 1999).

Experience Book Teaches mom an important lesson.

“One thing I really learned using the Experience Book was not to ask Ethan so many questions, just comment.
Ethan likes to look out the window. He saw the moon. I drew that in the book.
Looking at the picture later, I commented that we saw the moon in the sky.
Ethan said ‘moon sky’.
I followed his comment with; “Yes, you saw the moon. It was dark out. We saw the big round moon way up, up, in the sky.”

Best Auditory-Verbal Strategy I use?

An Expereince Book!
AVT Pioneer Helen H. Beebe promoted Experience Books at her A-V clinic in the 1950s.

The Experience Book provided a way for her to understand quickly what was important to each family.

As the family talked about the pictures in the book with her, she was able to get an idea of what needs the child had and more importantly what needs the parents had in order to help their child.

A book that PARENTS keep to help enjoy and cherish experiences that can prompt and promote “listening and spoken language” for their child.

Thank you, Beebe, for teaching me the value of Experience Books!