Eastbourne boy, 11, meets MPs in Parliament to call for more support for all deaf children

Sam Callaghan was diagnosed as profoundly deaf as a baby and received cochlear implants just before his first birthday. But it was attending Auditory Verbal UK’s (AVUK) specialist play-based ea

Now a budding film maker and space and science enthusiast Sam is joining AVUK to celebrate International Cochlear Implant Day on Saturday February 25, by sharing his story of how he learnt to listen and speak. (Insert link to Sam’s video)

Sam’s Mum Joanna said: “When we received Sam’s diagnosis we were so worried about his future. Would he make friends? How would he get on at school and develop interests in everything life has to offer? But ten years since his cochlear implant surgery thanks to the specialist programme at AVUK which supported him to make the very most of this amazing technology, these fears are not even a consideration.”International Cochlear Implant Day marks the first cochlear implant operation in 1957.

AVUK Chief Executive Anita Grover is profoundly deaf and lost her hearing progressively as a child. She received a cochlear implant in 2006.

Anita explained: “Technology and support has developed considerably since the first cochlear implant operation in 1957 and even since my own operation. But when deaf babies receive hearing technology, like cochlear implants, the brain needs to learn how to make sense of this sound as they don’t magically work on their own. That is what Auditory Verbal therapy does - it helps deaf children process sound and develop language so they can learn to talk like their hearing friends.

“But still many deaf babies and children in the UK do not have the opportunity to access the early and effective support they need to maximise the technology to learn to listen and talk and give them an equal start at school.”

AVUK works with the families of deaf children who want their child to learn to listen and talk and four out of five children who attend the specialist family-centred programme achieve listening and spoken language skills on a par with hearing children and many like Sam attend mainstream school. A YouGov* survey commissioned by AVUK, revealed that around a third (31%) of adults in the South East have no idea that a child born profoundly deaf can learn to speak as well as a hearing child.

Central to AVUK’s vision is for all deaf children to have early access to support which is right for them and have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers – whilst some deaf children will learn British Sign Language, some will learn to talk and some will use both.

AVUK’s #HearUsNow campaign is calling on the Government to make an investment of £21.5m over the next 10 years, so that we can provide a sound future for deaf children and unlock an economic benefit of £152m, rising to £11.7billion over 50 years.

For more information visit avuk.org