A Parent’s Guide, Ages 0-6

The Auditory Environment in the Home and Clinic

Does your Auditory-Verbal clinician demonstrate the establishment of an auditory environment by:

• Speaking to your child even when his/her eyes are focused away from the clinician’s face?
• Drawing your child’s attention to environmental sounds when they occur?
• Teaching your child by performing a variety of listening activities, such as listening to sounds at a distance, whispered speech, tape recorded music and speech, different voices, sounds in quiet and noisy environments, and listening to speech behind your child's back?
• Explaining language, speech and listening skills in words you understand?
• Including you and other family members in the therapy sessions?
• Teaching you how to make hearing aid or cochlear implant equipment checks daily and whenever changes in auditory behavior occur?
• Observing and coaching you as you speak to your child, pointing out challenges and solutions?

Amplification

Does your Auditory-Verbal clinician work to maximize your child’s use of residual hearing through consistently worn hearing aids or cochlear implant devices and other amplification equipment by:

• Following the AVI Protocol for audiological management of your child?
• Explaining the functioning and management of the hearing aids, ear molds, cochlear implant equipment, and FM systems?
• Re-making earmolds until a satisfactory fit results so that your child can use the gain supplied by the hearing aids?
• Requiring periodic evaluation of your child’s hearing and hearing aid or cochlear implant equipment?
• Obtaining the most appropriate fitting of the hearing aids through audiological information and behavioral observations using various hearing aids? Or in the case of a cochlear implant, requiring periodic mapping, fitting, and evaluation of your child's CI equipment?

Normal Speech And Language Development

Does your clinician encourage speech and language development by:

• Expecting that most profoundly hearing-impaired children who use hearing aids or cochlear implants can hear speech and learn to talk?
• Talking naturally with your child, speaking without exaggerated facial (particularly mouth and tongue) movements and without sign language?
• Emphasizing the sounds of speech used with your child in the way that mothers do with hearing infants who are learning to talk?
• Speaking to your child in auditory age-appropriate syntax and content?
• Using natural expressions appropriate to the child’s age and language level and the activities being presented?
• Including familiar storybooks, nursery rhymes, songs, and other culturally based materials in therapy?
• Understanding normal child language and speech development?
• Taking turns in therapy to give your child time to process what was said and time to respond?
• Encouraging your young child to use babbling and jargon as normal hearing infants do rather than pushing the child to imitate words?