Deaf 19-year-old Noli Tebe met MPs in Westminster today (Wednesday, October 18th) calling for urgent Government action and support so more deaf children like them can access the life-changing programme which helped them learn to listen and speak and have the same opportunities as their hearing friends.
The teenager joined the charity which supported them, Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK), and met more than 30 cross-party MPs including Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt MP and Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years, Helen Hayes MP in the Houses of Parliament ahead of Loud Shirt Day (Friday 20 October) an international awareness day for challenging perceptions of what deaf children can achieve with early and effective support.
She spoke to the MPs about how action is needed now to help more deaf children have the same opportunities that they have had and enable every family, who wants their deaf child to learn to listen and talk, to be able to access an Auditory Verbal programme through publicly funded services in their local area. Right now, less than 10% of deaf children in the UK can access Auditory Verbal therapy.
Noli, from North London who is now studying at Durham University, contracted meningitis at 18 months old and after recovering was diagnosed with profound hearing loss caused by the infection. She began Auditory Verbal therapy at AVUK not long after and when she was just two and a half her speaking skills exceeded those of hearing children her age.
Noli said: “AVUK has been truly life transforming for me and I really hope that the MPs I met understand the difference it has made to my life opportunities and they will now take the action needed to help other deaf children have the same opportunities as hearing children.”
AVUK Chief Executive Anita Grover said: “Louis and Noli are thriving and show what is possible when deaf children have access to early and effective support. It’s great to have the support of so many MPs for our Hear Us Now campaign to increase access to Auditory Verbal therapy through publicly funded services. We know the public support this, with research showing 80% of adults in the UK believing it should be available via services like the NHS*. But right now, less than 10% of deaf children in the UK can access Auditory Verbal therapy.”
“All children have the right to develop language and communication so that they can achieve their potential in life and all deaf babies and children should have access to early and effective support whether their families wish for them to use sign language, spoken language or both. By ensuring deaf children have access to support during those vital early years we can significantly reduce the current disadvantage and transform outcomes for deaf children across the UK.”
Auditory Verbal therapy supports deaf children to learn how to make sense of the sound they receive through their hearing technology, like cochlear implants, and develop spoken language so they can learn to talk like their hearing friends.
AVUK’s #HearUsNow campaign is calling on the Government to support and invest in Auditory Verbal therapy so that all families with deaf children have the opportunity to access an Auditory Verbal programme through publicly funded services in their local area. Analysis by the charity shows that with an investment of just over £2 million a year, for the next 10 years, Auditory Verbal therapy can be made available as an option for all deaf children, and it can unlock economic benefits of £152million, rising to £11.7billion over 50 years.
As a child Noli developed a love of singing and her passion for music grew during her childhood. She attended Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and performed with the Chineke Junior Orchestra in London. She is now studying Classics at Durham University.
Angela, Noli’s Mum, said: “AVUK was the first place with high expectations, set goals and a path for Noli, all we wanted was for our daughter to reach her potential despite her deafness. Now as she grows in independence and enters her second year at university we couldn’t be more proud of what she has achieved. None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for AVUK! But more families with deaf children need to be given this opportunity so they can have these opportunities and expectations for all deaf children can be raised.”
AVUK works with families of deaf children across the UK. Specialist Auditory Verbal therapists equip parents and caregivers with the skills and strategies to develop their child’s listening and talking skills through play-based activities. Its internationally accredited training programme in Auditory Verbal practice is enabling speech and language therapists and teachers of the deaf in the NHS and Local Authority services to train in this specialist approach which is part of mainstream provision in other countries. Auditory Verbal UK is working with organisations around the world to help create a sound future for deaf children.
