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AVT Direct is an online service for families of babies and young children with hearing loss who are 30 months of age or younger.

If your baby is 30 months of age and not as yet fitted with hearing devices, AVT Direct recommends that you fit hearing aids within three months, so that services may commence.

Auditory-Verbal Therapy relies on Audition to develop listening, learning and talking skills in your child with hearing loss.

It is important to understand that Auditory-Verbal Therapy may not be an appropriate communication option for all children with hearing loss.

In the presence of hearing loss, appropriate hearing devices (hearing aids, cochlear implants or implantable hearing devices such as Baha) are critical to carrying the spoken language signal to your child’s brain where it is understood and a response formulated. Brain activity in infants (i.e. babies 12 months of age and below) is known to be the most responsive to such early auditory stimulation.

This makes early intervention critical.

In order that the hearing devices work effectively, the structures of your baby’s ears need to be intact and healthy. Radiological tests such as the CT scan and MRI give us this information.

For children with ear structures that make it difficult for them to be fitted with optimal amplification, Auditory-Verbal Therapy may not be a suitable communication option.

Children with additional difficulties that may impact the clarity with which they hear spoken language and/or understand it and therefore talk may also not benefit significantly from Auditory-Verbal Therapy.

Join AVT Direct and help us help you and your baby to benefit optimally from our service.