Is auditory-verbal therapy effective for children with hearing loss?

A longitudinal study reported positive speech and language outcomes for 29 children with hearing loss in an auditory-verbal therapy program (AVT group) (aged 2 to 6 years at start; mean PTA 79.39 dB HL) compared with a matched control group with typical hearing (TH group) at 9, 21, and 38 months after the start of the study. The current study investigates outcomes over 50 months for 19 of the original pairs of children matched for language age, receptive vocabulary, gender, and socioeconomic status. An assessment battery was used to measure speech and language over 50 months, and reading, mathematics, and self-esteem over the final 12 months of the study. Results showed no significant differences between the groups for speech, language, and self-esteem (p > 0.05). Reading and mathematics scores were comparable between the groups, although too few for statistical analysis. Auditory-verbal therapy has proved to be effective for this population of children with hearing loss.