The delivery of early and effective support and therapy via telepractice has increased in the last few years, particularly following the social restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee should consider how online telepractice can support healthcare in remote and rural areas. All deaf children should have access to early and effective support, whether families wish to use spoken language, sign language or both. For those families who want their deaf child to learn to listen and speak, Auditory Verbal (AV) therapy is a robust approach which has a strong peer-reviewed evidence base and consistently delivers excellent outcomes. Charity Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK) supports deaf babies and children to learn to listen and speak through AV therapy. It has been using telepractice, where AV therapy is delivered online, for a number of years. An audit of experiences in 2020 found that approximately 80% of parents felt their child was making good progress with telepractice sessions, while 89% of therapists felt that telepractice sessions were equally or more effective than in-person sessions. Additionally, 85% of parents opted to continue with their AV sessions solely via telepractice or a blend of telepractice and in-person sessions. Maci’s story: Maci failed her newborn hearing test when she was just a few days old and living in Shetland the family faced a long boat trip to Aberdeen each way waiting for the result to be confirmed by specialist paediatric audiologists before they were told their daughter had a profound hearing loss. Maci’s mum, Nicole, found out about AV therapy via an online forum for parents with newly diagnosed deaf babies, and decided to join the family programme. Living in Shetland the family have opted for telepractice sessions conducted online and couldn’t be happier. “I love them,” said Nicole. “They are so convenient, especially living in Shetland. It is just like Mariavittoria [Auditory Verbal Therapist] is in the room with is. She hands Maci things and for us it is no different to face-to-face!” “We are absolutely over the moon with how AVUK and the therapy has supported Maci and us as a family. Maci has only been on the programme for four months and has already smashed her six-month goals. For anyone thinking about Auditory Verbal therapy I would recommend it 110% and for us in a small community in Shetland AVUK has given us a link to a deaf community which we might not have had otherwise.”
I cannot answer this as you have not explained what online telepractice actually is, or how it works! A typical question by an organisation used to speaking gobbledeegook but not used to speaking in plain English! 😡
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