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In the August 2008 issue of Points North Magazine, Steve Eubanks writes a compelling article about childhood deafness and the technology and therapies used to “eradicate” it as a disability. The article features interviews with Otolarynologist and Cochlear Implant Surgeon, Dr. Sanjay Bhansali of the Ear Consultants of Georgia and Debbie Brilling, executive director of the Auditory-Verbal Center, Inc.
With the increasing scientific advancements in cochlear implant technology, Dr. Bhansali says, “For all intents and purposes, we have cured deafness.” Although these cochlear implants do not exactly mimic normal hearing, they permit individuals to hear and participate in the world around them. Eubanks describes “deaf” individuals who now attend normal schools, work, talk on the phone, and listen to music—just like any person.
Early intervention is the key to eliminating childhood deafness. It is critical for children to be diagnosed, receive implants, and therapy as early as possible. Dr. Bhansali explains that “language needs to be learned by age three,” to achieve the greatest levels of success in developing skills. At the Auditory-Verbal Center, Inc., Debbie Brilling and her staff assist hearing impaired children (wearing cochlear implants and/or hearing aids) and their families to harness the brain’s best speaking and language capabilities.
“Parents should know that hearing impaired children no longer have to live in a life filled with silence,” according to Debbie Brilling, executive director of the Auditory-Verbal Center, Inc. “Auditory-verbal therapy is a powerful tool used to teach mild to profoundly deaf children to hear and speak without the use of sign-language or lip reading.”
While cochlear implants can give a deaf child access to sound, teaching the child to understand those sounds and produce speech then requires intensive therapy. Once a child is implanted, Brilling explains that auditory-verbal therapy is “pivotal in achieving sound recognition and discrimination; both of which are imperative in developing speech”. Brilling describes the process as “taking time and training, but once kids go through this program, they live in the hearing world with very few restrictions.”
The core techniques of the Auditory-Verbal Center Inc., work toward the goal of mainstreaming hearing impaired children into everyday normal hearing environments.
About the Auditory-Verbal Center, Inc.
For over 30 years, the Auditory-Verbal Center, Inc. (avchears.org), has been teaching mild to profoundly deaf children how to listen and speak without the use of sign-language or lip reading. The center offers audiology services to people of all ages including newborn hearing screenings, hearing evaluations, hearing aids and one of the only non-sedated ABR testing systems in the state.
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nicole[.]avchears.org 
