Deaf boy, eight, lobbies MPs to increase access to specialist therapy programme
Fiona Simpson
Thursday, October 20, 2022
A deaf eight-year-old boy has lobbied MPs to support a call for more children with hearing loss to have access to a programme which helped him to learn to listen and speak.
Orson Grimer was born prematurely and diagnosed with hearing loss in both ears at his newborn hearing screening.
He attended AVUK’s specialist family-centred auditory verbal therapy programme for two years before graduating with language skills ahead of his hearing peers.
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This week, he visited parliament with his family and representatives from charity Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK) to speak to more than 20 cross-party MPs, including Caroline Noaks, Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North, and Rosie Duffield, Labour MP for Canterbury, who sponsored the event, as well as Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labour Party and chair of All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness, Lilian Greenwood.
He urged them to support AVUK’s call for all families of deaf children, who want them to be able to listen and talk, to be able to access an auditory verbal programme through the NHS and publicly funded services in their local area.
AVUK is the only UK charity offering the specialist family-centred, play-based programme which maximises hearing technology like hearing aids and cochlear implants and equips families with the skills to support the development of their child’s listening and spoken language.
The charity’s visit to parliament came ahead of Loud Shirt Day on 21 October - an international awareness day for challenging perceptions of what deaf children can achieve.
Orson’s mum, Avril Grimer, said: “We took the decision to support Orson to learn to listen and speak and with the help of AVUK, it has changed not just Orson’s life but our life as a family. Being deaf is not a learning disability and all deaf children should be given the opportunity to access the right support for them so they can achieve their potential.
“We really hope our message that urgent support and funding is needed was not only heard by the MPs we met but that they take it back and share it with colleagues to make the change needed.”
Anita Grover, chief executive of AVUK, added: “We know that 92 percent of deaf children who could benefit from auditory verbal therapy are unable to access it. Even in a time of economic uncertainty, analysis shows that investment in the future for all deaf children reaps huge economic and social benefit and more than repays the investment made. But we need action now.
“We want to thank all those MPs who met Orson and our team and urge them and colleagues to back our #HearUsNow campaign to ensure all families who want their deaf child to learn to listen and talk have the opportunity to access auditory verbal therapy through public funded services.”