Academic outcomes of adolescents and young adults with hearing loss who received auditory-verbal therapy

ABSTRACT

Auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) is an instructional approach for children with hearing loss (HL) that emphasizes auditory learning. Studies relating to the effectiveness of AVT usually relate to speech and language outcomes of young children receiving AVT. Little is known about outcomes of these children later on, such as academic achievements. The purpose of the present study was to fill this void by examining academic achievements of AVT graduates (study group) in comparison to individuals with HL who did not receive AVT (control group). Parents of 52 adolescents and young adults participated in a telephone survey. Information was merged with administrative data of the National Insurance Institute of Israel. Results indicate positive correlations between receiving AVT and academic variables. Significant differences were found between the study and control groups in all grades. AVT had a positive contribution to Hebrew and literature grades. These results suggest that AVT graduates outperform adolescents and young people with HL who were not rehabilitated via this rehabilitative approach.

KEYWORDS:

• Auditory-verbal therapy
• academic achievements
• rehabilitation and intervention approaches

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ester Goldblat is a speech-language pathologist and audiologist. She received her doctoral degree from the Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. She is manager of assistive communication services at the Israeli Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Services.

Ofir Y. Pinto is a behavioral economist. He received his doctoral degree in public policy and economy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is manager of special projects unit at the research department of the Israeli Social Security Institute and advisor to deputy director general. Ofir deals with applying insights from economics and psychology to contexts of social problems and public policy.