VOICES OF HOPE
Collated by Estelle Gerrett, LSLS Cert AVT
Through frank personal accounts, thirteen families share the challenges and joy of teaching their profoundly deaf children to listen (with cochlear implants) and to speak. Each journey is different, reflecting the diversity of deafness, and the families’ different cultures and aspirations for their children. The families describe what it was like at the start, when they did not know what the future held for their children or what might be possible, and how far they have come since those fraught early days.
As a resource for newly diagnosed families, and the professionals who support them, this book is both inspiring and reassuring, whilst being open and honest about the obstacles faced along the way.
Review
by Stuart McNaughton, The Cochlear Implant Coach
I just finished reading ‘Voices Of Hope’, by Estelle Gerrett and the latest amazing resource to be published by AVID Language.
The title of the book says it all - across thirteen wonderfully collated personal stories, Estelle - an Auditory Verbal Therapist - has provided a platform for some amazing parents who are striving to help their deaf children listen and speak, and proves that there’s always HOPE!
Some of the stories brought a tear to my eye and are true testaments to the power of parents. And what about those children? How they’ve overcome such traumatic starts to life, yet have gone on to absolutely thrive!
Every parent of a deaf child will be inspired by this book: tales of perseverance, of determination and stories of wonderful lives being lived! Thanks for putting this wonderful book together!
Stuart McNaughton is a qualified psychotherapist, and runs a series of hearing loss mental health support programmes. He also publishes frank and insightful content on his YouTube channel, which can be extremely helpful for CI-users and families with CI-kiddos, or those considering embarking on the CI journey.
Check out: The Cochlear Implant Coach
Reaction
from Anita Grover, CEO,
Auditory Verbal UK
This is an important book for the families of deaf children and the professionals who support them. It is important because more than 90% of families who have a child who is born deaf or loses their hearing in childhood have no prior experience of hearing loss and deafness…
Many people still have low expectations of what deaf children can achieve and many do not know that a profoundly deaf child can learn to talk as well as a hearing child. The stories in this book show what is possible and why we can and should have much higher expectations for deaf children and young people around the world.
Collated by Estelle Gerrett, an Auditory Verbal therapist with thirty years’ experience of working with profoundly deaf children, including her own son, ‘Voices of Hope’ features personal accounts from a range of families who have faced different diagnoses and different social and cultural challenges. One thing all the families have in common is that they have worked – sometimes against enormous odds – to give their deaf children the best listening and spoken language outcome they could achieve through the communication mode of Auditory Verbal therapy.
The book acknowledges that sign language is also a full and rich language of its own, and that choosing a communication approach for their deaf child(ren) is an intensely personal decision for each and every family, not to be judged by others. But for those families who wish to follow a listening and spoken language approach, this book is a beacon of hope, showing how – with a lot of hard work from all involved – their deaf children can be part of the hearing, speaking world.
Different diagnoses, different social & cultural challenges
Reaction
from Anne Ackerman,
Founding CEO, The Hearing House
…a book that talks of passion, determination, and raw courage.
Reaction
from Robert Mandara, President, European Association of Cochlear Implant Users (EuroCIU)
I’m already enjoying the book. As an adult CI recipient, it’s really helpful to me to better understand the journey that parents and kids go through.