®
For Immediate Release
For Further Information:
Sara Blair Lake, Esq.
Auditory-Verbal International, Inc. ? (AVI)
(703) 739-1049
[email protected]
Auditory-Verbal International, Inc.? (AVI) Announces Appointment of Taskforce to Examine Principlesof Auditory-Verbal Practice
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (June 2, 2004) ? Auditory-Verbal International, Inc.? (AVI), the worldwide association devoted to the Auditory-Verbal approach, recently announced the appointment of a task force of Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapists, international experts in the approach, to carefully examine the principles of Auditory-Verbal practice.
Steven R. Rech, the president of AVI and the parent of a child with bilateral cochlear implants, appointed the taskforce to carefully examine the principles of the Auditory-Verbal approach, a unique approach which maximizes residual hearing in children with hearing impairment and encourages the children to listen, talk and live full and active lives in the mainstream. In so doing, Mr. Rech stated, “We are delighted to announce that AVI has established a taskforce of such outstanding leaders in the field to consider this critical and timely issue.” If the task force suggests that the principles should be modified, any proposed modifications will be peer reviewed by the body of Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapists. Additionally, it is anticipated that the task force will prepare an article for The Auricle, AVI?s newsmagazine, regarding the principles. Regarding the article, Mr. Rech stated ?I have complete confidence that the task force will announce the results of their work in an inclusive and objective manner.?
The task force will be co-chaired by Donald Goldberg, Ph.D., Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist? and Mrs. Judith Simser, Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist ?. Dr. Goldberg is an Associate Professor and Director of the Freelander Speech and Hearing Clinic in Wooster, Ohio. Mrs. Judith Simser formerly served as Director of the Auditory-Verbal Programme at the Children’s Hospital in Ottawa, Canada and recently established three Auditory-Verbal Centers in Taiwan and Singapore. Mrs. Simser, a former president of AVI, currently serves as an international consultant in childhood hearing impairment.
Other renowned Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapists serving on this critical taskforce include: Nancy Caleffe-Schenck, a founding Director of AVI and currently in private practice in Evergreen, Colorado; Carol Flexer, Ph.D., former AVI Board member and Professor of Audiology at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio; Tina Olmstead, a recent AVI Board member and an educator with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board in Ottawa, Canada; Sylvia Rotfleisch, a private practitioner in Los Angeles, California; and Joanna Smith, Program Director with Hearing Enrichment Language Program (HELP) at the Hough Institute in Oklahoma City, OK.
Mr. Rech also stated that “I am confident that this esteemed group of Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapists will consider the needs of children with hearing impairmentin the public schools whose families follow the Auditory-Verbal approach. Such families need a way to enforce an educational plan that supports the choice of the Auditory-Verbal approach.”
Founded in 1987, Auditory-Verbal International, Inc. ? (AVI) is the world?spremier association devoted to the Auditory-Verbal approach, a rehabilitative option premised on a logical and critical set of guiding principles which enable most children who are deaf or hard of hearing to learn to use even minimal amounts of residual hearing or hearing through the cochlear implant to listen, to process verbal language and to speak.
For further details about AVI and the Auditory-Verbal approach, visit AVI?s website at www.auditory-verbal.org or call AVI at (703) 739-1049.