Dear Alexander Graham Bell Community,
Early Intervention is the key to the success of the listening and spoken language approach for children with hearing loss.
This past week, I was delighted to hear that our partners across the pond, Auditory-Verbal United Kingdom (AVUK) were awarded the Model of Excellence by the Centre for Social Justice in Westminster, London .
The Model of Excellence award is given to recognize organizations that address the root causes of poverty and help the economically disadvantaged overcome their circumstances to reach their full potential.
AVUK Staff at the CSJ Awards Ceremony
On Friday morning, I received a call from Anita Grover, my counterpart at AVUK, who was overjoyed to give us the good news.
"It is a fantastic honour to receive this award and for our work with deaf children to be recognised by a distinguished panel of judges. We are proud that our early intervention programme is changing lives and enabling deaf children to have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.  There are currently around 7,200 children with severe to profound hearing loss in the UK under the age of five, and nearly three quarters of these arrive at primary school having not achieved a good level of development in the early years. We are working to address this inequality to ensure that no deaf children are missing out with our cost effective early intervention. 80% of children who spend at least two years on our programme achieve age-appropriate language and most are in mainstream schools. The key to this is early intervention and getting the right support to babies and young deaf children in the critical early years of their lives."
Early Intervention is the key to the success of the listening and spoken language approach for children with hearing loss. Anita and I both believe that it is critical to ensure that children with hearing loss across the globe are identified as early as possible so that they have the best possible chance to achieve their language goals.
Regardless of other factors, the absence of a sustained effort towards communication achievement can make it difficult for a child with hearing loss to achieve a proficient language outcome and become a productive member of society. Effective communication is essential to education. Without a solid foundation in communication, progressing in one's education can seem like an insurmountable feat instead of a stepping stone to achieving one's goals.
I am thrilled that the work of listening and spoken language outcomes is being recognized across the globe. Congratulations to Anita and the entire team at Auditory-Verbal UK.
Thank you for your continued support. I am always available to you at info@agbell.org and at 202-337-5220.   
Until next week,
Emilio EAM signature blue transparent 
Emilio Alonso-Mendoza

  P.S. If you have been invited to complete the online Practice Analysis Survey for the AG Bell Academy, we ask you to invest your time in this vital project. As the Academy moves forward in updating the LSLS Certification Exam, your input in describing how you conduct your practice to ensure children can succeed in learning to listen and speak is crucial to the redevelopment of the exam and vital to the future of your profession. Time is running out - the survey is due by April 4 - so I ask you to devote a little time this weekend to reflect on how you impact the quality of our field. If you are a certified LSLS and have not received an invitation for this survey, please contact pyoung@kryteriononline.com.
 

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

Henry Brooks Adams