A CHARITY which helps 'shatter stereotypes about the life deaf children' by teaching communication skills has had a major profile boost after it featured on TV.

An appeal to support the work of Auditory Verbal (AVUK), based in Chesterton near Bicester, aired on BBC One earlier this month.

Radio Two presenter Sara Cox spoke with the families of three profoundly deaf children who have been helped to speak and listen by the charity.

AVUK works with pre-school aged deaf children with hearing aids or cochlear implants to teach them to listen and speak without the need to rely on sign language or lip reading.

Speaking on the BBC Lifeline appeal, Ms Cox said: "Working with AVUK really highlighted what deaf children can do when they have the support that they need in the first few years of their lives. Their opportunities are transformed.

“Working in an industry where listening and speaking are crucial to what I do, I can’t imagine the difficulty parents face being told their baby is deaf.

"But, with crucial support from charities like AVUK, families of deaf children really can see them reach their full potential."

One youngster who starred in the BBC programme was eight-year-old Hope Dennis who was diagnosed at just three weeks old.

Hope became one of the youngest babies to undergo bilateral cochlear implant surgery aged just nine months in July 2011.

She then began therapy with AVUK to help train her brain to speak and listen, and in 2016 used those skills to speak to an audience of MPs, sports stars and hearing and language experts at Westminster.

Her mum Becky said: “We are unbelievably proud of all that she continues to achieve and the way she shatters stereotypes about the life a deaf child can lead with the right support and intervention.

"AVUK are an invaluable piece of the jigsaw puzzle that has taken Hope from a profoundly deaf baby facing a world of silence to a happy, healthy child whose life is filled with sound and conversation."

AVUK’s BBC Lifeline appeal aired on BBC One on Sunday, October 14, and is hoped to help rally support for the charity.

AVUK’s chief executive Anita Grover said: "We are absolutely delighted that our work is featured in the BBC Lifeline appeal.

"We hope that this appeal will encourage readers to support Auditory Verbal UK, so that more deaf children have the opportunity to access our family programme across the UK."

The appeal can be seen by searching for Lifeline on bbc.co.uk/iplayer or for more details on the charity click here