Auditory-Verbal therapy is a specialized type of therapy designed to teach a child to use the hearing provided by a hearing aid or a cochlear implant for understanding speech and learning to talk. The child is taught to develop hearing as an active sense so that listening becomes automatic and the child seeks out sounds in life. Hearing and active listening become an integral part of communication, recreation, socialization, education, and work.
Auditory-verbal therapy is a family-centered approach The auditory-verbal therapist provides guidance to the parents, teaching them how to utilize and integrate the principles of auditory-verbal therapy into their lives.

There are nine principles of auditory-verbal practice which are integrated into the lives of auditory-verbal families. The principles are as follows:

• Early detection, identification, and management of hearing loss
• Appropriate amplification
• A parent partnership with the auditory-verbal therapist
• Total integration of listening into the child’s personality
• One-on-one therapy
• feedback
• The following of an auditory hierarchy
• Teaching which is continually diagnostic
• The implementation of mainstreaming as appropriate (Auditory-Verbal International)

The goal of all of the communication approaches is to give children with hearing loss of the skills and abilities to communicate with their peers. This, however, is not the only goal – these individuals, as adults, must become contributing members of society. That is, they must find employment and actively participate in their communities.