Northern Ireland’s first Auditory Verbal Therapist and champion of deaf children wins national award
Rosie Gardner, Northern Ireland’s first qualified Auditory Verbal Therapist, has won a national award recognising adults who go above and beyond to support deaf children and young people to achieve their potential.
The 69-year-old from Banbridge, was presented with her Claire Campbell Outstanding Achievement Awards in London on Tuesday (November 25th) after being nominated by families with deaf children and fellow professionals working in the field.
Run by charity Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK), now in their third year, the awards are in tribute to Claire, a mum of two profoundly deaf children, who championed the need for early and effective support for deaf children to develop language and communication to achieve their potential right up to her death in 2022.
Rosie is a Teacher of the Deaf and has specialist training in Auditory Verbal therapy. She supports deaf children and their families in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. On receiving her award she said: “I feel honoured and humbled to receive this award. Deaf children deserve to have the same opportunities in life as hearing children and I know that being ambitious about their potential is key to ensuring deaf children can thrive ready to start school and beyond.”
Annie Colleran and her daughter Méabh (12) from Dublin nominated Rosie for the award and travelled to London to see her receive the honour. Méabh was diagnosed as profoundly deaf as a baby and her family, who had no experience of hearing loss, wanted her to learn to learn to listen and speak.
Annie said: “We were so lucky to meet Rosie a year after Méabh received her cochlear implants and it was obvious from the beginning she was as ambitious for our daughter’s future as we were.
“We were so frustrated that the expectations set for Méabh were so low and that we should be delighted for our daughter to achieve “average” outcomes. Méabh was and is anything but “average” and Rosie made our ambition her ambition.”
Méabh and her family were supported by Rosie with Auditory Verbal therapy which supports deaf children to learn how to make sense of the sound they receive through their hearing technology (such as hearing aids or cochlear implants) and develop spoken language so they can learn to talk. . Méabh completed the programme aged six with spoken language skills above those for an equivalent age hearing child.
Annie added: “Méabh is now a happy, sociable 12-year-old with a crazy busy life. She reads for fun, achieves top grades at school, plays clarinet in a brass band, does public speaking, plays team sport and generally does well at everything she tries. I will always be thankful that the universe sent Rosie in our direction. I hope she knows how special she is and how many lives she has touched.”
Rosie trained as an Auditory Verbal (AV) Therapist determined to make the evidence based, family-centred therapy programme accessible to families in Northern Ireland who want their deaf child to learn to listen and speak. Qualifying as the country’s first AV therapist in 2019 Rosie’s trailblazing efforts have not only benefitted families and deaf children in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland - but also other professionals working with deaf children who she has inspired to train and mentored.
Outside of Northern Ireland Rosie has also supported healthcare professionals working with deaf children in Africa, fundraising for schools and promoting newborn hearing screening programmes.
Claire’s husband, Chris Campbell, who judges the awards with his family said: “Rosie is such a deserving winner of this award. Reading the many nominations for her it is clear what a real difference she has made to the lives of deaf children and their families. These awards are a true celebration of the diversity of deafness and what is possible. Congratulations to all of the worthy winners and fantastic nominees and I know Claire would be delighted to see such passion and support proving what deaf children and young people can achieve.”
Auditory Verbal UK Chief Executive Anita Grover said: “Congratulations to Rosie and all the finalists in the 2025 Claire Campbell Outstanding Achievement Awards for their achievements going above and beyond to support deaf children and challenge the perceptions of what they can do and achieve. Claire was unwavering in her support for deaf children and their families and always championed the vision that all deaf children should have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers whether their families choose to use sign language, spoken language or both.”
The Outstanding Achievement Awards in Memory of Claire Campbell has two categories:
• The Children and Young Person Outstanding Achievement Award - which recognises a deaf child or young person with hearing loss who, like Claire, has gone above and beyond to demonstrate that deaf children can achieve their potential.
and
• The Adult Outstanding Achievement Award which recognises an adult, such as a professional, teacher, parent or caregiver, who, like Claire, has gone above and beyond to support a deaf child or children to achieve their potential and/or challenge the perceptions of what deaf children can achieve.
Details of all the award winners can be seen here. (link)
Auditory Verbal UK is an award-winning charity that supports deaf babies and children to learn to listen and speak through Auditory Verbal therapy and provides internationally accredited training in Auditory Verbal practice for health and education professionals.