A DEAF 13-year-old from Warminster took to the stage to speak at a House of Commons meeting this week.

Martha Womack was one of ten deaf children to take part in a new scheme, the Power of Speech, run by Auditory Verbal UK to challenge perceptions of what deaf children can achieve.

Standing up in front of an audience of more than 100 MPs and professionals working in the deaf sector, Martha gave a speech on her experience of deafness and interviewed Auditory Verbal UK’s research co-ordinator Sarah Hogan on the charity’s latest study into the benefits of the therapy programme.

The therapy concentrates on developing spoken language through listening by getting sound to the brain through cochlear implants or hearing aids.

Martha was diagnosed with meningitis when she was just 13 months old, which left her profoundly deaf. She received implants when she was 20 months old and joined Auditory Verbal UK a month later.

Martha said: “I just wanted to make my voice heard and to raise awareness of how amazing Auditory Verbal therapy is and how it really helps people like me. I think it should be made available for every deaf child, but only five per cent of children in the UK currently have access to it.”

With just two centres, one in London and one in Oxford, Auditory Verbal UK is working to increase the number of specialist therapists in the NHS so that families have an opportunity to access a programme close to where they live.

A study carried out by the charity showed 97 per cent of deaf children with no additional needs achieved spoken language skills on a par with hearing children their age, as did half of children with additional needs.

Anita Grover, chief executive of Auditory Verbal UK, said: “In the UK, we have a world-class newborn hearing screening programme and access to state-of-the-art hearing technology.

“Yet the gap between deaf children’s achievements and those of their hearing peers is widening.

“This study reinforces the value of investing in support during the vital development years.

“The children who took part in the Power of Speech are proof that being deaf should not hold you back in life.”