This book is well written but a little too wordy and technical for the wide range of people that it is intended. Each chapter is broken down into readable sections and is very well-referenced throughout the text and very comprehensibly at the end of each chapter. A basic knowledge of paediatric audiology, child general and speech development, in my opinion, is required to make the most of this informative book.
Each chapter is written by several authors from different fields of expertise. The book is a book of two halves: the first half is quite fragmented due to the wide range of authors and subject matter, and is not clear whether the target audience is the AVT practitioner, audiologist or parent. The second half of the book flows far better than the first as the authors are more consistent and the focus is on AVT in practice. The second half of the book is what I was expecting from the title and did give excellent insight into the theory and structure of AVT, as well as useful development summary tables, session plans and examples of how to engage and coach parents.
I would recommend this book as a good, up-to-date overview of paediatric audiology and child language development. It shows how AVT can be used to monitor the child and support the parents to maximise the child’s learning and language potential. It would be a good ‘go-to’ book to reference and to dip into as required, is value for money and I would rate it as 4/5.
