About Us

The mission of the AVCC is to provide Auditory-Verbal parent guidance therapy to families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing to enable them to learn to listen and talk.

Certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialists Auditory-Verbal Therapists Jim and Lea Watson have over 30 years experience promoting listening and speaking as a way of life for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Both trained under the guidance of the late Auditory-Verbal Pioneers, Daniel Ling and Helen H. Beebe.

Jim and Lea provide Auditory-Verbal Parent Guidance Therapy to families from New England. The Watsons specialize in guiding parents to maximize listening skills for their children who listen with hearing aids and cochlear implants.

They offer workshops and mentorship in Auditory-Verbal Therapy for professionals.

They also help adults with cochlear implants who want to develop listening skills.

James Grosvenor Watson, M.Sc, CED, Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist®, BA, Tufts University, M.Sc, McGill University, Massachusetts State Certification Teacher of the Speech and Hearing Handicapped. He is a founding Board Member and past president of Auditory-Verbal International, Inc. and past Board Member of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Jim has been a special education teacher in the Gloucester Public School system since 1980. He implemented and directs the inclusion program for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Lea Donovan Watson, MS, CCC-SLP, Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist®, BA, University of Vermont, MS, Emerson College, licensed speech-language pathologist. Charter member of Auditory-Verbal International, Inc., member of American Speech-Language Hearing Association, Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Since 1976 Lea has specialized in teaching infants and preschoolers. She has been teaching parents of babies who listen with cochlear implants since 1988.