Gift of speech

Auditory-verbal therapy has helped many children with impaired hearing in China. But one expert says the country still has a long way to go to narrow the ratio between the number of therapists and patients. Liu Zhihua reports.

In 2009, when Yang Shan's toddler suddenly pushed some chocolate off the table, uttering, "I don't want (it)", the young mother in Beijing was overwhelmed by ecstasy.

That was the first time the hearing-impaired 18-month-old boy, Xiao'ao, said anything other than "mama" and "papa".