The  <http://www.avchears.org/> Auditory Verbal
Center (AVC) announced that Mark Mesler and Todd Tarrance joined its Board
of Directors.  The Auditory Verbal Center teaches mild to profoundly deaf
children to hear and speak without the use of sign language or lip reading.

A resident of Suwanee, Ga., Mesler is Senior Council at the Asbury Law Firm
and a part-time instructor in the Master of Taxation program in the Robinson
College of Business at Georgia State University. He received his bachelor of
science from the Baptist University of America and his law degree from
Georgia State University.

Making his home in Alpharetta, Georgia., Terrance is senior vice president
at Bank of America. He received his bachelor of business administration from
Stetson University and his master of business administration from Wake
Forest University.

"We're honored to have such dedicated supporters of AVC joining our board of
directors. Lending their respective expertise further enhances our ability
to grow AVC's impact and ability to provide services to families throughout
the state," shared executive director Debbie Brilling. "With three out of
every 1000 children in Georgia born deaf or hard of hearing, our board is
committed to raising awareness that through early intervention and family
education, these children can develop listening skills and spoken language,
allowing them to communicate without the need for sign language or
lip-reading, providing more literacy skills and opportunities in both school
and future careers."  

With offices in Atlanta and Macon, the Auditory Verbal Center is a
specialized early intervention, family education program. To help overcome
the barrier of transportation the Auditory Verbal Center uses teletherapy.
They provide a tablet and Internet to those families without access to
equipment. The family attends a one-hour weekly therapy session and
continues to follow through at home every day with activities to develop
listening and spoken language.  The Auditory Verbal Center empowers the
parent to be the child's primary role model and teacher for their child's
development.