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Learning does not happen in a vacuum and neither does spoken language. Spoken language approaches teach children with hearing loss to develop speech, listening and spoken language skills by combining their residual hearing with the use of hearing technology.
Any spoken language approach requires a commitment on the part of parents and families to work with professionals to stimulate their child's hearing and language development.
Spoken language approaches – auditory/oral, Auditory-Verbal, and cued speech – are considered similar because they all support concrete goals for children with hearing loss:
- Early identification of the child’s type and degree of hearing loss. There are now very simple tests that can be done to identify hearing loss. They do not hurt and the child doesn’t have to actively participate.
- The fitting of amplification (i.e., either loaner or personal hearing aids) as soon as possible after the hearing loss has been identified.
- Use of amplification 100% of the child’s waking hours within two to three weeks of the initial fitting. Remember, hearing is something we do all the time.
- Parents who have questions about whether a child’s hearing technology – hearing aids or cochlear implants – is working or fitted properly should contact the child’s audiologist. Even with appropriately fitted hearing aids, it is not always easy to tell whether or not an infant or child is hearing. It’s better to be cautious; if you have concerns, share them.
- Immediate enrollment in early intervention with a professional who specializes in teaching infants and young children spoken language. An early intervention professional may be an auditory/oral therapist, and Auditory-Verbal therapist or an educator.
- Mainstreaming children with hearing loss into the regular classroom environment when appropriate.
- Teaching parents and caretakers to provide children with optimal hearing, speech/language stimulation.
AG Bell's mission – Advocating Independence through Listening and Talking! – encourages all children with hearing loss to optimize their opportunities in a larger world by learning to listen and talk.
Babies and young children learn language best between the ages of birth to three. In fact, recent evidence suggests that the most intense period of auditory development occurs from birth to age 6 months. During this "critical period," babies’ brains use input from their ears and other senses to organize and understand the world around them. In order to listen, babies and young children need to receive clear, complete and consistent access to sound during these first years of life.
An undiagnosed or untreated hearing loss can delay language development. To maximize development, hearing loss needs to be identified by age 1 month, infants need appropriate amplification by age 3 months, and family-centered early intervention services promoting audition and spoken language should start by age 6 months. Successful early intervention relies on the coordination of the family members and professionals working together to help children learn to process and produce sound.Early identification and intervention combined with appropriate hearing technology – hearing aids and cochlear implants – enable a child with hearing loss to develop language skills comparable to their hearing peers by the time they enter first grade. In addition, the development of age-appropriate language skills by children with hearing loss can also save society more than $400,000 per child in special education costs and related services. |