Auditory-Oral

Concept: In this approach, deaf children are taught, primarily by the teacher of the deaf and the SLP at the auditory-oral school, to speak and to understand spoken language. In addition to specific training on audition, children are allowed in most auditory-oral schools to use speechreading. Auditory-oral approach is most often implemented in separate, private, auditory-oral schools, although some public schools offer this approach. Mainstreaming is a goal of the auditory-oral approach. Signs are not used.

Pros:

• Offers excellent opportunity for deaf children to develop normal speech and to make good use of their hearing
• Auditory-oral schools usually have teachers of the deaf on staff who are very knowledgeable about using the oral approach to working with deaf children
• Auditory-oral schools often have a support team for the child on staff such as speech-language pathologists, audiologists and a child psychologist.
• The deaf child may feel more comfortable being around other deaf children who are wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants just like they are
• Offer a very small class size - often between 2 and 4 students per teacher, especially in the lower grades
• Usually have parent-infant programs with some auditory-oral schools actually adhering more to the auditory-verbal approach in such parent-infant programs.
• Auditory-oral schools attempt to mainstream the deaf child in a regular school as soon as possible and are reporting that often after only three-to-four years at the oral school the child is ready for mainstreaming.
• Offers opportunity for deaf child to communicate in a language - English - that parents are already familiar with

• In some of the auditory-oral schools, especially in the preschool programs, the focus is almost entirely on the teacher of the deaf teaching the deaf child, with little emphasis placed on the importance of training the child's parents to be the primary role model for their child. Other auditory-oral preschool programs focus more on teaching and involving the parents, somewhat similar to the auditory-verbal approach.
• Going along with the above item, some auditory-oral schools allow the parents only limited times for observing the teacher working with the child, and don't provide adequate communication about what they are working on with the child.
• Some auditory-oral schools have a very structured environment that the deaf child is expected to fit into, and if the child doesn't fit into that structure sometimes the child is viewed as having a problem rather than the program being adjusted and customized to fit the needs of the child.
• With auditory-oral's allowance of children to use speechreading, some hearing problems and some mechanical hearing aid or cochlear implant problems may go undetected
• Critics contend that if the child cannot succeed in this way, the time spent pursuing it leads to delay in language and problems with self esteem and adjustment
• By being around other deaf children in the school environment, a child does not have normal speaking peers as role models for language development

Current Status in Missouri:

• Three auditory-oral schools in the St. Louis area - St. Joseph's School for the Deaf, Central Institute for the Deaf, and the Moog Oral School
• St. Joseph's School for the Deaf has a preschool program (ages 0-6) in Kansas City area (at Overland Park,Ks.)
• some public school programs provide teachers trained in the auditory-oral approach
• John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles, Ca. offers free correspondence course with emphasis on oral approach

References:

Speech Perception and Production Skills of Students with Impaired Hearing from Oral and Total Communication Education Settings, Ann Geers and Jean Moog, Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, Volume 35, 1384-1393, Dec. 1992

Predicting Spoken Language Acquisition of Profoundly Hearing-Impaired Children, Ann Geers and Jean Moog, Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, Vol. 52, 84-94, Feb.Feb. 1987

Resources

- curriculums

• SPICE - available from Central Institute for the Deaf
• DASL II - Developmental Approach to Successful Listening - available from Cochlear Corp. 800-523-5798
• CHATS: The Miami Cochlear Implant, Auditory, & Tactile Skills Curriculum - available from A.G. Bell

National Organizations:

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing

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