What We Do: Lexington Hearing & Speech Center

What We Do: Why We Use Listening & Spoken Language Approaches for Children with Hearing Loss
With the implementation of universal newborn screenings, hearing loss is being detected earlier than ever before. Early identification of hearing loss gives parents the opportunity to gather information and make informed decisions about their child’s future from the very start.

Often, hearing aids or cochlear implants are recommended for babies with hearing loss. Providing babies with better quality sound through hearing technology gives them access to spoken language. This allows babies to begin learning to understand speech and other environmental noises at more age appropriate levels.

Early Intervention—Why is it important?
Easter fun at the Lexington Hearing & Speech Center

Easter fun at the Lexington Hearing & Speech Center

The “critical period” for speech and language development in children ranges from before birth to 6 years old. This is the stage of intense brain development in babies and young children when their brains are using input from their senses to organize their perception of the world around them.

Because spoken language is based on listening, it is vital that children with hearing loss receive clear, complete, and consistent sound during these first years of life. The incorporation of hearing technology and early intervention with spoken language instruction is the key to developing the ability to talk. When a child with hearing loss does not receive access to sound early on, their ability to recognize and process sound deteriorates over time, making it more difficult for the brain to meaningfully interpret sound.

What Is the Spoken Language Approach?
When we use the term “Spoken Language Approach,” we are describing an approach to teaching children with hearing loss that focuses on developing speech, listening, and spoken language skills. Spoken language approach requires a commitment on the part of the parents and families to work with professionals to stimulate their child’s spoken language development throughout their child’s day. The goals for all children within our program are the same:

Ensuring early identification and intervention
Maximizing residual hearing by using amplification technology (hearing aids or cochlear implants), consistently and as early as possible after diagnosis
Participating in ongoing speech-language therapy or instruction to improve intelligibility
Developing listening skills
Teaching parents to provide children with optimal speech/language stimulation
Empowering children to self-monitor their speech/language skills
Mainstreaming children with hearing loss into the regular classroom as early as possible

In the end, the most important result of Spoken Language Approaches and what we do at Lexington Hearing & Speech Center is one that you don’t notice… which is exactly the point! Having developed spoken and written language skills, children with hearing loss are armed with the skills they need to communicate effectively. When a child with hearing impairment leaves LHSC for “big school” they will have the skills they need for a lifetime of learning.