The Speech And Hearing Center Opens Chattanooga’s First Oral Only Hearing Loss Preschool Classroom

  • Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The Speech and Hearing Center has opened the area’s first oral only hearing loss preschool classroom for children with cochlear implants and hearing aids. A cochlear implant device is a surgically implanted electronic medical device which replaces the function of the damaged inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain, allowing the patient to hear. Implants help many who do not have the kind of hearing loss which hearing aids can assist.   The children will be taught at “Little Listeners” using listening and spoken language techniques instead of sign language.

TSAHC is the only organization to offer Listening and Spoken Language Therapy by a certified Auditory Verbal Therapist between Chattanooga and Knoxville, Birmingham, Nashville and Atlanta, a 115 mile radius, officials said. The therapy places major focus on guiding and coaching the parent to learn how to model this language, listening and learning style in the home.

“Therapy in the clinic is just the beginning. To give these children a greater chance at being ready for kindergarten and succeeding in school, they need more time where they are exposed to language and learning to use it. A preschool environment where they can continue their language development will ensure this goal is met,” said Pam Hosterman, director of Speech Language Pathology at The Speech and Hearing Center.

"While there are very strong preschool classroom options in Chattanooga for children with hearing loss who want to use only American Sign Language, there is not a single option for children who are working on developing language from the Listening and Spoken Language model.

"This is the first classroom in our area for children with hearing loss who wear cochlear implants or hearing aids to receive listening and spoken language instruction," officials said.

The class will begin Aug. 30 with three to five children who have hearing loss at the East Brainerd Church of Christ three days per week. The instruction will be supervised and led by a specialized and experienced team of a Certified Auditory Verbal Therapist /Listening and Spoken Language and Specialist and a Deaf Educator Speech Language Pathologist who is working on her AVT certification.

"After observing a longtime successful classroom in Birmingham, Al. and consulting with other programs across the country, it is clear, although the number seems small; three to five children is the perfect size for this learning environment. The amount of noise created with children, makes for a difficult place for students with hearing loss to listen and repeat words and sounds. Much of this therapy in the classroom is direct communication with the teacher. Hearing aids and cochlear implants help the children improve their level of hearing but background noise can always present a problem. The teacher will wear a microphone connected to a speaker to make the sound even louder and more clear.

"TSAHC is confident 'Little Listeners' will help these families achieve the goals they set for their children; success in school and beyond. It has worked across the nation at Clarke NYC Auditory/Oral Center in New York, Alabama School for Hearing and Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center National Center for Childhood Deafness and Family Communication in Nashville among others worldwide.

"TSAHC is passionate about giving these families who cannot uproot their lives to move to a bigger city and who love Chattanooga a chance to see their children with hearing loss develop language and thrive in mainstream community environments," officials said.

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