This digest presents an overview of the auditory-verbal approach to teaching communication skills to children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The goal of auditory-verbal practices is for children who are deaf or hard of hearing to grow up in "typical" learning and living environments that enable them to become independent,…

This digest provides an overview of the auditory-oral approach used for developing communication skills in children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The approach is based on the fundamental premise that acquiring competence in spoken language is a realistic goal for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and is best developed in an environment…

Two groups of hard of hearing children entered educational audiology programs between the ages of 6 to 42 months. Of these, 12 children in a unisensory program (U-) and 16 in a multisensory program (M-) were evaluated for speech and language development after they had reached their fifth birthdays. Children in the experimental U-group were first…