COMMUNICATION OPTION

School systems use a number of systems of communication for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. As a parent, you will find the information on communication options often conflicting and confusing, and one of your most difficult tasks will be to decide on the best option for your child. This may, in part, be dictated by what is available in your community. Large metropolitan areas may offer several options.

Auditory/Oral-These programs teach children to make maximum use of their residual hearing through amplification (hearing aids or cochlear implants), to augment their residual hearing with speech (lip) reading, and to speak. This approach excludes the use of sign language. The philosophy behind the Auditory/Oral method is to prepare children to work and live in a predominately hearing society.

Auditory/Verbal-The auditory/verbal approach is similar to the auditory/oral approach, except it does not encourage lip-reading. This method emphasizes the exclusive use of auditory skills through one-on-one teaching. It excludes the use of sign language, while emphasizing the importance of placing children in the regular classroom ("mainstream education") as soon as possible.

Cued Speech-This is a visual communication system combining eight hand shapes (cues) that represent different sounds of speech. These cues are used simultaneously with speaking. The hand shapes help the child distinguish sounds that look the same on the lips-such as "p" and "b". The use of cues significantly enhances lip-reading ability. It is a particularly good system for a child who may not be able to learn entirely though amplified hearing.

Total Communication-Total communication uses a combination of methods to teach a child, including a form of sign language, finger spelling, speech reading, speaking and amplification. The sign language used in total communication (SEE sign) is not a language in and of itself, like American Sign Language, but an artificially-constructed language following English grammatical structure.

American Sign Language (Bilingual/Bicultural)-In this method, American Sign Language is taught as the child's primary language, and English as a second language. American Sign Language is recognized as a true language in its own right and does not follow the grammatical structure of English. This method is used extensively within the Deaf community, a group that views itself as having a separate culture and identity from mainstream society.