Existing Evidence that Supports the Rationale for Auditory-VerbalPractice

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  1. The majority of children with hearing loss have useful residual hearing; a fact known for decades (Bezold & Siebenmann, 1908; Goldstein, 1939; Urbantschitsch, 1982).
  2. When properly aided, children with hearing loss can detect most if not all of the speech spectrum (Beebe, 1953; Goldstein, 1939; Johnson, 1975; Johnson, 1976; Ling, 1989; Ling & Ling 1978,; Pollack, 1970, 1984; Ross & Calvert, 1984).
  3. Once ALL available residual hearing is accessed through amplification technology (e.g., binaural hearing aids and acoustically tuned earmolds, FM units, cochlear implants) in order to provide maximum detection of the speech spectrum, then a child will have the opportunity to develop language in a natural way through the auditory modality. That is, a child with hearing loss need not automatically be a visual learner. Hearing, rather than being a passive modality that receives information, can be the active agent of cognitive development (Boothroyd, 1982; Goldberg & Lebahn, 1990; Robertson & Flexer, 1990; Ross & Calvert, 1984).
  4. In order to benefit from the “critical periods” of neurological and linguistic development, then the identification of hearing loss, use of appropriate amplification and medical technology, and stimulation of hearing must occur as early as possible (Clopton & Winfield, 1976; Johnson & Newport, 1989; Lennenberg, 1967; Marler, 1970; Newport, 1990).
  5. If hearing is not accessed during the critical language learning years, a child’s ability to use acoustic input meaningfully will deteriorate due to physiological (retrograde deterioration of auditory pathways), and psychosocial (attention, practice, learning) factors (Evans, Wester, & Cullen 1983; Merzenich & Kaas, 1982; Patchett, 1977; Robertson & Irvine, 1989; Webster, 1983).
  6. Current information about normal language development provides the framework and justification for the structure of Auditory-Verbal practice. That is, infants/toddlers/children learn language most efficiently through consistent and continual meaningful interactions in a supportive environment with significant caretakers (Kretschmer & Kretschmer, 1978; Lennenberg, 1967; Leonard, 1991; Ling, 1989, MacDonald & Gillette, 1989; Menyuk, 1977; Ross, 1990).
  7. As verbal language develops through the auditory input of information, reading skills can also develop (Geers & Moog, 1989; Ling, 1989; Robertson & Flexer, 1990).
  8. Parents in Auditory-Verbal programs do not have to learn sign language or cued speech. More than ninety percent of parents of children with hearing loss have normal hearing (Moores, 1987). Studies show that over ninety percent of parents with normal hearing do not learn sign language beyond a basic preschool level of competency (Luetke-Stahlman & Moeller, 1987). Auditory-Verbal practice requires that caregivers interact with a child through spoken language and create a listening environment which helps a child to learn.
  9. If a severe or profound hearing loss automatically makes an individual neurologically and functionally “different” from people with normal hearing (Furth, 1964; Myklebust & Brutton, 1953), then the Auditory-Verbal philosophy would not be tenable. The fact is, however, that outcome studies show that individuals who have, since early childhood, been taught through the active use of amplified residual hearing, are indeed independent, speaking, and contributing members of mainstream society (Goldberg & Flexer, 1991; Ling, 1989; Yoshinaga-Itano & Pollack; 1989).

References

  • Beebe, H. (1953). A guide to help the severely hard of hearing child. Basel/New York: Karger.
  • Bezold, FR., & Siebenmann, FR. (1908). Text-book of otology for physicians and students. Chicago: E.H. Colegrove Co.
  • Boothroyd, A. (1982). Hearing impairments in young children. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  • Clopton, B., & Winfield, J.A. (1976). Effect of early exposure to patterned sound on unit activity in rat inferior colliculus. Journal of Neurophysiology, 39, 1081-1089.
  • Evans, W., Webster, D., & Cullen, J. (1983). Auditory brainstem responses in neonatally sound deprived CBA/J mice. Hearing Research, 10, 269-277.
  • Furth, H. (1964). Research with the deaf: Implications for language and cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 62(2), 145-162.
  • Geers, A., & Moog, J. (1989). Factors predictive of the development of literacy in profoundly hearing-impaired adolescents. The Volta Review, 91, 69-86.
  • Goldberg., D.M., & Flexer, C.(1991, June). Where are they now? Survey of Auditory-Verbal graduates. Presentation at the Auditory-Verbal International Conference, “Listening is the Future–The Time is Now–The Future is Hear,” Easton, PA.
  • Goldberg, D.M., & Lebahn, C. (1990, July). Performance of Auditory-Verbal children on the TAC. Poster session presentation at the Biennial Convention of the A.G. Bell Association for the Deaf, Washington, DC.
  • Goldstein, M.(1939). The acoustic method. St. Louis: Laryngoscope Press.
  • Johnson, D. (1976). Communication characteristics of a young deaf adult population: Techniques for evaluating their communication skills. American Annals of the Deaf. 121(4), 409-424
  • Johnson, D. (1975). Communication characteristics of NTID students. Journal of the Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology, 8, 17-32.
  • Johnson, J. & Newport, E. (1989). Critical period effects in second-language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21, 60-90.
  • Kretschmer, R. R., & Kretschmer, L. (1978). Language development and intervention with the hearing impaired. Baltimore: University Park Press.
  • Lennenberg, E. (1976). Biologic foundations of language. New York: Wiley.
  • Leonard, L.B. (1991). New trends in the study of early language acquisition. ASHA, 33, 43-44.
  • Ling, D. (1989). Foundations of spoken language for hearing-impaired children. Washington DC: The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, Inc.
  • Ling, D., & Ling, A. (1978). Aural habilitation: The foundations of verbal learning in hearing-impaired children. Washington, DC: Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, Inc.
  • Luetke-Stahlman, B., & Moeller, M.P. (1987, June). Are parents trained to sign proficiently to their deaf children? Presentation at the Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology Summer Institute, Mount Summit, PA.
  • MacDonald, J., & Gillette, Y. (1989). Beginning partners with children: From play to conversation. Chicago: Riverside Publishing.
  • Marler, P.R. (1970). A comparative approach to vocal learning: Song development in white-crowned sparrows. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology Monographs, 71 (No 2, Part 2), 1-25.
  • Menyuk, P. (1977). Effects of hearing loss on language acquisition in the babbling stage. In B.F. Jaffe (Ed.). Hearing loss in children. Baltimore: University Park Press.
  • Merzenich, M. N., & Kaas, J.H. (1982). Organization of mammalian somatosensory cortex following peripheral nerve injury. Trends in Neuroscience. 5, 434-436.
  • Moores, D. (1987). Educating the deaf: Psychology, principles, and practices (3rd. ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
  • Myklebust, H., & Brutton, M. (1953). A study of visual perception in deaf children. Acta Oto-Laryngologica, Supplementum, 105.
  • Newport, R. (1990). Maturational constraints on language learning. Cognitive Science, 14, 11-28.
  • Patchett, T. A. (1977). Auditory discrimination albino rats as a function of auditory restriction at different ages. Developmental Psychology, 13, 168-169.
  • Pollack, D. (1970). Educational audiology for the limited-hearing infant and preschooler (2nd ed.). Springfield IL: Charles C. Thomas.
  • Robertson, L., & Flexer, C. (1990, July). The reading development of Auditory-Verbal hearing-impaired children. Poster session presented at the Biennial Convention of the A. G. Bell Association for the Deaf, Washington DC.
  • Robertson, D., & Irvine, D. R. F. (1989). Plasticity of frequency organization in auditory cortex of Guinea pigs with partial unilateral deafness. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 282, 456-471.
  • Ross, M. (Ed. 1990). Hearing-impaired children in the mainstream. Parkton, MD: York Press.
  • Ross, M., & Calvert, D. (1984). Semantics of deafness revisited: Total communication and the use and misuse of residual hearing. Audiology, 9, 127-145.
  • Urbantschitsch, V. (1982). Auditory training for deaf mutism and acquired deafness (New translation by S.R. Silverman, Ph. D.). Washington DC: A.G. Bell Association for the Deaf.
  • Webster, D. (1983). A critical period during postnatal auditory development of mice. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. 6, 107-118.
  • Yoshinaga-Itano, C., & Pollack, D. (1988). A description of children in the acoupedic method and a retrospective study of the acoupedic method. Denver CO: The Listen Foundation..

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