This article was featured in BATOD (British Association of Teachers of the Deaf) Magazine in October 2017

How do hearing children learn to talk?

By listening, they listen to their native tongue spoken by adults skilled in their language. They learn from their parents, their family, their friends and their wider community, in real-life situations. This works for hearing-impaired children too and is the Natural Aural Approach (NAA). This is promoted, researched and developed by the charity, Deaf Education through Listening and Talking (DELTA) and is an option provided by many Teachers of the Deaf. It builds on the natural need for parents to communicate with their baby, and advocates believe it is the best way for deaf children to learn language, by using their natural listening skills, augmented by hearing technology.

Cate Statham 

Professional

I am not going to lie. The months and years of watching and waiting, building evidence that hearing aids weren’t enough for Freddie and that he needed a cochlear implant were hard. But we had 2 other young children and by living together as a family, and using our family’s natural language to help develop each child, we came through it. The information given by our Teacher of the Deaf meant we chose the Natural Aural Approach and felt it was right for us. The support, advice and monitoring by the Teacher of the Deaf throughout Freddie’s life enabled us to understand that what we did with our daughters was what Freddie needed too.

Our girls were already using so much language, and we were immersed in the everyday minutiae of talking, playing and reading with them so we included Freddie by talking to him about our lives. It is natural language, but we work at it. We started with normal everyday family activities like playing, emptying the dishwasher, going shopping, feeding the ducks. We are zealous in ensuring he is wearing his cochlear implants and they are working. We recognise some situations are difficult for him but as challenges arise we work within and without our family to ensure he is included. Freddie’s deafness was caused by cCMV, so as well as having 2 other young children, we also had a deaf little boy, who needed to be monitored developmentally for any further issues. The Monitoring protocol enabled us to trust that Freddie was developing as he should in other areas and to pick up any concerns. We then shared this knowledge with the other professionals involved with Freddie’s care.

The Teacher of the Deaf, and other professionals are key to empowering families and to giving them the confidence to bring up their deaf child using the Natural Aural approach. Professionals promoting the Natural Aural Approach work with families to celebrate their diversity and recognise that every family wants to bring up their child their way with their own traditions and values. The approach is underpinned with a rigorous understanding of typical language development and tracked using the Monitoring Protocol. This is not a checklist but enables families to understand how their child’s language is developing and to track their progress. A partnership needs to develop between families and professionals and there are essential elements that need to be present for the Natural Aural Approach to succeed.

• The child is an individual, with likes and dislikes, who happens to have a hearing loss. The hearing loss must not define the child or prevent or restrict access, or potential.
• Recognition that families instinctively know how to support listening and learning in everyday situations for hearing children. Consequently, professionals need to help the family to recognise these skills and realise they work with their deaf child.
• Professionals must help and encourage families and other carers to understand their child’s hearing loss and the importance and limitations of the technology so that they can manage it and ensure their child has consistently good access to sound:
  • Understand their audiogram
  • The hearing aids or cochlear implants should be worn when the child is awake
  • The hearing aids or cochlear implants should be checked and working optimally
  • The Radio Aid should be appropriately set up, checked and working
  • The earmoulds must be a good fit
  • Know what to do if the equipment isn’t working properly
  • The effect of distance and background noise on the child’s ability to listen
  • Identifying difficult listening environments.

• Professionals must enable the family to understand the different stages of language development and how to monitor and promote them by tracking and supporting progress using the Monitoring Protocol for Deaf Babies with their families: