Who we are
CORAL is a civil society organization that since 1989 is dedicated to the clinical and therapeutic treatment of people of all ages with hearing loss in the urban and rural areas of the State of Oaxaca in Mexico
Our objectives
- Find and diagnose hearing loss as early as possible to achieve the best auditory habilitation and cognitive learning outcomes.
- Provide a complete care around hearing loss: detection, clinical treatment, (re) habilitation of hearing and language, fitting of hearing aids.
- Follow-up and promote self-support among the people with disabilities and their families.
- Provide audiological care to people from marginalized rural areas where deafness is common, increasing the capacities of professionals and technicians in these communities.
- Disseminate information on hearing loss, its causes, prevention, detection and treatment in partnership with other organizations and institutions.
- Increase the number of people in the state of Oaxaca that have knowledge and tools to treat hearing loss.
- Promote better public policies that favor prevention and early detection, as well as social inclusion in educational institutions.
Our history
CORAL was created by Rick Carroll and Nancy Press together with the social worker, Silvia Torres Zurita. In 1987 they witnessed the shortage of services for children with hearing loss in Oaxaca. They began sending hearing aids to the newly created team of Silvia Torres and an audiologist, which later became a full-service audiological health care program. CORAL currently serves more than 3,000 people with hearing loss and their families annually.
How we work
Our team is specialized in the areas of audiology, social work, hearing and language therapy, psychology, pedagogy, Mexican Sign Language, social psychology and administration. We are guided by the PLASO work plan (Comprehensive Care Plan for Deafness in the state of Oaxaca), which is developed in five different programs:
- Prevention and early detection
- CORAL clinic in Oaxaca city
- Education for inclusion
- Community organization
- Mexican Sign Language
To learn more about our programs and services, click here
About CORAL
Otoacoustic emission (OAE) screenings for children
Since 2004 we perform otoacoustic emission (OAE) screenings on children from rural communities free of charge. These screenings also promote awareness of the timely detection of hearing loss in children under 6 years.
Audiometry for young people and adults
4 out of 10 adults have hearing loss. -Hearing loss is also becoming more frequent among the young ones. Given this, in coordination with community authorities and health centers, we carry out audiometry campaigns in the communities for all age groups.
Informational prevention campaigns
It is extremely important that families are informed about their rights to demand education for their children. Therefore, the CORAL field team also offers informative talks on hearing loss.