Education
Before being able to start any rehabilitation, it is important that the child has all the relevant audiological tests (evoked potentials, audiometry, etc.) that diagnose the type and degree of the hearing loss. The rehabilitation depends on the specificity of each child, taking into account their age, degree of hearing loss and their individual characteristics.
Hearing and Language Therapies
Since the beginning of the 90s we have carried out hearing and language therapies with several solutions for the empowerment and rehabilitation of children with hearing disabilities of different ages. Therapies are given through two main communication methodologies:
- Auditory-verbal therapy: helps the child use his residual hearing to acquire oral language.
- Total communication: combination of oral language and Mexican sign language (MSL), where children learn to listen to linguistic sounds and to use both oral and sign language to communicate.
- MexicanSign Language (MSL) to children and parents: this class became for some families the fastest way to begin communication among parents and children, especially in cases where hearing loss has been diagnosed at a later age.
Alternative preschool for children with hearing loss
With the intention of contributing to the school inclusion of children under 6 years, CORAL offers the possibility of helping school-age children with auditory, language, cognitive and psychomotor stimulation. It is a combined program, in which they attend their regular school some days and, on the others, the CORAL center.
Training of educational personnel from different places of the State of Oaxaca
This program aims to promote action to improve education, health services, increase knowledge about hearing impairment and thus reduce discrimination to which health services are subject.
Importance of the participation of parents and guardians in our programs
CORAL works closely with the mothers, fathers, relatives and guardians of children with hearing loss, providing emotional support and sharing communication tools. Our goal is to make them feel valued and make the most out of therapies to develop language and socialization with greater openness.
In order to help parents to communicate with their children, they are taught to establish an environment where kids can actively participate and develop communication and cognition through daily programs and activities carried out by children. During the therapies, parents participate actively, thus acquiring skills and various strategies that allow them to promote better communication.
When family members understand that they can expect much more from their children, communication develops more fluidly, allowing barriers to be removed and promoting an environment of greater understanding to be established.