teli is excited and proud to announce a partnership with DePaul School for Hearing and Speech of Pittsburgh beginning July 1, 2020. The developmental needs of a child with hearing difficulties are unique and require specialized expertise. This partnership will be a great addition to the Early Intervention hearing services already provided by teli. Founded in 1908 by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, DePaul School for Hearing and Speech has been providing quality Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) education for children with hearing loss for over 100 years.
What does DePaul School offer hearing impaired children and their families?
Just as teli saw a need more than 60 years ago to address child development concerns, the Sisters of Charity realized there was an unmet need to help blind children as well as children with hearing difficulties. DePaul School was initially established as a residential program within their convent in the Brookline area of Pittsburgh.
Today DePaul School works with children from birth through 8th grade to prepare them for a world of sound. This includes early childhood educational programs plus elementary and middle school curriculum that are closely aligned with state and national standards in all academic areas, with an emphasis on language and vocabulary development. DePaul School takes a comprehensive approach for young children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families through cutting-edge methodologies in technology and education, constantly realigning their programs to ensure each child’s success.
What services will DePaul School provide for teli clients?
Through teli’s partnership with DePaul School, teli families with hearing impaired children from age 0 to 3 years of age will receive in home early intervention hearing services to address their developmental challenges. Early Intervention is critical to avoiding delays in listening, spoken language and reading. LSL techniques may be used as the foundation of the services provided and may be considered vital to a child’s long-term success. Each child’s plan of therapy is specific to their needs and may include some of the following techniques:
- Auditory First: Wearing assistive devices during all waking hours
- Repetition: Repeating song lyrics and rhythm to learn vocabulary
- Acoustic Highlighting: Making words and phrases we say more noticeable and repeatable
- Engagement: Use of props, instruments, and movements to keep children involved in activity
- “Parentese”: Use of Exaggerated intonation patterns in speech to help children recognize phonetic elements of language.
As is the case through all Early Intervention services, our goal is to give children and their parents all the support they need so that they can manage on their own. teli looks forward to this partnership to help to serve these families and their children.
If you have any questions regarding DePaul School for Hearing and Speech of Pittsburgh please check out their website. If you would like to learn more about Early Intervention hearing services, please give teli a call at 412-922-8322
