The name of our Approach isn’t the catchiest or even the clearest phrase in the world. But 20 years ago when we adopted it, it said what we meant and it still does!

We chose Natural...

because it is. It’s about learning to talk in the natural way — the way all children do. They learn to talk by picking it up from what they hear around them — when Mum and Dad, Grandad and Sister, ‘coo’ to them, ‘play peek-a-boo’, sing to them, listen to them and chat with them.

We chose Aural...

which means to do with the ear and hearing (rather than oral which means speaking) because of our emphasis on deaf children using their hearing —however little they may have. With good equipment, worn all the time, carefully looked after, their little hearing is amplified and can become the basis of a listening and talking life.

We added Approach...

to remind people that it is not just a case of “giving them hearing aids and letting them get on with it”. Parents, families, schools, teachers all need to realise that it isn’t haphazard, or leaving things to chance. It involves keeping an eye on progress, being disciplined about hearing aid maintenance and understanding a little about how all children learn to listen, to talk, to read, to write.

Principles of the Natural Aural Approach

Putting the child before the deafness:

Deaf children are first and foremost children, and their lives will be dominated by their needs as children. The Natural Aural Approach seeks to manage deafness in children whilst allowing them to enjoy, and benefit from, normal childhood learning experiences within the family and the family’s environment.

Hearing Aids:

Hearing aids or, sometimes, cochlear implants, are the key. Two carefully prescribed, fitted and managed hearing aids worn while awake can provide deaf children, including the profoundly deaf, with a real chance to hear, providing the opportunity to learn through listening in the same way as other children.

Hearing:

Using the Natural Aural Approach, children are thought of and treated as children who can hear. Their hearing will be different from normal hearing, but experience shows that children can learn to use small amounts of hearing very well.

An Auditory environment:

For deaf children to develop their hearing, they need to be surrounded by listening and talking. They can learn to listen and talk anywhere spoken language is the way people communicate. The use of sign in any form is not recommended whilst children are in the process of learning to talk, either at home or at school.

Normal Speech:

Speaking with deaf children should be like speaking with other children of the same age. It should be quick and expressive with good intonation. Normal speech is the easiest to hear, for deaf children too! Our natural gestures and facial expressions are also an important part of our speaking. They help to give meaning to what is being said.

Listening not looking:

Children learning to listen don’t need to watch - to lipread - because they are learning to hear, using their ears. Expecting children to look all the time puts their attention on looking not listening.

Enjoying talk:

Talk between an adult and a child is the way children learn to talk. It is as important for deaf children as it is for all children. Talking together, with an adult, about ordinary things - what’s for dinner?, can I help? - is probably the most important special need of a deaf child - after the fitting of the right hearing aids.

 Recognising the deaf child’s special needs:

It is harder to learn if you are dependent on hearing aids. Deaf children can have difficulty overhearing conversations and do not always catch what was said. They need to be drawn into conversations, have care with their listening conditions and given more chances to listen and talk. They may initially take longer, but with extra help, sometimes lots of it, they can do all the things other children can do.

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