The Deaf Child Speaks (1972)

Film discusses the challenges and successes of teaching severely deaf children at the Oral Education Center of Southern California. Many of these children cannot hear everyday sounds, making education difficult. The center employs innovative visual and tactile methods to help these children develop language, speech, and academic skills. Activities like dancing, drawing, and hands-on learning are used to enhance their understanding of time, space, and language structure. The center has shown significant improvements in the children's academic performance, with many advancing from the lower 30% to the upper 25% in standardized tests. The overall goal is to equip these children with the language skills necessary to thrive in a hearing world. Keywords: deaf children, education, Oral Education Center, language development, speech skills, visual methods, tactile methods, academic improvement, standardized tests, communication, learning challenges, innovative teaching.