Chattering Children

Our Mission

To equip children with hearing loss and their families with a foundation for lifelong learning through listening and spoken language and to build productive partnerships in research, professional training, and collaborative outreach programs to promote best practices in language learning for children with hearing loss.

Chattering Children is a non-profit agency providing an array of services for children with hearing loss and their families. Programs are anchored by Auditory-Verbal Therapy both at our MacArthur Boulevard Center and throughout the Washington Metropolitan Region. The transdisciplinary staff includes professionals in audiology, deaf education, and speech language pathology with specific expertise in the oral language development of children with hearing loss. Team members are skilled in the use of state-of-the-art hearing technology and act as coaches and guides for families to support development of auditory skills, to facilitate spoken language, to create supportive listening environments, and to integrate listening and language into the routines of family life. An Auditory-Verbal Approach relies on the natural developmental patterns of audition, speech, language, cognition, and communication, and promotes education in regular schools with peers who have typical hearing and with appropriate services from early childhood onwards. Ongoing formal and informal diagnostic assessments are used to develop individualized treatment plans, to monitor progress and to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention for the child and family.

In addition to center-based therapy, Chattering Children partners with public and private agencies to provide innovative programs for children and families and to support professionals in the field of hearing loss. Educational services and early intervention are provided through contracts with school districts and local agencies. Expertise of the organization is shared through professional development programs, and parent workshops. Innovative programs to target listening and language for children with hearing loss include theater workshops for elementary students, music-based classes for preschoolers and parents, and targeted academic support for children with hearing loss. Chattering Children also works with leaders on the state and national level to advocate for issues related to early identification and intervention.