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Oaxaca, MexicoCORAL: Providing Sound SolutionsIn Oaxaca – the second poorest state in the Mexican union – there are thousands of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in need of low-cost rehabilitative services. Pre-screening and diagnostic services to identify hearing loss are almost non-existent outside the capital city. Hearing tests, hearing aids and related services are available within private clinics in Oaxaca City but are extremely costly. With the average Oaxacan family earning less than US$20 per day, many people with hearing loss have no other choice than to go without sorely needed treatment. The Oaxacan Center for the Rehabilitation of Hearing and Speech/Centro Oaxaqueño de Rehabilitación de Audición y Lenguaje, A.C. (CORAL) offers hearing-impaired children and adults living in extreme poverty the gift of a brighter future by providing the full range of low-cost hearing rehabilitative services and programs in Oaxaca. The only organization of its kind in Southern Mexico, all CORAL´s programs and services are designed to fully integrate deaf people into their families and communities so that they may lead richer lives. These include: Ralph S. Millhone Memorial School for the Deaf: Operating under the philosophy that most deaf and hard-of-hearing children can learn to listen and speak with early intervention and ongoing training, the CORAL school provides intensive language therapy to children ages 2 to 14 years. These children are taught using the oral-auditory method, an approach focused on developing listening and speaking skills, which enables them to communicate and thus participate with the world at large. Harry Press Clinic: The CORAL clinic provides affordable hearing tests, hearing aids, aid repair, batteries and related health services to hearing-disabled children and adults who would otherwise go without rehabilitation. A full-service clinic and laboratory, CORAL offers diagnosis, treatment and ongoing support to the patient, using advanced equipment and technologies from the United States and Mexico. Early Hearing Loss Detection Program: Launched in January 2004, this program is designed to identify and treat children with hearing loss beginning in infancy, rather than at 4 years as is national average. The program works both with doctors, training them to recognize and screen for behaviors that would indicate a hearing disability in an infant and with parents, providing them with information on normal infant development and where to go if they suspect their baby has a hearing problem. Social Work and Outreach Program: CORAL staff travel throughout Oaxaca City and its rural environs to identify and serve deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Once in the home, staff members educate the patient on using their aids, troubleshoot problems, provide resources and monitor progress. Advocacy and Family Support Services: Having a deaf child can be devastating to a family. For this reason, CORAL offers monthly support discussions to parents of deaf children, featuring various professionals speaking on a range of topics related to managing their child’s disability. In an effort to break down barriers surrounding a child with a hearing disability, CORAL staff also advocates teachers and school administrators to allow deaf and hard-of-hearing children into mainstream schools.
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