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Otherwise known as the Oral Reflective method, the Maternal Reflective Method is a method teaching. It taught deaf children, or partially deaf children to write down what is said during a discussion or classroom exercise.

Sometimes even things that are spoken in dialogue can be written. The point of this exercise is to have the deaf student look at the rules of what they are studying or learning in a deaf school and apply it to memory. The word 'maternal' used in the title refers to the way mothers and fathers and other family members talk to a toddler and communicate with it to teach he or she how to speak.

The whole approach was made to encourage a deaf childs ability to talk instead of just signing. There are three things that the maternal reflective method concentrates on to be successful. They are reading, writing, and verbalizing or speech. The ultimate goal to be utilized by the child and taught by the teacher is memory. Memory in itself creates patterns. This method is strongly recommended to teachers of the deaf and some deaf schools as a technique used in their classrooms.

The method was first brought to light by Father Van Uden. He was a teacher at the St. Michielsgestel School for the Deaf in the Netherlands. It was more to bring forth patterns in speech than anything else. The Maternal Reflective Method is a very important part of deaf education. And even though it is extremely important, there is still not as much information available to the public as there should be. Even as mothers and family members of a deaf child, this information would be beneficial to at-home teaching. But it is even more essential to be taught in the deaf school classroom.

It is essentially a tool to be taught by the professional. This method is very successful in older children. It is harder for younger ages of children to grasp this method. They seem more eager to learn and have a higher maturity to accept the method. The younger child may be able to learn from it, but it would take a substantially longer time. The best estimated age to teach this method would be 6 years old.

In the deaf world, it is important to instill values that show your child can sing and talk and do most of what other children can do. Just because they can't hear, doesn't mean they can't sound clear and concise. Through this method, the possibility becomes reality.

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Send your hearing impaired child to a deaf school.

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