The mission of DePaul School for Hearing and Speech is to teach each child who is deaf or hard of hearing to listen, speak and learn. Our children enter the educational mainstream with the foundation to succeed. For over a century, DePaul School for Hearing and Speech has been teaching children who are deaf or hard of hearing to listen and speak without using sign language. DePaul is one of only 45 schools in the country providing Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) education to children with hearing loss. Most of our students begin their education in DePaul School's Toddler-Parent Program at age 18 months. With access to sound provided by digital hearing aids or cochlear implants and intensive Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) education, over 80% of the children who attend both the Toddler-Parent and Preschool Programs successfully learn fundamental listening, speaking and pre-literacy skills and, as a result, attend first grade in a regular education classroom in their own neighborhood.