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Frequently Asked Questions


As a parent of a profoundly deaf or hard-of-hearing child, all of the questions can be overwhelming. MOSD is here for you. If you have more questions, please contact us at (901) 758-2228.

  • MOSD provides multiple services and programs depending on each student’s age and needs. Outside of our main four programs, we also offer speech therapy, aural habilitation, and audiology services to outside clients as well as our dayschool students. All students at MOSD are equipped with hearing devices that allow them to process sound.

  • Oral deaf education is an education approach that develops a child’s speech and listening abilities along with learning and life skills to prepare them for kindergarten and beyond. It integrates intervention, education, and hearing technologies to enable children with a hearing loss to listen, learn, and talk.

  • MOSD services are available for children from birth until 5 years of age. Children typically begin attending preschool classes at 2 years of age. Our goal is for all children to mainstream into their neighborhood schools by kindergarten.

  • MOSD offers an intensive approach to building a strong spoken language foundation in a unique school setting that provides age-appropriate curriculum, on-site audiological services, and speech-language therapy. We work closely with families to determine the best possible strategies for each child, and have NEVER turned a child away due to inability to pay.

    MOSD is accredited by the Tennessee Department of Human Services, and our highly qualified audiologists, speech pathologists, and educators are licensed in the state of Tennessee and meet the state requirement for continuing education each year. We also partner with several state early intervention programs in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama.

  • There are essentially three types of hearing loss.
    • Sensorineural hearing loss is permanent, and results from damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve
    • Conductive hearing loss results from something affecting the outer or middle ear, such as ear infections associated with fluid in the middle ear space.
    • Mixed hearing loss is a combination of sensorineural and conductive hearing losses.

  • Behind-the-ear hearing aids, or BTEs, use digital processing to collect sound and project it into the ear canal.

    Bone-anchored hearing aids, or BAHAs, utilize the resonant capabilities of the skull to transmit sound.

    A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted device that provides electronic stimulation to the auditory (hearing) nerve in the inner ear.

  • Absolutely! Children with any level of hearing loss are welcome at MOSD. It is just as important for children with mild or unilateral hearing loss to receive a strong foundation of listening and spoken language. Children with this degree/type of hearing loss can miss speech information (especially in noisy daycare/preschool/classroom environments) and often slip through the cracks. At MOSD, our children get a solid foundation of language and listening skills as we teach their families how to advocate for their child once they are mainstreamed.

  • School days begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. Before care is available from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and after care is available from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. School offices are open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday – Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Fridays.

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