History

The primary emphasis for the children is on learning to listen and talk.

Once listening skills are developed a child can begin to develop speech and language skills that will allow them to communicate in the mainstream. Some people believe that deaf children can do everything BUT hear, but with proper amplification (hearing aids or cochlear implants) the Memphis Oral School and those committed to the auditory/oral approach believe that deaf children can do everything AND hear! This is particularly true today with the advent of cochlear implants.

The Memphis Oral School for the Deaf was founded in 1959 by the late Mr. and Mrs. John Tayloe, with the help of the Exchange Club of East Memphis. It was originally the Exchange Club Oral School for the Deaf and Aphasic. Though the Exchange Club of East Memphis provided some support to the school after the parents took over the operational aspects, it became increasingly difficult to meet the financial needs of the school.

In 1968, to assure that oral education would continue to be available to deaf children in the Memphis and Mid-South area, Subsidium Inc., the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf's women's support group was founded. "Subsidium" is a Latin word which means "third line of defense". After teachers and parents, no one does more for these children than Subsidium members.

In the fall of 1974, the Memphis Parent's School for the Deaf and Aphasic underwent a name change, becoming Memphis Oral School for the Deaf. This change helped to further emphasize a program teaching oral communication skills. As time went on, there was a greater emphasis placed on early intervention, parent training, and early childhood education. This prompted the move in 1986 to the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities. The move enabled MOSD to be located within the UT Medical Center where many of these infants and children were being identified. It also enabled the school to have the benefit of other services (i.e. physical therapy, medicine, genetic counseling, etc.) offered at the UT Medical Center.

In March 2007 MOSD found a permanent home in its specifically designed facility on the campus of Kingsway Christian Church in Germantown, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis. MOSD remains a non-profit, autonomous program, which operates with its board of directors and offers a myriad of services to the hearing-impaired.