The Montreal Oral School for the Deaf emphasizes the importance of intensive early stimulation of hearing and speech for our young children. This is the optimal time for acquiring effective speech communication. Our focus on audition through the use of hearing aids and cochlear implants ensures that children begin early on the pathways to language and literacy. Parent participation is essential in the education and guidance of children from infancy to adulthood.  Parents are also involved in the support of other families in the school. The ultimate goal for our students is integration into the regular school system as early as possible and with appropriate support. Our mainstreaming process begins in the nursery with the participation of both hearing and hearing-impaired children and continues with complete or partial integration during the elementary school years, with support that can be maintained, as needed, until the end of high school.