St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf

We opened the first school for the deaf west of the Mississippi, and we have served children with hearing loss since 1837, carrying forward the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Today we operate as St. Joseph Hearing + Speech, a Catholic nonprofit with campuses in Brentwood and Indianapolis, and our work centers on Listening and Spoken Language: teaching children who use hearing aids and cochlear implants to listen and talk.

Our Missouri campus on Strassner Drive is home to the Molloy Family Center. Children enrolled in early intervention can attend our half-day toddler class for daily listening and spoken language instruction, and families in Missouri First Steps are invited to a monthly Friday playgroup. Through First Steps, our early intervention specialists also coach parents of babies from birth to age 3 at home, in person or through our iHear teletherapy service.

Support continues after children move on to their local schools. Our Outreach Specialists work with each student's school team on auditory skills, academics, self-advocacy and accommodations, and they keep working with students through summer and school breaks.