Debbie Institute Educational Programs
1601 Northwest 12th Avenue, Miami, FL 33136
About
Debbie Institute Educational Programs offers early educational intervention services for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, including learning to communicate by listening and talking and the use of assistive hearing devices such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and BAHA hearing devices. The program also provides early education services, speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, comprehensive evaluations, audiology, therapy, and family education. Both center-based and virtual services are available, and outreach services include consultation and technical assistance in hearing technology and listening and spoken language therapy, along with standards-based instructional support for school districts, professionals, and students in general education and other settings.
• Ages: 0–7 years old
• Price: Families are not required to pay tuition for services for children with disabilities referred through the Early Steps Programs and other community agencies. The Early Childhood Education Program is funded through tuition fees.
The Debbie Institute Educational Programs include the Auditory Oral Education Program, which serves children who are deaf or hard of hearing from birth to seven years of age in classrooms with children without hearing loss, where teaching methods rely primarily on listening skills to develop spoken language. The Early Education Program serves children with developmental disabilities from birth through three years of age and provides center-based early education plus speech, physical, and occupational therapy. The Early Childhood Education Program serves children without disabilities from birth through four years of age in classrooms in either the Auditory Oral Education Program or the Early Education Program, and inclusion classrooms provide a natural learning environment for children with and without disabilities with a curriculum designed to prepare children with disabilities to participate in general education classrooms. Thoughtful educational opportunities are planned to meet the individual needs of every child throughout the daily routine, and children with disabilities who might benefit from services are referred through Early Steps Programs (North and South) and other community agencies.
The Weeks Educational Center at the Debbie Institute supports young children with hearing loss and disabilities through highly trained teachers and therapists working in partnership with families. Faculty members in the Auditory Oral Education Program and The Bridge to Speech Project are credentialed as certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialists, and the daily educational program is implemented by a culturally diverse staff of teachers, therapists, and classroom assistants who are experienced and qualified to work with children with disabilities and their families. The Bridge to Speech Project serves students who are deaf or hard of hearing from three through six years of age throughout Florida so they can attend a private auditory oral program with certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialists. The Little Explorers Summer Program is funded annually by The Children’s Trust and provides services for children with disabilities from birth to five years of age and their families in an inclusive environment with children of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in Miami-Dade County, and inclusion classrooms provide a natural learning environment for all participating children.
The Debbie Institute (Debbie School) was established fifty years ago as a center for research, training, and service and was established as a demonstration school to develop innovative educational strategies, provide training and practicum opportunities for university students, conduct scientific research, provide community support, and become a proving ground for public policy. For over forty years, donations from the Weeks family have supported young children with hearing loss and disabilities, the seeds for the Weeks Educational Center were planted early in the 1980s with a donation from Austin Weeks, and in 2015 Marta Weeks Wulf established the Weeks Educational Center at the Debbie Institute. The Debbie School’s mission is to produce new knowledge and train future professionals while enriching the lives of young children during the critical years of early learning in an educational environment that creates the foundation for lifelong success.
The Debbie Institute (Debbie School) is a division of the Mailman Center for Child Development within the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Grant funding from the Florida Department of Education Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services supports opportunities for families of students who are deaf or hard of hearing through the Auditory Oral Education Program and The Bridge to Speech Project, and services for children with disabilities are funded through grants with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and The Children’s Trust. The Debbie School Little Explorers Summer Program is funded annually by The Children’s Trust and serves children with disabilities and their families in Miami-Dade County. Community and state partners include Easterseals South Florida; Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe; Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech; Florida Early Steps; Miami-Dade Early Steps Southernmost Coast; Florida Department of Education Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services; Florida Department of Health Early Steps Programs; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired; Parent to Parent of Miami; Resource Materials and Technology Center: Deaf/Hard of Hearing; Sertoma Speech and Hearing Foundation of Florida, Inc.; The Arc of South Florida; The Children’s Trust; United Community Options of South Florida; University of Miami Linda Ray Center; UHealth Bascom Palmer Eye Institute; and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Last updated July 17, 2026.
• Ages: 0–7 years old
• Price: Families are not required to pay tuition for services for children with disabilities referred through the Early Steps Programs and other community agencies. The Early Childhood Education Program is funded through tuition fees.
The Debbie Institute Educational Programs include the Auditory Oral Education Program, which serves children who are deaf or hard of hearing from birth to seven years of age in classrooms with children without hearing loss, where teaching methods rely primarily on listening skills to develop spoken language. The Early Education Program serves children with developmental disabilities from birth through three years of age and provides center-based early education plus speech, physical, and occupational therapy. The Early Childhood Education Program serves children without disabilities from birth through four years of age in classrooms in either the Auditory Oral Education Program or the Early Education Program, and inclusion classrooms provide a natural learning environment for children with and without disabilities with a curriculum designed to prepare children with disabilities to participate in general education classrooms. Thoughtful educational opportunities are planned to meet the individual needs of every child throughout the daily routine, and children with disabilities who might benefit from services are referred through Early Steps Programs (North and South) and other community agencies.
The Weeks Educational Center at the Debbie Institute supports young children with hearing loss and disabilities through highly trained teachers and therapists working in partnership with families. Faculty members in the Auditory Oral Education Program and The Bridge to Speech Project are credentialed as certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialists, and the daily educational program is implemented by a culturally diverse staff of teachers, therapists, and classroom assistants who are experienced and qualified to work with children with disabilities and their families. The Bridge to Speech Project serves students who are deaf or hard of hearing from three through six years of age throughout Florida so they can attend a private auditory oral program with certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialists. The Little Explorers Summer Program is funded annually by The Children’s Trust and provides services for children with disabilities from birth to five years of age and their families in an inclusive environment with children of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in Miami-Dade County, and inclusion classrooms provide a natural learning environment for all participating children.
The Debbie Institute (Debbie School) was established fifty years ago as a center for research, training, and service and was established as a demonstration school to develop innovative educational strategies, provide training and practicum opportunities for university students, conduct scientific research, provide community support, and become a proving ground for public policy. For over forty years, donations from the Weeks family have supported young children with hearing loss and disabilities, the seeds for the Weeks Educational Center were planted early in the 1980s with a donation from Austin Weeks, and in 2015 Marta Weeks Wulf established the Weeks Educational Center at the Debbie Institute. The Debbie School’s mission is to produce new knowledge and train future professionals while enriching the lives of young children during the critical years of early learning in an educational environment that creates the foundation for lifelong success.
The Debbie Institute (Debbie School) is a division of the Mailman Center for Child Development within the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Grant funding from the Florida Department of Education Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services supports opportunities for families of students who are deaf or hard of hearing through the Auditory Oral Education Program and The Bridge to Speech Project, and services for children with disabilities are funded through grants with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and The Children’s Trust. The Debbie School Little Explorers Summer Program is funded annually by The Children’s Trust and serves children with disabilities and their families in Miami-Dade County. Community and state partners include Easterseals South Florida; Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe; Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech; Florida Early Steps; Miami-Dade Early Steps Southernmost Coast; Florida Department of Education Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services; Florida Department of Health Early Steps Programs; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired; Parent to Parent of Miami; Resource Materials and Technology Center: Deaf/Hard of Hearing; Sertoma Speech and Hearing Foundation of Florida, Inc.; The Arc of South Florida; The Children’s Trust; United Community Options of South Florida; University of Miami Linda Ray Center; UHealth Bascom Palmer Eye Institute; and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Last updated July 17, 2026.
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