The Association Method is an instructional strategy currently being used with children with hearing loss, children with speech and language disorders, and children with reading disabilities. It is a systematic, incremental, phonetically based, multi-sensory approach designed to increase the understanding and use of spoken language; improve articulation, co-articulation, and speech fluency; and teach reading and written composition skills. Instruction is based on the theory that language is learned through attention, retention, and recall. Each of these processes must not only function well, but also must integrate of "associate" with each other in order for language to be learned and used appropriately. This unique system of structured and repetitive instruction has been developed to help the child's neurological system develop automaticity in language processing and use. The teacher/therapist who uses the Association Method effectively must understand its underlying principles, distinctive features, steps of instruction, instructional levels, and correlative programs.