Goldstein built on techniques he had learned at the Vienna Polyclinic in Austria from Victor Urbantschisch related to methods of teaching the deaf how to speak using "remnants" of hearing.

Under the direction of Hallowell Davis, who came to CID from Harvard University, the research department would go on to become world-renowned for its work related to hearing and deafness, attracting some of the world's top faculty over the next seven decades.

In September 2003 in the wake of CID's financial difficulties, Washington University in St. Louis acquired the graduate education, clinical, and research divisions, formalizing a longtime connection between the two institutions.

The CID campus is located between Clayton Avenue and Interstate 64 in St. Louis's Central West End, south of the Washington University Medical School.

The 1928 building, designed by local architect William B. Ittner, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015 as a reminder of the institute's early history.