General Strategies
To Help Your Child Learn More Effectively
Tips to Keep Those Hearing Aids (or Implants) In
1. For young children, use huggies to prevent the hearing aid from falling out of the ear. An audiologist should be able to provide these.
2. In case of young children, tie a piece of fishing line at the base of the earhook of each hearing aid. Connect the other end to safety pins and attach to the back of the child's clothing. This prevents hearing aids from getting lost should they fall out by accident or the child pulls them out.
3. When continuous feedback is a problem, a quick remedy is to put a layer of petroleum jelly on the earmold. This will provide a better seal in the ear, and can stop the feedback for a short period of time (until new earmolds can be made).
4. Always check the opening of the earmold for wax. Often, wax can move around in the child's ear canal and intermittently block the earmold. Small pieces of pipe cleaners can be used to remove this wax from the earmold.
5. Cracks in the earmold tubing are a very common problem, especially when a child pulls on the tubing to remove the earmold. A small bottle of liquid plastic (obtainable through an audiologist) is very useful to repair such cracks until the tubing can be replaced.
6. The volume control wheel of many hearing aids tends to become loose and can rotate accidentally due to the child's movements. Most hearing aid companies can provide volume control covers that willlock the volume control in the set position.
7. Use rubber bands to gather extra lengths of cords on FM systems. If the cords are too long, crisscrossing the cords behind the chiild's back before plugging them into the receiver will prevent tangling.
8. When you use the FM transmitter, avoid wearing long necklaces which can rub against the microphone. A larger microphone clip can help keep the microphone from rubbing against clothes or jewelry since this can mask the speech completely.How to Ensure Your Child Can Hear You
When talking to your child in natural conversation around your home or outside, make sure you are closer than the distance at which he can detect all the six sounds. This will ensure that he is able to hear ( not necessarily understand) what you are saying.
For example, if a child is able to detect all the Ling six sounds at 3 feet, then you need to always be within 3 feet from him when talking to him. Remember that this is in a quiet room. Noise will make it more difficult for your child to hear - so try to turn off appliances and other equipment such as the TV or radio in your home when you are in the same room and talking to your child. How to Ensure Your Child is Using His Listening
1. Always try and draw his attention verbally by calling his name. Try to have his attention on objects in your hand or the activity you are doing so that he isn't looking at your face. This doesn't mean that he shouldn't turn and look as part of natural conversation, but we don't want him to be continuously watching your face in order to understand by lipreading.
2. Continue talking to him when his back is turned and he is doing something else. You will need to use phrases and sentences that require a response so you know he has heard you and understood you. For example, a three year old might be playing with blocks when you go behind him and tell him its time to put the blocks away. If he doesn't do it, you can say it again once you know you have got his attention. If he still doesn't respond, tell him that you're going to put the blocks away and begin doing so. Over time, he will begin responding when he hears you.
3. Always talk first, then show him what you are talking about. For example, if you are cooking and want to teach him phrases like pour the water, cut the carrot etc., you would say " Let's pour the water in the pot. " Then show the empty pot and get the water. Repeat the sentence again just before you pour. Notice that the first time, there was no context -- you didn't show the pot or water. This allows your child to focus on what he heard. The second time you say it, he hears the same thing again but now you show him the pot and water. Finally, you actually pour the water and use the sentence again to tell him what you are doing.
These approaches will help your child maximize his listening skills not just when you do his lessons, but throughout the day. Listening Cues
One way to do this is to use verbal cues that let him know he needs to pay attention. In the very early stages of listening, this can be taught during your lessons. Pick some several key words or phrases that you can use consistently. A word such as 'listen!' or a phrase such as 'I hear that!' and later your child's name are all good verbal cues. Use a strong, firm voice so that your child can understand the pattern of the sound even if he doesn't understand the actual word or phrase.
When you begin your lessons, use these phrases often just before you begin an activity. Then watch for the child to quieten and wait for the activity to begin. It helps to have a routine where you have a box for your activities. Once your child has quietened, put your box on the table, say 'listen!' again, then begin your activity. Slowly increase the amount of time your child has to wait for the activity to begin. To get an idea of how much time, start out by counting to five slowly in your head, then begin the activity. You want your child to be able to wait until you count to ten silently, before beginning the activity.
A child who is waiting quietly and attentively, is said to have the 'listening posture'. The more often he is able to use the 'listening posture' during lessons the faster he will learn.Rules for Talking
2. Verbalize every action and use the cues "I hear that!" pointing to your ear to indicate to the child that you want him to pay attention to what he is hearing. Make sure that what you say matches what you are doing at the time.
3. `Listening' to the child's initial verbal attempts is crucial. Meaning can be obtained from the context, and the vowels and consonants the child uses provides you with valuable information regarding what the child is hearing and processing.
4. Longer phrases are easier to hear and understand than single words. So always use more than one word when talking to the child. When lessons have single words or sounds as targets they should always be used as part of a phrase or sentence.
5. In the beginning, children pay attention to what they heard last. So use your key word at the end of the sentence. Later, as your child's ability to understand increases, the key words can be in their natural place in the sentence.
6. Avoid using too many questions or directions. For example, using 'Do you want to sit down?" or just "sit down" doesn't really encourage your child to say anything. Instead, use conversational sentences such as " I like the yellow chair" or " I'm going to sit down" and then look at your child expectantly waiting for a response.
There are also specific techniques you can use when talking to children who are learning spoken language and are beginning listeners. These are self-talk and parallel talk. These are described in the AVT-auditory-verbal techniques section.Teaching By Example - Modeling and Waiting
This second approach works much better with children. Not only do they learn the language, they also learn how to use it in everyday situations. For example, a child may be able to say " more juice" because you've taught him to say it and through imitation, he says it very clearly. This doesn't mean that he understands that he needs to say this by himself when he actually wants more juice.
In a model and wait technique, you would have someone else ask for more juice in a complete sentence and then give them more juice. Then, wait for your child to ask for more. If he doesn't, ask the third person again. If you don't have another person to help you do this, you can use a toy or puppet who will 'talk'. Again, wait for your child to say 'more juice'. You can accept what he says even if it is not perfectly accurate in terms of the actual sounds. His intelligibility will develop over time.
The idea is that your child listens to the language and sees what happens as a result. This helps him to learn not only what it means and how to say it, but also to use it appropriately by himself.Creating the Need to Communicate
First of all, remember that children understand language long before they use it. A newborn takes almost a year to use its first meaningful word. So your child needs lots of listening time and needs to hear the same things over and over again.
In addition to the listening time, the most important part of learning spoken language is creating the need for your child to talk. When you anticipate your child's hunger and sit him at the table with all his food and feed him; keep all the toys within reach, so your child can play with them whenever he/she wants; narrate everything without giving your child an opportunity to verbally respond to you; your child may not be motivated to talk to get what he wants since he get everything he needs without asking.
These are not wrong things to do, they just need to be balanced with allowing your child independence and the chance to communicate with you.
Creating the need to talk without frustrating your child is one of the most important things you can do to help your child develop spoken language. Your child needs to learn the idea that
a) he can use his voice to get what he wants
b) he can use his voice to call mommy or an adult
c) when he uses his voice, he gets what he wants very quickly and adults respond immediately
As he learns these ideas, talking will be habitual and using his voice to talk to you will become natural -- even if you don't yet understand anything your child is saying. Here are ways you can create the need to talk at home
1. Respond immediately when you hear him say something while playing by pointing to your ear and telling him "I hear you!" ; followed by a sentence about what he is doing, For example, your child might be near his ball and you hear him babble something . You would point to your ear and say "I hear you! You want the ball. Here it is! Let's bounce the ball". He will soon learn that saying something gets your attention and what he wants very quickly, and he will begin to talk (as opposed to gestures or meaningless sounds) more.
2. Create situations where he must ask you for something e.g., keep items in closed containers he can't open or keep favorite toys up on a shelf where he can see them but not reach them.
3. Wait for the child to ask for something even when you know what he wants,. Sometimes you can prompt the child to tell you by saying "Tell me what you need". Other times, or with children who are reluctant to talk, its important to turn your attention away from the child until he/she says something. So you can say "I don't hear you. Tell me what you need" then physically turn around and do something else in the same room. When you hear him say something, turn around immediately and say "I heard you. You want to drink some milk! Here it is."
4. Give the child choices from the very beginning rather than a question that requires a yes/no answer. For example, use "Do you want milk or juice?" rather than "Do you want some milk?" This forces him to say "milk" or "juice" rather than nodding his head yes or no, pointing, or reaching for the drink.
Don't feel overwhelmed! The best way to start doing this is to think of three times during the day when you can use these techniques. Slowly try to use these techniques for all the daily routines, and pretty soon you will be using these techniques throughout the day. Make sure you teach relatives and babysitters to behave this way as well! Teaching Versus Testing
When your child begins to do the task correctly several times during lessons as well as throughout the day -- you can go ahead and 'test' by recording how many times he can demonstrate a skill correctly.
An example of testing is when you call the child's name repeatedly for no reason and he doesn't respond, so you stop and do something else. The same activity as a teaching task would mean that you call his name, if he doesn't respond, you draw his attention to you and tell him to listen, then call him again. Make sure you have a real reason for calling him though, otherwise he will tune you out.
Another example of testing would be when you are practicing identifying objects. You ask him to pick out an object, and if he is unable to, you go on to the next one. The same activity done as a teaching activity would be where you ask him to identify an object, if he is unable to do so, then you find it for him, have him listen to its name again, both of you talk about the object and then go on to the next item.
Throughout the day, it is important that you have conversations with your child, providing lots of repetition of words and sentences, and don't worry about testing him.How to Build Anticipation Using Language
Holding Out for Better Communication
Let the Child, not the Lesson, Lead
Use it to achieve the lesson objectives.
Remember, your child controls the activities, you control the agenda!How to Do Structured Activities
How to Practice Listening Around the House
Making Listening Fun
Making Playtime a Part of Listening
Managing Your Child's Behavior
How to Involve Family and Friends
How to Use Any Object for Listening Activities
Say It Like It Is
How to Learn with Your Child
Take Time to be Quiet
What to Do If Your Child is Stuck
Independence is the Key
How to Know If Your Child is Faking It