Lesson 104


Lesson 104
Book
Daily Hearing Check (The Ling Six-Sound Test)


     

     

Objectives

1. To make sure your child can hear speech sounds

2. To teach your child to respond to sounds with a specific action

Points To Remember

1. Let your child get into a listening posture (explained in the video clip) and wait before you say the sound.

2. Say the sounds at a ‘normal’ loudness level or even a little softer.

3. Do this hearing check
a) every morning when the child puts on the aid/implant
b) whenever you take off the device and put it back on.
c) every time you sit down to work with your child.

4. When your child responds to all the sounds you can be confident he is able to hear conversational speech.

Method

In this activity, we will teach your child to respond to a sound by putting a toy on a table, a block in a bucket or a puzzle piece into a puzzle. So you will need either 6-7 small toys or a puzzle with at least 6-7 pieces for this activity.

The sounds we want your child to listen to during this activity are

m oo ah ee sh s

Watch the first videoclip to see a child who has learned to listen to the sounds and also to imitate them. Then read the following instructions:

1. Begin by having the child hold a toy up to his ear. Sit beside him and say one of the sounds. The order of the sounds is not important. In fact, you should change the order in which you say the sounds each time so that your child doesn’t memorize them rather than listening.

2. If your child doesn’t respond initially, move closer but avoid raising your voice. You may need to show him what to do by holding his hand.

3. If your child still has trouble with this task, have a third person model the activity and show him what he needs to do.

4. Repeat this with each sound given above. Do not worry if your child doesn’t imitate the sounds in the beginning. He will learn to do this over a period of time.

Watch the second videoclip of a younger child who is still learning this task. Then read the above instructions again if you need to.

Do this hearing check with your child every day.

Troubleshooting:

If your child continues to have trouble responding to any of these sounds even after a week of practice, you will need to:
a) troubleshoot the hearing aids/implant to ensure they are working properly
b) contact your audiologist to see if the hearing aids need readjusting, or if the implant needs to reprogramming.
c) check your child’s ears to make sure he doesn’t have an ear infection

If you have determined that none of the above is affecting your child’s listening, then his hearing should be re-evaluated to see if his hearing loss has deteriorated.

This activity is referred to as the Ling Six Sound Test since it was developed by the late Dr. Daniel Ling.

Video Clips

CLIP 1





CLIP 2


Modifications

For a baby (up to 9 months old), you can teach a conditioned response using natural activities, e.g., rocking the baby. When the baby is quiet, use a phrase, e.g., "rock the baby", then rock your baby. Use your voice to call your baby and watch for a head turn (4 months or older). For children older than 9 months, start using the ‘play’ technique shown in the video clips, but until they are about 2 years old, developmentally they will not be able to do this activity independently, thus requiring some adult help (as shown in the clip with the younger child).

What Next

By now, you will be doing the activities from Lesson 101 to 104 throughout your day. Move on to Lesson 105 when you are comfortable with Lesson 104, but continue to do Lessons 101-104.