There’s a saying that “Language is caught, not taught.” It would be impossible (and boring for both the adult and child!) to sit down and directly teach a child every word, phrase, or sentence structure he needs to know. It also wouldn’t lead to very natural results. Instead, the best language that children learn is picked up incidentally (indirectly, informally, in the course of daily life). So, how do we make our language more “catchable”?
“Shut the door,” “Sit down,” “Go to sleep.” We write them as multiple words, but do young children view them that way? How do we know if a child has learned a “chunk” versus really putting together a multi-word utterance? Continue reading →
Young children love to be in control (who doesn’t?). Think about it: so many aspects of their lives are decided for them — what and when they’ll eat, where they go each day, when they take a bath, etc. For children with hearing loss, parents may tend to be even more directive, giving short, simple commands to head off any misunderstandings by a child with limited language. But challenge yourself! Giving choices can help meet an important developmental need while growing language skills as well!
Figurative language: idioms, metaphors, similes, and the like, can be one of the most difficult aspects of language for English language learners, and children with hearing loss, to master. How can we help children learn, understand, and use nonliteral language in a way that is natural?
When I coach other professionals, I tell them to work smarter, not harder! I like to pick just one book and make it work for ALL of the children I see in a week. My schedule is filled with listeners of all different ages, developmental levels, and needs, but with some creative thinking, you can take a classic story like Goldilocks and the Three Bears and find a gold mine of goals inside. Here are THIRTY ways to make the Three Bears work for (nearly) everyone on your caseload.
Nutritionists advise diners to think about building a “balanced plate” of proteins, carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables for every meal. Eating too much of one thing isn’t good for your health! An Auditory Verbal session can be imagined in the same way. Too much focus on one type of goal or activity doesn’t help children achieve the well-rounded communicative competence that we want them to have. So, how do you build a balanced plate in an AV session?
While learning to listen and speak is possible for many children who have hearing loss, there are some children who, for reasons of additional disabilities or other complicating conditions, can learn to listen with technology but may struggle to produce spoken language. What choices should parents and professionals consider when deciding how to best help these children? Below, I’ll discuss two case studies of children in this situation and some factors to consider when planning intervention.
The cow says “moo,” the sheep says “baa,” and pretty soon the entire therapy room is sounding like a barnyard… but what are these Learning to Listen Sounds all about and why are week p-p-p-ing for the boat and woof-woof-woof-ing for the dog to help children learn to listen and talk?
I am conducting a survey to investigate the strategies that professionals (and pre-professional students) use to facilitate listening and spoken language skill growth in children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Please consider participating in this study to further the knowledge in our field! CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE.
In Auditory Verbal Therapy, we want children to learn to listen all the time, but we don’t want them to focus just on listening. We focus on audition, but we don’t focus only on audition. Listening is an important factor, but it’s not the only factor. So which is it — is AVT all about listening, or not?
