Ideas & Advice Blog
Communicating Clearly with Young Children with Hearing Loss: Tips for Home & School
Posted on November 14 2012, 11:25:50 AM | Posted by jtcpals
Tips for Home
Identifying ways to help children feel successful communicating is key to their becoming more confident and using more language. Whether children are talking, signing, cueing or using a combined approach there can be times when communication seems challenging. Consider using some of these tips to enhance family interactions.
Routines: A remarkable way to learn language
Posted on October 31 2012, 3:24:32 PM | Posted by jtcpals
Daily routines may seem like tiresome tasks to adults. For preschool children typical routines can be full of discoveries! A family’s daily routines provide regular opportunities for children with hearing loss to use language, listening and speech.
Think about what happens on an ordinary day. During certain times of the day make it a habit to converse with your preschooler while involving him briefly in typical tasks. He can learn so much from these fun and functional conversations.
Technology With Tots
Posted on October 08 2012, 4:02:08 PM | Posted by jtcweb
Young children with hearing loss learn language best through meaningful interactions with others. When they are involved and interested, their language can be strengthened. Young children are intrigued by cell phones, computers, remotes, tablets, GPS, calculators and other mobile technology. Parents can use their personal devices to encourage their child’s language learning. The key is to add personal interaction and enjoy using a device together. A child might hold a mobile device to assist with completing a shopping list, use invented spelling to add to a typed message or enjoy an animated storybook. Technology can be another tool for building a young child’s language experiences.
Purposeful Pausing
Posted on February 13 2012, 3:14:09 PM | Posted by jtcweb
Pausing is one of the techniques used in spoken language learning for a child with hearing loss. It can be used initially to encourage response to sounds, later for language development and then for problem solving. Pausing involves waiting to see if your child responds before you prompt him or model the expected answer. Once a child is wearing his listening devices during all waking hours, pausing can give him developmentally appropriate opportunities to show what he notices and understands.
Speaking with Your Speech Therapist
Posted on February 09 2012, 4:44:58 PM | Posted by jtcweb
Working closely with professionals can create a focused approach toward helping your child with hearing loss develop language skills. A combination of experts supporting each other’s efforts on behalf of your child creates an informed team. You, the parent, are an essential member of the team. You can be the link to and a partner in these services.
Speech and Spoken Language
Posted on February 09 2012, 4:40:58 PM | Posted by jtcweb
Your family has chosen the spoken language approach for your child with hearing loss. Professionals are always talking about the terms speech and language. Aren’t they the same? Not exactly. Although they are closely related, speech and language are different from one another. Parents who know the differences in those terms can recognize what a therapist or teacher might be emphasizing. If parents are aware of the components of speech and language, they can describe in greater detail what their children have achieved and find challenging. The whole family can learn what is involved in both speech and language and encourage the child’s progress.
Building your Child’s Bilingual Skills
Posted on January 25 2012, 6:11:51 PM | Posted by volunteer
Parents look forward to sharing their love, values, culture and language with their young children. If a family uses two languages, they may hope their children will communicate comfortably in both languages. They might want their children to learn one language for school and another for home, or one language for the community and another for the family. There is much a parent can do to promote language learning within the child’s environment.
Holidays and Cultural Celebrations
Posted on January 18 2012, 5:15:53 PM | Posted by jtcweb
Each season of the year brings with it special holidays and cultural celebrations. Naturally you want your child to enjoy the special occasions your family celebrates. Even more importantly, you want him to be involved. With some planning ahead, each new season, every holiday and occasion can be a fun-filled time for you and your little one.
Fun in the Kitchen
Posted on January 12 2012, 11:52:48 AM | Posted by jtcweb
Young children love to “help” in the kitchen! And, with some planning, you can make cooking or baking a language-rich experience for your preschooler.
Children who are developing their awareness of sound enjoy hearing the noise of a blender when you make a milkshake or chop food. Turn it “on” and talk about what you hear. Then turn it “off.” It’s quiet! Where is the sound? Now you have created a thinking game as your little one pushes a button and listens. Lean close to the microphone of her cochlear implant or hearing aid as you say, “on” and “off,” because the sound of your voice is just as important as the sound of the blender.
Assessing Expressive Language: A Language Sample
Posted on January 06 2012, 5:54:24 PM | Posted by jtcweb
A language sample is a record of the words your child says spontaneously. For this assessment, it does not matter if those words are clearly spoken. What your child says (expressive language) is more important than how clearly he is saying the words (speech). You can use a language sample to celebrate your child’s progress and to set future language goals.