Over the holidays, I finally completed my first distant learning lesson with the John Tracy Clinic. It is free and they are very helpful. Here is what stood out from
Lesson 1 –Informal Assessment.
· Remember to get her attention with your voice.
· TALK, TALK, TALK!! (At the beginning, I was apprehensive about this cause I didn’t want to over stimulate her but I can say now at 5 months post-activation, she is ready to hear it all… in short sentences of course!)
· When hearing a sound- point to the ear and say “I heard that!”
· Keep a binder with sections including Audiological Evaluation, Informal Assesements, etc…
· Do a Ling-Six Sound check daily.
· Always gain evidence about her receptive language and expressive language but don’t make her feel like she is being tested.
· Remember, all children with or without hearing loss, usually don’t pronounce their first words clearly. (I need to remind myself of this.)
· Remember, most hearing children are not understood by unfamiliar listeners when they first begin to talk. (I also need to remind myself of this.)
· She’ll begin with 1 word utterances, when she has between 50-100, she may attempt at producing little sentences.
· Speech sounds differ in 3 ways: duration, intensity and pitch. (They make you aware of this and to check to see if your child is doing any of these.)
· Listening should be fun!
· It takes time and repetition for her to learn that you expect her to listen. (This is so true.)
· They finished it off with some great activities!
Sienna is doing very well. She has about 10 spoken words like mom, dad, Rylee, bye, non, merci, assis, puppy, meow, and many sounds with association like a dog’s bark, a sheeps “baaaa”, an airplane goes “aaaa”, etc… As for her receptive language, she is well over 30 words. For a quiet person who doesn’t talk much, I have to remind myself to talk, talk, and talk. I also find she hasn't been repeating as much as she had been in December, she is stuck on the same 10 words. I've been told that this is a normal part in language development, which is a relief. Hopefully it is just that.
I can’t wait to begin Lesson 2- Reinforcing Behavior (Just what I need for my 2.5 year old.)
