Childhood Favorite - Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

Then      and          now.

Does anyone else use the book by Robert Barry, Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree for auditory verbal sessions? As a child, my Dad and Mom enrolled me in a membership to the Weekly Reader’s book club. I recall the excitement each month as a new book arrived in the mail. This was one of my favorites! Rather progressive back in the day don’t you think?

This book is a classic Christmas story about Mr. Willowby and his new Christmas tree. This book lends itself so beautifully to targeting, rhyming, auditory memory and sequencing activities and story retelling. It is written in rhyme and the pictures are charming. 

Mr. Willowby’s tree is a bit too big, so he has his butler trim off the top, who gives it to the maid. She too trims off the top and the story continues in this manner all the way down to the tiny mouse that lives in Mr. Willowby’s wall. 

Christmas Decorating Barrier Game

A simple “Decorating for Christmas “ activity was a huge hit for an adult in post-CI auditory rehab. This barrier game was played with her brother who is volunteering as her communication coach. Their competition led to her performing the best so far as she followed auditory directions and incorporated clarification skills.

 It seems that Christmas is really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Looking for Holiday Gifts for School-Age Listeners?

Ten games I use in my practice that maximize listening, spoken language & communication, and the game plan!

From the CID Professional Blog. Listening and language learning can be fun and games

by guest author Lynn A. Wood MA CCC/A LSLS Cert. AVT

https://cid.edu/2017/11/29/listening-language-learning-can-fun-games/

Christmas Listening and Describing Game

One of my favorite materials at this time of year is the ”What Am I? Christmas Edition.It is for ages 3+ and I have used it with much older kids and tweens as it can be adapted to targets many Listening and Spoken Language goals. $4.00

Click HERE.

Holiday Tips For Children With Hearing Loss

The H-o-l-i-d-a-y season is upon us, which means festive music, family gatherings and special traditions. All the noise and excitement may cause communication difficulties for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Comment and let me know if you try these seven H-O-L-I-D-A-Y tips!

7 tips to make the holidays special for children with hearing loss

Written by Lynn Wood on November 27, 2017. Posted in Blog

To make the holidays even more enjoyable and special for adults and children with hearing loss, try these seven HOLIDAY tips!

Holidays are about listening to joyous music, lively conversations and spending time with family and friends. Encourage your child to be the Holiday Host and greet visitors and take their coats. This will boost your child’s confidence while giving him a chance to talk face to face in a quiet setting.  Role-play upcoming holiday situations and practice good listening strategies. Create a secret a signal so your child can notify you when he is having a difficult time hearing. Keep the holiday music off or at a low volume, as your child is likely not the only one bothered by clatter and background music.

Organize an email and send it your family and friends before you gather for the holidays. Write a quick update about your child’s listening and spoken language progress and his hearing technology. Dealing with this before the holidays will allow you to spend time celebrating rather than answering questions of well-meaning friends and family.

Large family dinners are noisy so plan accordingly.  One suggestion is ensuring your child knows the topic of the conversation. Consider using “conversation starter cards” around the table which are always fun. Also, have someone special seated next to your child who can repeat a joke or summarize a story if your child mishears.

READ MORE AT

 HearingLikeMe.com

A hearing loss community brought to you by Phonak

https://www.hearinglikeme.com/7-tips-for-celebrating-the-holidays-with-hearing-loss/

GIVING THE GIFT OF LISTENING AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE

By Lynn A. wood

Consultant on the HEARING FIRST TEAM

Republished with permission from Hearing First.

This holiday season, we’re celebrating the gifts that help your child achieve their full potential. When you begin implementing LSL strategies for your child who is deaf of hard of hearing, you are giving them more than just a single gift, you’re giving them opportunities that can set them up for a lifetime of success. Take a look at our favorite gifts that create spoken language.

READ MORE

About Hearing First
The Hearing First website is a multimedia digital experience and connection point designed to link families who have chosen Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) for their children with hearing loss and the professionals who work with them with the resources, information, tools, community and learning experiences they need to ensure the children in their lives succeed. 

Visit www.hearingfirst.org or click here to learn about the Hearing First Communities.

Sound Localization and the Musical Elf on the Shelf Hide and Seek Game

Sound Localization and the Musical Elf 

Available to purchase:Pressman Toys

Hide the musical and talking elf from your child’s view somewhere in a room.

When beginning the Hide and Seek Listening Game:

First, ask your child WHAT he hears.

Then, WHERE the sound is coming from.

You may want to begin by keeping the choices simple. For example, "Do you hear the Elf near the windows or closer to the fireplace?" 

Remind the child to listen first or else they will begin searching with their eyes! 

To play this game, with the Musical and Talking Elf, press the on/off button and hide him. The Elf plays music such as Jingle Bells and calls out phrases periodically like, "Yoo-hoo! I'm hiding! I'm over here! " 

Sound Localization

The ability to localize sounds develops over time. The earlier your child has received his bilateral cochlear implants/hearing aids, the sooner he starts picking up sound cues and gains valuable experiences localizing sounds. 

Tips For Children Learning to Locate Sound Sources

• Using two different musical toys, hidden from the child’s view, locating one to the left of the child and one to the right side of the child. Then, make a sound with each instrument in varied sequence, ask your child to identify which instrument is on which side. You can do this with Mom's vs. Dad's voice as well. 
• At the dinner table or while playing games help your child locate who is speaking. Your entire family can help the child learn to locate and follow then natural flow of
• conversation.
• Playing hide-and-seek indoors (e.g. room or house), hiding yourself and calling out to your child to find you. This task may be varied by taking turns between hiding and searching.
• Games in a group, such as “Blindman’s Buff ” or “I Spy” (with sounds), hand clapping games are ideal for practicing sound localization in a  playful way.
• Teach your child that is hard of hearing to be extra alert visually in crowds, walking near cars, crossing streets, riding bicycles, and in group games. Remind your child to look for traffic and not to depend on hearing oncoming vehicles. If your child rides a bicycle, consider rear-view mirrors to help him see traffic he might not hear.            

Sample Localization GOAL with Benchmarks

GOAL: Child will auditory locate with bilateral cochlear implants/hearing aids:

-  a sound presented at ear level within a 3-foot radius in front or on either side

-  a sound presented at ear level within a 6-foot radius from behind

 - understand and verify gross, environmental, music or speech sounds within  9 feet, then 12 feet and  finally, within the same room in all directions.

 - Understand sounds with a specific location or direction outside.

Click HERE for a packet by Med-EL entitled,
 "Sound Localization Tips and Information for users of Cochlear Implants"

A great listener at the Auditory Verbal Center of Wheaton

Meeting Santa - What will you talk about?

Here is a great suggestion from N. Thompson at L2L http://www.listening2learn.com  

Nan recommends preparing for your child's visit with Santa 

by brainstorming of questions to ask him

 beyond the typical wish list.

Holiday Baking for Listening, Spoken Language and Fun

Source

Holiday baking with children is a rich experience for listening and spoken language. Children love to measure, pour, stir and decorate. While it is messy, you are building memories alongside listening and spoken language skills.

Cooking Up Therapy is a blog post by a fellow AVT Elizabeth Rosenzweig MS CCC-SLP LSLS Cert. AVT who wrote, "Whatever your child needs to work on, you can target it in cooking with just a little bit of thought and preparation."

I recall one December when our daughters Kara and Joy were young baking a variety of cookies for Christmas. I don't recall the recipes or how the baked goods tasted, but we still talk about how Joy couldn't keep the beaters in the bowl and the flour and dough covered counters. Kara laughs about burning up two hand held mixers that year with all the mixing and beating. I wish I would have bought a Kitchenaid mixer back then. Today, I rarely bake, but both our daughters are married and love their Kitchenaids!

As an AVT, there was always lots of talking going on in my kitchen. Sweet Joy told me on many occasions, "Please Mom, I'm not one of 'the kids' you see for therapy." which was her way of asking me to hush! Oh, the memories.

There are many toys to carry over holiday cooking and baking Christmas cookies through imaginative play. Many would make great gift ideas. Go to HomemadeSpeech to view cookie toys that can help foster listening and spoken learning. 

Happy baking!

What's In the Christmas Stocking?

http://littlewondersdays.blogspot.com/2010/12/whats-in-stocking.html

Two  Ways To Play: 

1. One player peeks at the hidden object and describes the item in the stocking for the other players. This targets a wide range of spoken language goals including descriptive skills, use of adjectives and expressive language.

2. One player listens and makes a smart guess based on what was heard based on the other players descriptions. This targets inferencing and auditory memory skills.

To Play: Take turns drawing stocking cards and listen and make a smart guess based on what you heard based on the descriptions.

 

This game can be purchased for $2.25 

and is available from Lindsey Karol at 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Whats-in-My-Stocking-Describing-Fun-An-Attribute-and-Adjective-Activity-1017730

Listening and Spoken Activities for Christmas

This can be found at http://www.listening2learn.com/

Christmas Taboo Game for Listening, Language and Learning

Taboo is a vocabulary word game that relies on listening, auditory memory and auditory integration.

Take turns describing the word or phrase at the top of the card to your partner without using five common additional TABOO words also on the card. 

The monitor looks at the card and LISTENS to ensure that the player does not use any of the taboo or illegal words

This activity expands Christmas vocabulary and concepts and also targets listening to each new clue word while holding the last ones in short term memory while auditory processing and comprehending to solve the answer.

HERE is the link to: www.Holidayzone.com to get your free printable cards. 

Listening, Learning and Spoken Language with New Events, Activities or Holidays

This blog post was adapted from the http://www.medel.com article entitled,

Helping Your Child Enjoy New Events with Their Cochlear Implant 

by Donna  Sperandio, Head of Rehabilitation at MED-EL

You can be read the original article HERE 

For any child a new activity or event is an experience, and especially for a child with hearing aids or cochlear implants each new event means new sounds and experiences that may seem overwhelming. But don’t worry, there are a few ways that you can help to make their listening experience, and the whole event, comfortable and enjoyable.

The Key Word: Preparation

Involving your child in preparing for the event in an age-appropriate way is the best method to make everything enjoyable.

First, just introduce them to the general idea of what the event is about. This way they can develop an overall understanding of what to expect.

How should you do this? An easy way would be to explain the big steps that might occur by just talking about them in order. Or, you could get a bit more creative. If you have pictures from similar events, or if it’s a recurring event maybe from the last time it happened, then you can show these to your child to give them an idea of what they might see or be around. Younger children might enjoy acting out the activity with toys or dolls, and this can be especially useful in structured events like a wedding where there’s a clearly defined routine to the whole event.

Then, you can get more into the details. What are specific activities that happen at this event? Will someone be standing up to give a speech, and if this happens how should your child behave? If there will be songs or music, maybe your child would enjoy hearing them in advance so that he or she can better enjoy them during the actual event.

Here are some basic questions that you can think about what to tell your child:

1. Why is this event happening?

1. What will happen at the event?

1. Who will be at the event?

1. Will there be any surprises, like unexpected events or noises, for which he or she can prepare?

1. How should your child behave? Is it formal or informal?

• Will there be speakers, and where will the speakers be located? (This is important because it might influence where your child should sit or stand to hear best.)

• Will there be induction loop or FM systems? (If yes, then your child could connect wirelessly to the systems for better hearing.)

During the Event: Enjoy

Depending on your child, you may want to either stay close or give them lots of space. Make sure to talk with them in advance and, if they’re old enough, make a choice that both of you can agree upon. Remember, the goal is to make it enjoyable for them as well as for you. If your child likes to be independent, that’s great! Encourage his or her independence, but also let them know that you’ll always be nearby if needed.

If your child uses any assistive listening devices make sure to grab them before leaving, and don’t forget any other accessories or extra batteries just in case. Again, it’s better to be prepared.

Talking with the event organizers can also help, whether it’s just informing them that your child will be present with his or her cochlear implant or asking about any assistive listening devices they have.

Example questions could be like:

Afterwards: Relax

If you want to reflect afterwards, you could ask your child if they have any questions about what had happened at the event or just ask them how they felt. If you took any photos at the event you could also look through them now.

Christmas Actions and Targeting Verbs

Click HERE to grab your Santa Actions freebie. 

Santa is here and he's busy getting ready for Christmas! Use these Santa action cards to practice auditory comprehension and spoken language skills related to the holidays! 

It is easy to fall into a rut of labeling vocabulary.

Talk about actions, functions, descriptions, locations… in connected speech using acoustic highlighting techniques such as lots of melody.

Christmas is the perfect time for entries in your child's Experience Book or you may choose also to make a: 

 Click HERE to grab your free cover for your child's personalized Merry Verb Book. 

Great listening and spoken language lessons are learned with example Experience Book pages shown below.

Click HERE to grab your Verb Tenses with Santa freebie.

Dependent on your child's language level you will need to target morphological markers which are unstressed, uttered quickly and tend to be concentrated at the high frequency end of the speech spectrum. 

For example:

• plural morphological markers |s|, |z|, and |es|, 

• possessive |s|

• past tense verb forms (irregular, regular, |d|, |t|, and |ed|)

Remember to use your Experience Book pictures to also target past tense verbs such as: 

"Mommy baked Christmas cookies." 

"The carolers sang Christmas songs."

Merry Christmas!