Listen to Me! Strategies in Action

A guide for learning strategies to support Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) outcomes for children with hearing loss.

The following videos show Listen to Me!™ alumni families using listening and spoken language strategies at home.

These clips demonstrate a few examples of how to implement each strategy, but the possibilities are endless! They are intended as a learning tool to inspire parents and professionals to bring listening and language into everyday activities.

You can download this guide in pdf format here. (English version).

And now available in Spanish!  Download the Spanish version here.

Setting the Stage for Listening

    • vid1-3
    • Build Auditory Attention
    • It's helpful to get your child's listening attention before you tell them new information. Point to your ear and say, "Listen!" to help them attend to sounds and language.
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uDD7gFLVwc
    • vid1-4
    • Bring Attention to Sound
    • Your child will be hearing lots of new sounds throughout their day. Bring attention to sound by pointing to your ear and saying, "I heard that!"
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phlUpbEZ1ds
    • vid1-6
    • Auditory Sandwich
    • An auditory sandwich helps connect what your child hears to what they see. First, say the word by itself. Next, add a visual like a picture or a sign. Last, say the word again without any visual support.
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM3WGPk5KNQ

Repetition

Building Interest

Keeping Them Engaged

    • vid4-19
    • Follow Your Child's Lead
    • Children learn best when they're interested in the activity. Let your child lead the way, and add listening and language to whatever they choose.
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuI1ikK72OA
    • vid4-20
    • Joint Attention
    • Joint attention happens when you and your child are focusing on the same thing. Your child may look to you and look back at the object as if to tell you, "This is what I want you to notice!"
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsC2lcySA2M
    • vid4-21
    • Check for Comprehension
    • It's important to check in and ensure your child understands what they're hearing. For younger children, observe their responses - did they look for or reach for the item you mentioned?
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0ARZ2fynCs

Raising the Bar

    • vid5-24
    • Expand
    • Children learn best when they hear language that is a little more complex than theirs. Expand on what your child says by adding a detail or making their sentence longer.
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIcRAWVA5nc
    • vid5-25
    • Model Correct Grammar
    • When children start putting words together, their sentences aren't always perfect. Repeat your child's sentence back to them with correct grammar so they can hear their sentence correctly.
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=641o9mnvXqA
    • vid5-26
    • Auditory Clues
    • Grow your child's listening skills by describing items with auditory clues! Talk about the item's color, shape, and function, and see if they can guess what it is!
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEI0sUeaM4U
    • vid5-27
    • Open Ended Questions
    • We get the most language from children when we ask open-ended questions. Try asking questions that require more than one word responses, like "What do you see?" or "What will happen next?"
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q77m1Y0nwbk
    • vid5-28
    • Communication Repair
    • Misunderstandings are bound to happen! Ask your child, "What did you hear?" to help them take charge of their listening. You can also model communication repair at home with phrases like, "Tell me again."
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B3eAMgeyUo