Listen and learn

Silly rhythms and sing song books do more than put a smile on your child’s face, it puts skills in their future.  College is typically for learning a marketable skill.  Once we’ve been trained in something, tested and re-tested, we are ready to put our skills to use.  We would not ask our physician to work on our car.  She/he knows how to ‘work’ on things, they can use tools, diagnose and problem solve, so why don’t we trust them with our car? 

               It is not about having a skill it is about having the right skills.  The skills we need to interact with our environment are very basic and we begin to develop them early on, we are born ready to learn.  Each skill is made up of building blocks, ready for a new challenge each day. 

               Skills are not attained automatically; we are not a species that is born with all the skills we will ever need to know.  We rely on our parents for our development.  We learn by interaction, first just some basics of eye contact and loving words said to us.  Soon we can interact and that interaction will be a lifelong learning opportunity.  Interaction gets your needs met, but it is also meant to be a pleasurable part of being human.  To laugh and cry with someone else, to obtain information and make choices, all start with listening. 

               Lois Kam Heymann, the author of The Sound of Hope, Recognizing, Coping with, and Treating Your Child’s Auditory Processing Disorder, has made an investment in other peoples’ listening.  As a Speech Pathologist and Educator, she is teaching other Speech Pathologists to listen and teach listening.  She teaches that listening is an action and part of a reaction.  We need to develop our listening skills as we would our golf swing, backstrokes for swimming and free throws for basketball.  It is something we have the ability to do, but the training for listening lasts our whole lives. 

               I was able to have a phone conversation with Lois and we discussed not only Auditory Processing Disorder but how parents and early educators can teach their children good listening skills.  In the early years of language development, listening is developed through constant give and take of verbal exchanges between child and parent.  Lois suggests reading books and discussing the pages, asking children even at and early age to point out objects and colors on a page.  While this may seem very simple and too easy, it is very important.  Get into the habits early and continue them as your child grows.  Resist the pull of media to entertain your child, active interaction goes a lot farther than passive listening 

               Another great piece of advice that Lois gives is in regards to picture book reading.  A simple and easy suggestion for teachers, and even parents, is to read a page of a book without showing the picture right away.  Once the passage is read, pause and allow the children to make their own mental images of what they just heard, then the illustrations can be shared enhancing what the child has already developed.  Listening is part of mental mapping.  Making images of your own based on verbal clues supports creativity.  Listening is not only about capturing the words, but turning them into language and putting that into a vocabulary toolbox. 

               Listening develops reading and reading develops . . . our world.  One of Lois’ goals is to help teachers adapt listening skill lessons into their current curriculum.  Many teachers have reported to Lois that more and more children come to school lacking listening skills.  The teacher can adjust what she or he does slightly and turn each subject into listening skill improvement opportunities.  What teachers want are good listeners, Lois has a way to give them what they want. Classrooms are becoming more and more a place to learn by auditory means, listening is needed to be refined at and earlier age.  While the push for technology is even greater into the classroom, we will still need to acquire verbal information.  Presenting teachers with ways to enhance listening skills will enhance reading and writing and unlock those potentials when given the opportunities.  

               Another way we can easily incorporate building listening skills in our already busy lives is the use of books on tape, or audio books.  While the first choice is reading to a child in a quiet comfortable environment primed for interaction, we cannot always set aside this time.  We are a big fan of The Hobbit- 3 hours of listening enjoyment.  Lois suggests a book just above your child’s reading level as a great start.  Listen along and pause the playback on occasion.  During this pause, talk about the story, discuss the pictures your child has developed in their head, and possibly help them enhance those images.  Give them an opportunity to help explore a word or phrases that your child might not be familiar with.  Story place and time could have sayings that are unique to the area or old fashioned and could be confusing.  When you take a moment to talk about it, your child can draw a mental image of it, process it and let it go.  Then back to the story to be enjoyed by you and your child.  A great thing to talk about later when you say your good nights, a quick connection about something funny you both liked in the story, help them fall asleep with good thoughts.  Lois brings up these opportunities as great bonding experiences. 

               Ms. Heymann suggests parents are like the worker bees in listening skill development.  The children enjoy the honey, the rewards of the skills, parent interaction and the growth of their minds. The parents are makers of opportunities for neural growth and supportive development. Growing these skills is a time investment per Lois.  She does believe that “consistence plus fun over time = progress”.  It is a lifelong commitment, be it for a child with Auditory Processing Disorder, or anyone who listens.  She stresses the fun part, and as you make it fun, it becomes something to look forward to and not work.  

               My last bit of advice I recieved from Lois, and possibly the greatest reminder she left me with from our conversation, was to always look at a child for their potential.  We can easily see the infractions, the bits out of place, but the beauty of the whole figure is where our focus should land.  

.   . . Lois Kam Heymann is leading an extraordinary life, benefiting the greater good, my favorite kind of people. 

               My developed listening skills helped me bring this information to you today; you too can put your listening skills to good use: 

Good Morning America, Lois Kam Heymann April 27^th, ABC. 

To invite Lois to speak to your school or community you can contact her at her website: www.listenlovelearn.com 

See my review of her book here.