1.Developing Auditory Awareness Auditory awareness is the ability to be conscious of the fact that sound is present. During this period, the child is to learn to wear appropriate amplification. Therapy involves playing with toys that make sounds and listening to music.
2.Developing Auditory Attention or Listening Auditory attention is the ability to give some real notice or interest to the sound that is heard.
The clinician focuses the child's attention to the sound by saying two or three times: Listen, I hear something. What is that? The clinician pats his ears, but does not show the source of the sound until the child is listening. The clinician rewards the child's attention by showing the source of the sound.
3.Developing Auditory Localization and Distance Hearing Auditory localization is the ability to recognize the direction from which the sound is coming from. Distance hearing, on the other hand, is the ability to hear the sound even from afar.
The therapist shows the child how to respond whenever he hears a sound. Some of the activities are opening the door when someone knocks, dancing to music, clapping to music, building blocks when a sound is heard, marching to a drum and picking the phone up when it rings.
4.Developing Vocal Play Vocal play is the ability to use the speech structures to produce various sounds that are not necessarily meaningful but are sound productions nonetheless. This stage requires making lots of sounds when playing with toys, especially animal and vehicle noises: growl for the teddy bear, meow for the cat, or click tongue for the horse.
5.Developing Auditory Discrimination Auditory discrimination is the ability to identify one sound from another. Activities include reviewing vowel sounds and varying pitch, loudness and rhythm: oo--- vs. oo-oo. For example, the therapist can build a train with blocks and say oo-oo or oo---, as the train is being pushed on the table. For older infants, they can look at books, making similar sounds for the pictures.
6.Developing Auditory Discrimination and Short-Term Memory Activities include teaching discrimination of noise makers in audition and incorporation of phonemes into words in use.
7.Developing Auditory Processing Auditory processing is the ability to associate sounds with memories of past events. Activities include naming of abstract ideas like sadness and joy. The therapist also starts to teach the child to call the names of the people that he has constant contact with.
8.Developing Auditory Processing of Patterns and Auditory Memory Span Activities for the child's audition include testing the child's recognition of words and testing of auditory memory span. Auditory memory span is the ability of the child to remember in sequence the things that he has heard. An example would be the sequence of the instructions that the therapist gave to him.
9.Developing Auditory Figure-Ground Discrimination Auditory figure-ground discrimination is the ability to choose among the sounds that are present in the environment and to focus on that one sound alone without being distracted by the rest of the surrounding sounds.
Activities for the child's auditory skills include clapping or dancing to different rhythms, learning to count from one to ten, saying the alphabets, days of the week, nursery rhymes, holiday songs, prayers, his own address or telephone number, and also remembering two or three directions at a time.
10.Auditory Tracking Auditory tracking is the act of listening closely to a material to be able to follow what is being stated in the said material. Auditory tracking using a tape recorder is included in the activities. Also included are reading aloud, practicing using the telephone, listening for information and using internal repetition.
I read an interesting article online the other day about what a non-profit organization in Japan is doing about the problem of abandoned dogs. This organization, although they cannot rescue all the dogs, have opened a facility in Yokohama, Japan that will implement a training program for these abandoned dogs to be trained as service dogs for the deaf.
Hearing dogs for the deaf are trained to alert deaf people to sounds, both inside and outside of the home. Sounds such as fire/smoke alarms, telephones, door knocks, doorbells, oven timers, alarm clocks, etc. that we on a daily basis take for granted. Without the dog a person is dependent on someone else for this.
It has been shown that a hearing dog will increase a deaf persons' feelings of security and confidence.
Organizations involved in dog training programs for hearing dogs, look for these dogs in rescue centers, private homes, breeders and pounds. They are always looking for new sources especially with rescue groups.
They look for dogs that have a friendly disposition, alertness, intelligence good temperament and confidence. Eventually the hearing dog will have to be reliable in all types of situations. They also look for people that can foster these potential hearing dogs. Like the seeing eye dog these dogs first need to be socialized and obedience trained.
Although a hearing dog can be trained in as little as three months, most dog training programs for a hearing dog takes closer to a year.
Obedience training and socialization is quite extensive.
The dogs are then normally trained in a home-like environment to recognize and react to sounds that will be found in the new owners home.(Telephones and doorbells are different in every persons home). Part of the training will take place in the new owners home with the dog and the trainer.
When training is completed the new owner and dog do have follow-up with the trainer to make sure everything is going ok.
The new facility in Japan will also be training young people on how to become hearing dog trainers.
It is believed that approximately 10,000 people with hearing disabilities are waiting for a service dog, so not only dogs are needed but trainers as well. The students will undergo a six month training course, part of which requires them to work with a potential hearing dog for three hours a day.
Once a student completes the course they can obtain support to further their education and hopefully find a job in their related field.
Again not all abandoned dogs are rescued since this organization looks for the above mentioned characteristics in potential hearing dogs.
The agency is hoping that this new facility will raise the publics awareness of the plight of the abandoned dogs and the use of hearing dogs.
Hearing dogs have legal access to all public places when accompanied by their masters. They often wear a bright orange leash and collar to identify them. Hearing Dogs may accompany their owner into public places, such as grocery stores and restaurants since they have the same legal access rights as a Guide Dog for the blind.
So who is eligible for a hearing dog? Priority is given to candidates over 18 years of age who have at least a 65 decibel hearing loss(unaided). Also priority is given to a person living alone or with another deaf or hard of hearing person but a deaf person living with a hearing person will also be considered. The candidate must also be physically able and willing to care for and continue the training of the dog.
Maureen Brownell has sinced written about articles on various topics from Pets, Pets. Maureen Brownell has owned dobermans for the past 25 years. She understand that dogs can be a lot of work but they can also be a great source of joy. Dog training is a vital part of your dog's life. Look for training tips at. Maureen Brownell's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.