attention and listening (school age children) · the communication pyramid shows the difference...

Information for patients

For more information about our Trust and the services we provide please visit our website: www.nlg.nhs.uk

Attention and Listening (School Age Children) Name: _______________________________ Who to contact and how: _______________________________ Notes: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital Scartho Road Grimsby DN33 2BA

03033 306999 www.nlg.nhs.uk

Scunthorpe General Hospital Cliff Gardens Scunthorpe DN15 7BH


Goole & District Hospital Woodland Avenue Goole DN14 6RX




Introduction The Communication Pyramid shows the difference elements that make up speech, language and communication.

Attention and listening skills are the foundation for speech, language and communication development.

Attention and listening skills are needed for:

• Understanding and retaining spoken information in the classroom and in social situations.

• Learning about the world – for example – using our listening skills and past knowledge of similar events.

• Listening skills are essential for successful interaction. Social interaction is a two way process. We need to be able to attend and listen in order for interaction to be successful

What You May See if a Child Has Attention and Liste ning Difficulties In the classroom environment, the child may:

• Be restless and easily distracted during carpet time

• Fail to respond to instructions given to the whole class (but does if you give the instruction individually)

• Become very focused on an activity and seems to ignore you

• Flit from one activity to another

Progress Checker You can check your child’s progress on Speech, Language and Communication.

http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/progress-checker



Useful Strategies Get your child’s attention → Gain the child's attention before giving any instruction by saying their name.

Eye contact → Encourage the child to look at you. If needed get down to their level.

Time to listen → Use a sound maker e.g. a clicker or a bell to indicate when it is time to listen. Or a visual cue e.g. hand up, symbol to listen.

Reduce distractions →Try to keep background noise to a minimum. Don’t have too many activities / toys at any one time. Consider where the child sits, e.g. try not to sit the child facing a busy corridor or window. Instead, try to sit the child near the front or next to a TA.

Slow, short & simple → Make sure instructions are given slowly, clearly and simply using short sentences.

Make it visual → Make full use of visual clues to support spoken or written information. Use objects and gestures as cues to gain the child’s attention and help them to understand.

Demonstrate → Whenever possible try to demonstrate the activity as well as verbalise it.

Set timers → Try to lengthen the time that the child is able to sit in the group e.g. Use egg / sand timers of different lengths of time.

Targeted Activities:

• Lotto, Snap, and memory pair games

• Guessing games, e.g. games like ’20 questions’ ‘guess who’ ‘I spy’

• Drawing games – the child has to listen to instructions about what to draw, e.g. draw a blue square or draw a house with a red door. Make the instructions harder and longer as the child’s skills develop

• Story books – Listen to a short story and see if the child can respond to simple questions about what happened. Can they predict what will happen or how the story will end? Can they retell the story in their own words?

• Kim’s game – place four or more items on the floor. The child closes their eyes then once they open them they have to try to guess which items you have removed

• Gradually increase the amount of time spent on each game



Further Advice and Information for Parents and Teac hers https://www.nlg.nhs.uk/services/childrens-speech-language/

www.talkingpoint.org.uk

www.ican.org.uk

https://www.nlg.nhs.uk/services/childrens-speech-language/

https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk

Contact Details for Further Information Children’s Speech and Language Therapy – Tel: 03033 303758

Any Comments, Compliments, Concerns or Complaints If you have any other concerns please talk to your nurse, therapist or doctor. Our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) are available on 03033 306518 (Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Goole). You can also contact [email protected]

As a Trust we value equality of access to our information and services, therefore alternative formats available on request at [email protected]

Date of Issue: October, 2019

Review Period: October, 2022

Author: Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Depa rtment

IFP-1126

© NLGFT 2019

attention and listening (school age children) · the communication pyramid shows the difference...

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