With more time at home as a result of recent global events, this is an opportunity for your patients to work on listening skills at home.
If your patients are homebound, encourage them to try out these listening activities:
1. Practice focused listening while watching the TV news
For example, catching up with current affairs is one way to incorporate focused listening into daily routine. It also provides a chance to connect visual and auditory cues.
2. Play games
Light-hearted games provide many opportunities for natural conversation to occur. Not only do they require learning how to play the game, but also actively listening and communicating with the friends and family involved.
Ideally, the game should require both listening and communication. Consider games such as Celebrity Heads, Taboo, Trivial Pursuit, Rummy or Go Fish.
3. Practice with someone
Practicing with a partner can build skills in recognizing commonly heard phrases. The partner can say the sentence. Without lip reading, the recipient can try to repeat as many words as possible. Then, the partner can express which words are correct and encourage the use of strategies to clarify parts of the sentence that may be wrong.
Using phrases, such as “can you repeat?”, “did you say…?” or “can you say it a different way?” are all recommended.
It’s best to use words, phrases and sentences that are used in everyday life, social activities or in the workplace so they’re more familiar.
4. Reading aloud, audiobooks and YouTube
Listening to someone reading aloud from a written passage or listening to audiobooks while following along with a printed copy of the book can be a good way to re-learn the rhythm and pattern of sentences and individual words. It is also helpful for identifying words in connected speech.
5. Use music and lyrics to help word recognition
Reading lyrics and listening to music can be a great way to recognize words.
Your patients can also boost their music appreciation skills with Cochlear’s Bring Back the Beat™ app, available from the Apple® App Store or on Google Play.
For additional resources for improving listening skills at home, download Cochlear’s Adult Individual Hearing Therapy Tips Guide now.
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App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Google Play is a registered trademark of Google Inc.
