Responding to Sound
“Did
You Hear Something?”
When a child focuses
their attention on a sound stimulus by watching intently, or smiling, it means
that they are beginning to associate the sound with specific objects, people or
activities.
Make
sudden, loud noises close to your child and then farther away.
Make
noises to your child’s right side, left side, and from behind.
Vary the loudness of the sound stimulus.
Increase
loudness if your child does not respond.
Decrease
the volume until it is at a level where your child consistently responds.
Change
the sounds introduced. Use toys (e.g., rattles, whistles, bells, music,
squeaky toys), and draw attention to environmental sounds (e.g., vacuum,
doorbell, trains, airplanes, cars, motorcycles, blow dryers, etc).
Combine
touch and visual cues with sounds to train your child to respond to each new
sound introduced.
Reinforce
responses with smiles, praise, touch and cuddling.