274 chapter 31
Helping the child learn to make sounds and speak
1. If the child hears at all, encourage her lo notice and listen to different sounds, as
discussed on p. 262.
2. P lay games and do exercises to help her learn to use her mouth, tongue, and lips
(see p. 314 and p. 315). Have her press her lips together as if saying
“mmm,”
, make a circle like ‘O’
as if saying “eee”
, and stretch her mouth and smile
See if she can touch her nose, her chin, and her cheeks
with her tongue. Have her blow soap bubbles, or blow out
candles. Give her foods to chew and suck.
3. Encourage the child to begin to make sounds. ‘Mmm’
is good to start with because it is easy to make. If
necessary, show the child how he can hold his lips
together to make it. Sit close to him so he can see
(and hear?) and copy you. Other sounds that are
usually easy to learn are ‘ah’, ‘ay’, ‘ee’, ‘aw’, ‘o’, ‘p’, ‘b’,
‘t’, and ‘d’. (Keep more difficult sounds like v, ‘w‘ ‘j’, ‘s’
‘n’, ‘r’, and ‘z’ for later.)
4. If the child uses his mouth and lips, but not his
voice, have him feel the ‘buzz’ or vibration in your
throat when you make different sounds. To get the
‘feel’ of different words, you can place his hands
on your cheeks, lips, throat, and chest. Then have
the child feel his own throat, as he tries to copy
you.
5. Also have the child feel and compare the movement
of the air in front of your mouth and his mouth with
sounds like ‘ha’, ‘he’, ‘ho’, ‘m‘, ‘p‘, ‘b’, and ‘f’.
In the same way, have him feel the air move when he
‘blows his nose’ with his mouth closed. Using this, try
to teach sounds like ‘n’ and ‘l’.
6. B egin to teach the child words using the sounds he is learning. First separate the
word into different sounds. To say “Ma,” first get the child to say “m” with the
lips closed. Then “ah” with the mouth open. Then say the word “mah” and have
him try to copy you.
7. A s the child learns words, teach him what they mean,
and have him use them. For example, to teach the child
‘nose’, have hm make the sounds ‘n’, ‘o’, and ‘s’. Then
have him put them together. Ask the child to touch his
nose as he says the word. Have him copy you. Praise
him, and make it a game.
8. Little by little, help the child learn more words and practice using them through
games and daily activities. Have her learn her own name and the names of family
and friends. Build up a word list as explained on p. 265. But do not try to go too
fast. Take time to help her say a few words fairly clearly before going on to the
next.
Disabled village Children