44 basic communication skills
Encourage your child to make sounds
Children start using hand movements and gestures at an early age,
and these can become the basis for developing communication and
sign language. Children also start making sounds and noises at an
early age, and these too can become the basis of communication and
the development of spoken language.
Your child needs to learn that a person makes sounds with the lips, the
tongue, the breath, and vibrations in the throat and nose.
Teach a child how sounds feel in his body, how to control his breath, and
how to shape his mouth and tongue to make different sounds.
As you do the activities below, encourage your child to imitate you. It
can be difficult for a deaf child to learn to make sounds. So when he
does, let him know he has done something important.
• Lay your child on your chest. At first, let him feel your chest rise and
fall as you breathe normally, without talking.
Then talk or sing, letting your child feel
the different ways your chest moves.
La la la...
Encourage him to feel the
breath coming out
of your mouth, too.
• In a natural voice, speak very closely (about 8 centimeters or
3 inches) to your child’s ear. Speaking this close makes sounds
easier to hear. Your child will also feel your breath as you speak.
Manuel,
what are
you making
with your
blocks?
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)