WHEN A CHILD DEMONSTRATES POOR LISTENING COMPREHENSION,  FINDING OUT WHAT'S GOING WRONG IS IMPORTANT

If you have concerns about your child’s comprehension you may like to ask yourself the following questions.

 Does your child understand what others say?

When people speak to your child does he/she ignore you?

Does your child frequently ask you or others to repeat themselves?

Can your child follow lengthy instructions in a similar way to others their own age? If not, they may not be comprehending and unable to follow simple directions.

Regardless of what your answers may be, hearing still needs assessment.

Why? Because hearing may be an issue and hearing loss needs to be ruled out at some point during the comprehension assessment.

The consequences of poor listening comprehension might be your child shows difficulty in interacting with his or her friends, family, teachers and others... and that's no fun.

The only way to know if there is an issue is via specialised tests using toys and pictures.

Testing may take approximately 30-60 minutes of play and talk time with Fiona.

A fully comprehensive written report is available. This helps with review and reflection on the information needed to assist your child’s development and also aids as additional information for other professionals.

Here are a few examples of what is assessed for toddler’s understanding:

• single words such as the names of objects
• simple instructions such as "Get the car" and "Give me the cup”
• body parts such as "where's your nose" as children around 18 months should be able to point to 3 body parts like: nose, eyes, mouth.

Fiona checks if your child can understand the words alone, or if your child needs gestures such as pointing to help them understand.

For preschool children’s understanding:

• questions starting with "what", "who" and "where" (3 year olds) and "why" and "how" (4 year olds)
• grammar rules
• 2-3 part instructions such as "stand up, clap your hands and turn around"
• single words, such as the words for "empty" and "large".

For school-aged children’s understanding:

• remembering details in stories read aloud to them
• long instructions with words they would hear in a classroom
• grammar rules when used in sentences, such as understanding past tense words
• reading comprehension.

If your child is having difficulty with any areas of their understanding, Fiona assists by not only teaching the child, but the parent or carer as well, by demonstrating how the child can be helped at home with a variety of games and activities.

Book an assessment by contacting Fiona on 0412 281 159