BIG TALKS and BABY TALK
With great excitement I headed off to Denver Colorado in July
for the AGBELL convention “Hear in Denver” – the bringing together of deaf
people, parents of deaf children and the professionals with whom they work. The
strapline of this international meeting was “Accelerating Progress, Advancing
opportunity” and it lived up to this motto. Progress was accelerated through a
rich programme of research and practical workshops and opportunity was in
abundance; not only to understand the principles of developing language in the
deaf population but also to network, revive forgotten skills (such as dancing
the Macarana) and share stories and resources.
A highlight for me was attending a “BIG TALK” by Carol
Flexer and Jane Madell, world renowned audiologists and authors who have
changed the face of paediatrics audiology world -wide. This double act, Batman
and Robin of the Audiology world, made talking through audiograms feel like an
adventure, I left feeling I had an ounce of their superpower along with the
refrain “hearing is about the BRAIN”.
Having the opportunity to deliver two “BIG TALKS” was a
great privilege. It meant sharing ideas, research and stories with teachers,
therapists and parents based on our professional experience
in the UK. The first of these was about “Theory of Mind” (the ability to
understand that another’s’ mind is different to one’s own). Typically hearing
children develop Theory of Mind naturally and show key development around the
age of four. Children with hearing loss can have difficulty in this domain,
largely due to the lack of overhearing – most do not have access to the
conversation that occurs between two other people and therefore miss that the
people can express different perspectives about the same event. The talk looked
at a developmental rather than remedial model – fostering Theory of Mind from
the earliest moments with a child who has hearing loss. A big message was using
“causal explanatory talk” explaining the feelings of others to children and the
reasons behind them eg. “Daddy is very cross because he lost his keys”; “the
man is laughing because his daughter is doing a funny dance”. The delegates had
great fun designing activities to implement in their classrooms/therapy
sessions/living rooms: birthday cards were crudely drawn with crayons, Snakes
and Ladders was negotiated – kindergarten-style, and Red Riding Hood was eaten
by a scary wolf! All in a way that exposed how people were thinking and feeling
and developed the understanding that happens between two people i.e. Theory of
Mind.
The second
“BIG TALK” was entitled “Turning Pages: Advancing Progress and Accelerating
Opportunity Through Book Sharing.” This session looked at book sharing between
0-5 years olds and their parents. We also launched “Baby Talk” a board
book we have recently developed to encourage early book sharing with babies.
The book features children wearing hearing aids and cochlear implants and is
designed for babies as young as three months of age. At this stage, babies love
looking at faces and the aim is twofold: to enable children with hearing loss to
see pictures of other children wearing technology such as hearing aids or
cochlear implants.
Pretend play develops at about 18 months and using
the pictures can act as a bridge for this – feeding the babies in the book with
a spoon, brushing their hair with a brush, or using a blanket to play “peekaboo!”
A favourite
quote by Jacqui Kennedy states “There are many little ways to enlarge your
child’s world, a love of books is the best of all”. The talk then went on to
discuss how “Baby Talk” can be used for book sharing at different stages of
development. The plot thickened when toddlers came into play and research on
story structure was analysed with practical examples. At about two years of
age, children begin to follow a plot and stories like “Where’s Spot?”
can be instrumental in the development of this.
The
international audience from America, Australia, Spain, Argentina and Denmark enjoyed
hearing about English authors such as Jez Alborough and Shirley Hughes and the
development of emotional vocabulary and social interaction was demonstrated
through interaction with books using members of the audience. These books can
be used around the age of 3 to start discussing emotion and encourage making
friends.
Great conversation was stimulated and we left
with a list of new books to enlarge children’s worlds and empty suitcases – all
the copies of “Baby Talk” snapped up and in the hands of parents, therapists
and teachers eager to share books with little ones.
My reflection
on this experience is that in a current world that is fragmented and uncertain,
it is so important to join with people who have a common goal, to accelerate
the progress of others and one’s own progress, to advance the opportunity of
others and one’s own opportunity. When something moves us to act to better the
lives of human beings, we are united, wherever we are from, be it through
audiograms, books, Theory of Mind or whatever means may motivate us to make a
change.
To find out
more visit us at www.avuk.org.