SPEAK CLEARLY AND IN FULL SENTENCES...

It is very important to speak clearly and in a full sentence...do not over emphasise your words.

KEEP THE LANGUAGE SIMPLE - Teaching your child their language should be fun :) It is important to keep the language simple and repeat and repeat the same words and short sentences as often as possible. Build their language slowly.

Take one word out of the sentence,that you want to teach your child...and then repeat the word in a short sentence.

For example if you are talking about a 'book' say

'Book'

'This is a book.'

'Give me the book.'

'We are going to read the book.'

'Look at the pictures in the book.'

Book was repeated 4 times differently.

Never miss an opportunity to repeat the same words. Concentrate on keeping the language simple.

If you would like to encourage your child to repeat the word...say the word 'book'...pause your action and wait...as soon as they say anything (could be a noise or they try and repeat the word)...show them you are happy :) and then carry on.

We were told that a deaf child has the will to learn a language up to the age of 2, after that if becomes much more difficult for them, a bit like us learning a foreign language. When a baby is born, they are naturally listening to speech sounds and communication comes naturally, but for a deaf child this does not necessarily come naturally for them and they need to be taught their communication skills.

We were also told that a deaf child needs to be told a word about 20,000 times before they will have the inclination to repeat the word.

Tell your child a word once a day = 365 times in 1 year

Repeat the same word 10 times in a day = 3,650 times in 1 year

Repeat the same word 50 times in a day = 18,250 times in 1 year

It's the little thing you do every day that adds up to a huge amount over a long period of time. It is the consistent, persistent effort you put in daily that makes the difference.

One of the easiest words I taught my son was the word 'open'. When a door was closed we would walk up to it and I would put my hand on the handle and pause...this encouraged him to look at my face...I would say the words 'open'...'open the door'...I would then repeat the word 'open'...pause and wait for him to use his voice (a sound or even part of the word)...as soon as he used his voice I would be happy :) and open the door. Soon he was running up to the door using his voice so we could go through quickly. I would then start teaching him the word 'door'...'open the door' and expect him say 3 utterances...this was an easy way to build his understanding of the language.

Remember it is important to always make sure your child can see your face clearly...get eye contact at eye level...and hold object you are talking about next to your face...put things you are talking about next to your face.