Identify the Sounds
The exercises in this activity test the ability of the child to identify various sounds. These exercises would show any deficiency the child has in making out the sounds.
In case the child has difficulty in identifying the sounds, the first step is to find out if the child can hear properly. A proper medical examination is required.
Few children, though they have no problem in hearing, find it difficult to make sense of what they hear. This is called auditory processing disorder or APD. If the child has APD then proper remedial measure must be undertaken. An audiologist can make an assessment to find out if the child has APD and he would be able to suggest suitable remedial action. Please see the notes on APD in this site.
How is the activity organised?
There are eight lessons in this activity. Each lesson deals with a type of sound we commonly hear.
Study the response of the child. If the child cannot identify the sounds or is if she/he experiences some difficulties in doing the exercises get expert help.
These exercises are straight forward. Just follow the instructions.
If the child experiences any difficulty in doing the activity, get expert help.
Children with Auditory processing Disorder(APD)- read the notes in the Home Page of this site to know more about this disorder- may have difficulty in picking out a particular sound from a mix of sounds. The ability to pick out a particular noise in a noisy setting is known as auditory figure- ground discrimination. Children with poor auditory figure- ground discrimination may find it difficult to pick out the voice of the teacher in a noisy class.
One remedy is to record in noisy settings ( in a mobile)and ask the child to identify a particular sound or to identify the voice of a particular person. This can be done at home. Let all the members of the family talk at the same time. A TV or a radio can be switched on. From the recordings made, ask the child to identify a particular sound/voice. Recordings can be made in railway stations at the time of arrival of a train. This is the time when lots of noise are there. Be on the look out for noisy settings and make recordings of these wherever possible. Children can be exposed to a variety of noisy situations.
Also record different sounds on the lines of this activity and ask the child to identify the sounds.
Give dictation of similar sounding words so that the child gets enough practice to improve her/his auditory discrimination skill. Example: proper, prosper, property, prosperity