4: Are We Pre-Judging our Deaf or Hard of Hearing Toddlers

Welcome to The Sound Steps Podcast: Conversations in Auditory-Verbal Therapy, exploring fluent spoken language development, conversational competence, clear speech, and age-appropriate development, in children who are deaf or hard of hearing, through the transformative power of listening and parent-centred Auditory-Verbal Therapy, one sound step at a time.In this fourth episode, Shefali Shah invites you to reflect on why we sometimes limit the nature and depth of our engagement with our deaf or hard of hearing toddler. Through this conversation she explains the repercussions of the assumptions we make about what our toddler can or cannot understand, on her spoken language development. When we pre‑judge our toddler’s ability, we unintentionally withhold the very language, stimulation, and interaction she needs to learn and thrive.In conversation with Rashi Sanghi, mother of a bi-lateral cochlear implant recipient, in the early days of Auditory-Verbal Therapy, Shefali Shah guides, coaches, and reshapes her approach to spoken language development in her child with hearing loss, revisiting real moments of daily interaction. Together, they rework these situations to restore variety and richness, using the techniques of Auditory-Verbal Therapy such as Sabotage and Modelling to accelerate the development of both receptive and expressive spoken language.Toddler development tells us that young children are constantly telling and showing us what they've understood and whether they are ready to move on. Are we observant enough to trust them?This is The Sound Steps Podcast.🎧 Top Tips from Episode 4Bring abundance, variety and richness of experiences into every day. This positions your child to build new connections in language and thinking. Observe your child and trust her. Resist pre-judging your child.  Observe and analyse your child’s reactions and responses while you engage her. Use Sabotage wisely. Intentional interruption invites natural language use and sustains attention. Keep Modelling. This accelerates the development of receptive and expressive language in your deaf or hard of hearing toddler. Time Stamps:00:00:00 Introduction to this episode00:01:03 Choosing Auditory-Verbal Therapy for your deaf or hard of hearing child00:01:35   90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents00:01:41 AVT facilitates age-appropriate development00:02:43 Abundant choices open up through AVT00:03:07 Early identification and the fitting of early and optimal amplification.00:03:15 A life free of limitations           00:03:24 Show notes, Top tips and Time Stamps00:03:33Links and contact details00:03:42 Resources on this topic00:03:47 Introducing our guest: Rashi Sanghi00:04:30 The Sound Steps Podcast is rooted in the real-life experiences of Sound Steps’ families00:04:40 AV Techniques 00 :04:58: AV Technique: Sabotage00:05:21: AV Technique: Modelling00:05:52 Do we have preconceived notions about what our toddler can or will understand?00:6:11 Explaining to our child through books00:06:21 Hesitating 00:06:41 Doubt00:06:58 How to determine readiness00:07:07 Preparation00:07:11 Can one ever know the readiness of another?00:07:27 Trust your child00:07:57 Holding off on pre-judging the other00:08:09 Offer our child a banquet of experiences and spoken language opportunities00:08:20 Abundance, Variety and Richness00:08:33 Steady progress00:09:36 Appreciating the other00:10:00 Using the language of emotion and appreciation00:10:20 Sufficiency of experiences00:10:37 Bringing sufficiency into Follow-up00:10:52 Generalisation00:11:01 Sufficiency of experience generates a strong foundation with which to create 00:11:33 Creating new connections in language development00:12:47 Modelling00:13:10 Sabotage00:13:44 Understanding that using one’s voice fulfils my needs.00:14:58 Typical development in 21+ month olds00:15:30 The need for generalisation 00:16:31 Bringing in the richness of linguistic experiences00:16:40 Let’s not pre-judge00:17:09 Lay out a diet of enriched language experiences00:17:17 Encourage your child to show you what she wants to learn.00:17:34 Using Sabotage to support the development of expressive language 00:18:52 Engage but also observe and analyse00:19:36 The value of Generalisation.00:20:20 Neural plasticity00:20:45 Allow your child to demonstrate what she is ready to absorb00:21:34 Steer engagement based on your child’s readiness and willingness as demonstrated 00:22:05Context conveys meaning00:22:40 Let’s not put our children on a diet00:22:47 Offer a feast00:23:00 Reflection00:23:35  Our next episode features a celebrity guest: Warren Estabrooks🔗 Links: 💬 Submit your question to the show: https://www.soundsteps.uk/podcast-ask-question/ 👩‍⚕️ Face-to-face AVT with Shefali Shah (London): https://soundsteps.uk 🌐 Online AVT sessions available via AVT Direct: https://avtdirect.com 🎓 Train online as an LSL professional in AVT: https://learnavt.com 📧 Contact Shefali directly: [email protected] 📘 Resources: Brazelton, T.B., Sparrow, J.,D.,(2006), Touchpoints Birth-Three, Da Capo Press Estabrooks, W., Morrison, H.M., MacIver-Lux, K., (2020) Auditory‑Verbal Therapy: Science, Research and Practice, Plural Publishing Inc, San Diego, CA Galinsky, E.,(2010), Mind in the Making, The Seven Essential Skills Every Child Needs, Mariner Books