Some children work on improving specific sounds that they have difficulty hearing and saying. In addition, some children work on improving their voice quality and ability to control the loudness level of their voice. Still others focus on using vocalizations appropriately and for attention getting purposes. Speechreading includes more than just lipreading words that a person speaks. Speechreading uses all of the information available from a speaker.
Children practice mouthing the words that they are learning to speechread.
This ability can be helpful to the child in various communication interactions. This may include activities such as playing musical chairs, listening to stories on tape or live voice, talking on the voice telephone, following directions and answering questions presented with voice. Also, for children with residual hearing, work on sound letter correspondence aids in literacy development. The Communication Specialists incorporate print materials and writing activities during communication instruction for the purpose of supporting the development of literacy skills. This exposure informs and empowers children to be independent.