LittlEARS Item 3

3. When somebody is speaking, does your child turn their head towards the speaker?

Your child reacts when hearing a speaker and turns their head to look at them.

Example Situation

Just as we see in the photos on the left:

The child is looking to the left side.
The speaker (holding the camera) starts talking.
The child turns his head to make eye contact with the speaker.

How to address this skill:

Direct the child's attention using your voice, "Listen! Auntie's talking!".

You should repeat the attempt to get the child’s attention through listening and wait for the child to localize (turn to) their voice.

If needed, direct the child’s attention toward the speaker after a couple of attempts. You can use gesture (i.e., pointing), to further support communication.

This skill determines if the child notices other people talking.

Take this skill a step further: Does the child know that the speaker is talking to them?

Once the child is able to notice a sound by turning, build into understanding of another person speaking to the child. Greet the child, "Hi, Bubba!" and vary your pitch with a slower rate. The child recognized that the speaker was saying his name to him, so the child smiled.