WHAT ARE ATTENTION AND LISTENING SKILLS?
Good attention is the ability to focus the eyes and/or ears on something specific
for a certain length of time.
The ability to attend to something or someone is important for all types of
learning, particularly speech and language development. A child must be able to
listen and attend to what is happening around him in order to understand it. The
same skill is necessary to understand what words mean and how they are used.
A child needs to listen to sounds around him, to speech sounds, to words and to
sentences before he can learn to speak for himself.
Without the ability to hear, a child will not be able to develop listening skills!
If there are any doubts regarding the child’s hearing, these need to be raised with
the child’s parents so that a hearing assessment can be carried out.
WHY ARE ATTENTION AND LISTENING SKILLS IMPORTANT?
A good attention span is needed before a child can begin to understand
language. Extending the time a child is able to concentrate on one activity will
develop his/her attention and listening skill. Many young children have a short
attention span and those with communication difficulties may have particular
problems with concentration.
Attention is the basis of ALL learning. Children must learn to ‘listen’ and
‘look’ appropriately and to control their own focus of attention.
WHY DO CHILDREN HAVE ATTENTION AND LISTENING DIFFICULTIES?
Nowadays the world around us is very visual. Television is the main example of
this, but other things concentrate on using the eyes rather than the ears, e.g. Wii
games, Nintendo DS games, Playstation games, mobile phones etc. When
sound is used, it is often in the form of a very loud noise, or constant background
noise, e.g. traffic and music. The volume is sometimes so great that children
learn to “shut off” the noise rather than listen to it. All this can result in children
finding it difficult to listen to quieter sounds like speech.
The ability to listen and concentrate is an important part of all children’s speech
and language development. For children with delayed or disordered
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communication skills, it is even more important that they are encouraged to
develop good listening and attention skills.
HOW DO I KNOW THAT A CHILD HAS LISTENING AND ATTENTION
DIFFICULTIES?
The following behaviours can be indicative of listening and attention problems,
either in isolation or a combination of many
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Easily distracted from listening
Difficulty listening in noisy environments
Difficulty in following verbal instructions
Slow or delayed responses to verbal stimuli
Frequently asks for repetition of instructions or question
Often misunderstands what is said
Localisation problems – can’t follow who’s talking in a group
WHAT CAUSES ATTENTION TO WANDER?
1. Something else is going on at the same time:
 Find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed
 Turn off the TV/music/games etc
 Pack away toys which could be distracting
 Encourage the child to choose what s/he wants to do, and to put one
toy away before getting the next one out
 Try to give him/her frequent reminders/visual cues to focus his
attention. Use his/her name, or a phrase such as “Look at this” before
speaking
2. Boredom
 Choose activities which interest him/her and that s/he enjoys
 Play for short periods but often, rather than having long sessions that
lead to battles
 Gradually lengthen the time s/he does an activity
3. Not understanding what is going on/being said
 Encourage the child to look at you when you speak to him/her
 Introduce activities clearly, using visual cues e.g. a visual timetable
 Keep activities/explanations simple
4. Finding activities too difficult
 Adapt the game to the child’s ability
 Show the child by example
 Set limits/rules within a task, e.g. ‘Pairs’ – present only 4 pairs at first
rather than 20, and build up slowly
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
Reward the child’s attempts e.g. “That was a good try!”
5. Feeling threatened or under pressure
 Make activities “FUN!”
 Let others take turns first
6. Middle ear infections causing hearing difficulties
 (Refer to Hearing Difficulties advice sheets within other Areas of
Concern))
 Use more visual cues e.g. pictures, written words etc
 Get the child’s attention before speaking
7. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
 Make increased use of brain gym activities
 Give the child a stress ball to use during quiet listening tasks
8. Illness
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