Many young children have a short attention span and find it difficult to listen to and follow instructions. Children need to develop their ability to listen as they get older.
If you feel that your child does not listen to you it could be because s/he has not understood what has been said or s/he has difficulties with hearing or it may be thathis or her attention and listening skills are not yet developed enough.
To help your child to listen to what you are saying use the following strategies:
- Get your child’s attention by calling their name before you give an instruction.
- Present information in short chunks to allow your child time to process it.
- Support your child’s learning as visually as possible, e.g. show him/her what to do rather than just saying it
- Use a lot of repetition when explaining ideas or tasks to you child.
- Encourage your child to repeat things back to you to ensure that he/she has understood.
If you have concerns regarding your child’s spoken language development see our 'Activities, Ideas and Info' section. Discuss your concerns with your health visitor or the staff at your child’s setting/school who may also have helpful suggestions. If you would like an assessment of your child's speech and language we would be happy to see you.
If your child is a pre-schooler please come along to one of our drop-in sessions. If your child is at school you can ask his or her teacher to refer to us (see our 'referral' section for details).
Alternatively, you could visit your local children’s centre and find out when the Speech and Language Therapist is next in so you can chat to her.