How to Point Out Sound with Be a Director and Be a Bird Dog LSL Strategies

How does a baby learn that the ring of the doorbell means someone is visiting? Or that the splash of water means it’s bathtime? How do they learn that the honk of a horn means a car is nearby?

Because you tell them!

Your child with hearing loss is counting on you to give meaning to the sounds they hear! And that’s exactly what the Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) strategies, Be a Director and Be a Bird Dog, help you do! When you use these two strategies together, you'll help your child connect sounds to the world around them.

What Does it Mean to Be a Director and Be a Bird Dog?

Be a Director and Be a Bird Dog are LSL strategies based on research that help children with hearing loss learn to listen and talk!

Be a Director is when you intentionally direct your child to listen. When you use Be a Director, you’re developing your child's auditory attention.

Be a Bird Dog is when you go a step further to point out sounds and name them. When you use Be a Bird Dog you're focusing on auditory attention and promoting knowledge of spoken language.

It’s never too early to use these strategies with your baby!

Prefer to watch a video? Click here to watch Dr. Teresa Caraway unpack the essentials of these two LSL strategies.

What Do These Strategies Look Like in Everyday Life?

For Your Baby:

Try Being a Director to help your baby or new listener learn the meaning of the bath water running.

• Point to your ear and say, “Listen!” (pause). I hear the bath water running!”
• Point to the faucet.

Then, try Being a Bird Dog to build upon what your baby has heard and add meaning to the sound.

• Imitate the sound of the water, “Wooshhhhh”
• Then, add a comment using a simple sentence. You could say, “The water is splashing in the tub! It’s bath time!”

You can also try these strategies out by teaching your baby about parent or grandparent voices, coughing, sneezing, or even the doorbell ringing!

For Your Older Child:

If your child is older or a more experienced listener, try practicing these strategies to help them learn to listen the next time a noisy truck drives by!

• Point to your ear excitedly to alert them that there’s a sound you want them to notice. Then say, “Listen!” (pause) I hear that. (pause). I hear the truck driving down the road.”
• Pause and point toward the truck.

Next, try Being a Bird Dog to expand upon the sound and add meaning to what you just pointed out!

• Imitate the sound of the truck, “Vroom, vroom!”
• Then, add a comment using a simple sentence. You could say, “There goes the truck! The truck is picking up the trash!”

By layering meaning onto what your child hears, you’re teaching them how the sound connects to their world.

Better Together

These strategies work best when paired together. As you practice using them in your daily routines, they’ll become second nature!

Let’s try out another simple example of when a family member opens the garage door or comes into the house...

Be a Director and...

1. Point to your ear, and say, “Listen!”
2. Pause for your baby to react, look around, or show anticipation.
3. Say, “I heard something. I wonder who it could be?”
4. Then, go find the sound. You could say, “Let’s go find out!” and walk toward the door.

Be a Bird Dog and...

1. Describe what the sound means as you walk toward the door.
2. Let your baby experience the sound with you.
3. You could say, “I heard dad’s keys in the door!” Imitate the sound and describe it by saying, “Jingle – jingle! Those are dad’s keys opening the door. Dad’s home!”
4. Then, meet dad by the door.

Your child just learned the sounds associated with dad coming home!

Help Your Child Make Sense of Sounds

Remember, as a new listener, your child doesn’t know which sounds are important to listen to yet or what those sounds mean.

You have the important job of helping them learn the meaning of all the sounds they hear around them – and the Be a Director and Be a Bird Dog LSL strategies are your best tools to help you teach your little one!

Find even more examples of the LSL strategies, Be a Director and Be a Bird Dog, inside First LSL Lessons. You’ll find easy ideas for how to incorporate LSL learning into your everyday life!