Auditory memory
Memory is a complex thing which has been a subject of research for many years. We all find some types of information easier to remember than others. Auditory memory is the ability to store information that is heard. The more it is practiced the stronger the ability will become.
Auditory memory develops as a child grows, but for some children and especially those who are deaf or have intermittent hearing loss, Auditory memory can be more difficult. This can affect their ability to follow instructions, pay attention, it can affect their emotions as they become aware of this difficulty, they may become frustrated.
Signs of poor auditory memory
- Unable to follow complex instructions
- Find it hard to keep attention focused for any length of time
- Can appear to ‘zone out’ or be ‘in a world or their own’
- May be shy
- May find it hard to tell you about their day or to tell you a story
- Educational progress plateaus
- May become frustrated
Strategies that can help
- Seat the child or young person close to the adult/teacher.
- Keep background noise to a minimum.
- Gain a child’s attention before speaking e.g. use their name.
- Prepare the child or young person for instructions by cueing them in, for example, ‘ready?’, ‘time to listen’, point to your fingers or hold your fingers up to indicate – ‘1, 2, 3’ or ‘first…., second……,’
During activities
- Keep instructions short or ‘chunked’ – it is important to start at level they can achieve and then ‘add one more’.
- Reduce the number of words you use in instructions e.g. ‘please get the plates and cups’ rather than ‘can you do me a favour and get the plates and the cups out of the cupboard?’
- Emphasise the key words e.g. ‘please get the plates and cups’
- Have visual information to support information/instructions where possible e.g. key vocabulary list or pictures.
- Have a model or an example of what they are required to do – real life examples are easier to remember
- Give a child time to respond to instructions – try not to interrupt their thinking!
- Check a child has understood e.g. ‘what have you got to do now?’
- Encourage children to say if they are not sure of what they need to do.
- Make the activities fun!
Activities to help develop a good auditory memory
Listening walk
Walk around the room, house, school, playground etc, how many different sounds can they hear? Can they remember them when they get back to class/home.
Simon says
Build up the number of actions the child has to do – are they listening for the instruction the doesn’t contain ‘Simon says’!
Postman
Give the child a message to ask someone for something. Can they remember the message, can they bring back the correct item/message? As they gain confidence make the message longer or ask them for more items or to go to two people with different messages!
Shopping Lists
Have a ‘bag’ or shopping basket full of shopping items – real or toy ones. Ask the child for a list of items, start with two – ‘can you give me an apple and an orange’ (2 items), if they find this easy ask for more items at one time. Once they start to miss and item or need to ask for the list again, practise at this level until they can do it easily again. Increase to more items!
Treasure hunt
Hide items around the room or the playground. Give the child instructions e.g. ‘walk to the bench, turn left, look behind the shed – go’, you can give short, simple instructions or give them in stages, but then make them harder as you go.
Sentences strings
‘I went shopping and I bought…..’, ‘I went to the Zoo and saw…..’, ‘I went shopping and I bought…..’ This is a great game to play with others, take it in turns – can they remember what each other has said and add one more? It is also a good opportunity to extend vocabulary.
Listen and Repeat
Sentences – ‘the children were playing’, ‘the flower is red’, etc. can the child repeat what they have heard? Increase the difficulty by giving longer sentences – ‘the dog jumped up and took the cake’, ‘the children played on the swings at the park’ etc.
Lists of words – (written so you don’t get confused or forget!) – this could be random everyday words or linked to a topic the child is learning, start with four words, increase the difficulty by increasing the number of words in the list to remember – you can also do this with numbers.
Memory games – add one more
Pretend you are going somewhere – the Zoo, a picnic, the beach etc
‘At the zoo I saw a tiger’, ‘ for our picnic we took a blanket’, encourage the child to add one more – ‘at the zoo I saw and tiger and an elephant’, ‘for our picnic we took a blanket and some cheese sandwiches’, etc, for younger children start this with visual pictures, so they can look at these to help their memory, then try it without.
‘Can I take you order please’
Create a café/restaurant having visuals. One child takes the order – ‘can I take you order’, the other ‘person’ gives their order (increase the number of items they need to remember) e.g ‘I’ll have an ice-cream sundae with strawberry ice-cream, chocolate ice-cream, cherries and caramel sauce please’, or ‘I’ll have a cup of hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows and a slice of raspberry cake’ etc. make it harder by the child having to relay the order to the ‘cook’ and bringing it back.