Ling Ling Bird Hears with his Magic Ears: exploring fun 'learning to listen' sounds for early listeners: 2020

‘Ling Ling Bird Hears with his Magic Ears’ takes us on an exciting journey through the world of sound – ideal for helping young children in the early stages of learning to listen and speak.
We accompany Ling Ling Bird, who is deaf – his ears don’t work so he uses cochlear implants to help him to hear.
Together we listen to what he hears with his super magic ears!

“Ling Ling Bird likes the big moo cow…but not the cat that says meow.
The lion is loud when it roars; so is the crocodile snapping its jaws!”

Aimed at young children (0-3 years old) and early listeners (listening age of 0-3 years), this 36-page book is bursting with colour – illustrated throughout with bright and bold images, ideal for little people with inquiring minds.

The book is designed predominantly for families seeking a listening and spoken language outcome for their child/ren (but can equally be used as a resource for teaching early sign language). Children first need to learn to listen before they can learn to speak. With a typically hearing child, this happens naturally and automatically; with a deaf child, who has gained access to sound through hearing aids and/or cochlear implants, the process often needs to be more deliberate. The child first needs to learn to pay attention to sound, then to understand that sound has meaning and finally that it has power – they can use their voice to get what they want, to express themselves and to join in with others!

Children will learn to imitate environmental sounds before they can say proper words – so for example, a child will often say ‘baa’ before they say ‘sheep’. This book allows children to hear a range of common environmental ‘learning to listen’ sounds (the more often they hear them, the easier it will be for them to eventually say them) as well as hearing the proper words. The book uses simple rhymes to link the fun ‘learning to listen’ sounds. The use of rhymes aids language development and helps to build phonological awareness.

The book acknowledges that learning to listen and speak is hard work for deaf or hard of hearing children, who often experience heightened levels of auditory fatigue. At the end of the day, as at the end of this book, it is wonderfully relaxing for them to take off their magic ears and enjoy the total silence.

ABOUT LING LING BIRD:

This unstoppable, cochlear implant-wearing bird is on a mission to inspire deaf children to dream big, and to help more people understand both the ongoing challenges faced by - and incredible opportunities open to - deaf children today. Despite his profound hearing loss, he’s not sad and he’s not cross. He has bionic ears that help him to hear! He’s proud of his individuality and bright exuberant personality.

BRIEF EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK:

“This man likes to laugh – haa haa haa;
Sheep don’t laugh, they just go baa…
Ling Ling Bird has a toy train – choo choo, choo choo
and a pet owl – hoo hoo, hoo hoo."

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

While she is inspired by Auditory Verbal therapy, which teaches deaf children with cochlear implants and hearing aids to listen as the basis for learning to speak, the author acknowledges that there are many different and valid approaches to deaf communication. The author fully respects that there is no categorically right or wrong approach; which option to pursue is a deeply personal choice for each and every family based on their own values, aspirations and what works best for them.

The author is grateful for the advice and support of the Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK) team.

Having lived most of her life in the African wilderness with elephants literally on her doorstep, but now happily settled in the UK, Tanya Saunders is a writer, artist, lover of wild places and mother to twin daughters, one of whom is profoundly deaf and wears cochlear implants (her 'magic ears'). She believes that deaf children deserve the same opportunities in life as everyone else; it is not for us to set limits on what they can achieve but rather to give them the platform they need to learn, grow, and attain their goals as equals alongside their hearing peers. Tanya is a Parent Ambassador for Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK), an aspirational organization that teaches deaf children to listen and speak. Her writing is inspired by her own family's speech and language journey with AVUK, alongside numerous other professionals, friends and family members who, as a team, have made truly transformative contributions to her daughter's odyssey into the hearing and speaking world. Although not a professional therapist herself, as a 'parent practitioner' of auditory verbal therapy traveling this road alongside her daughter, Tanya's personal experience and observations can provide helpful insights for other families on the same path. Her vibrantly illustrated stories encourage deaf children to reach for the stars and reassure them that, while it may not be easy, all the hard work involved in learning to listen and speak will be worth it in the end. www.avidlanguage.com/author-tanyasaunders