Are you looking for interventions for kids that struggle with learning activities that require reading? If so, keep reading.
1. Create an environment that is quiet and tidy (e.g., clean, well-lighted, fresh-smelling, and at a comfortable temperature).
2. Converse with the student before starting a learning experience and remind them of the importance of listening to others.
3. Provide the student instructions to follow with no more than two or three steps (e.g., “Please open your text and turn to page 28.”); directions that involve several steps can be confusing and cause the student to have difficulty following them.
4. Do not criticize when correcting the student; be honest yet compassionate. Never cause the student to feel negatively about themselves.
5. Create rules for listening (e.g., listen to instructions, ask questions about instructions if they are not grasped, follow the instructions, etc.). These rules should be consistent and followed by everyone in the class. Talk about the rules often.
6. Provide information in an assortment of ways (e.g., images, diagrams, gestures, etc.) to enable the student’s capacity and ability to attend.
7. Do not give instructions to the student from across the room. Go to the student, get their full attention, and explain the instructions to him/her.
8. Urge the student to ask for clarification of any directions, explanations, and instructions before starting a task to enable comprehension.
9. Get the student to ask for help when they need it.
10. Urge the student to create an understanding of themselves and their surroundings. Train the student to periodically step back and ask themselves, “Am I listening and paying attention?” “What should I be doing now?”
11. Urge the student to create an understanding of the consequences of their behavior by writing down or talking through problems that may happen due to their failure to listen for sustained periods (e.g., not focusing on instructions may cause misinterpretation of a task that could lead to a lower grade and losing a place on the soccer team).
12. Urge the student to say a mantra to themselves when entering a situation where they will receive instructions or information (e.g., listen carefully, listen carefully, listen carefully).
13. Teach the student listening skills: • Separate working. • Clear desk of nonessential learning materials. • Attend to the source of information. • Jot down essential points. • Ask for clarification. • Wait until all instructions are received before beginning.
14. Assess the difficulty level of information that the student is required to listen (e.g., information communicated on the student’s capacity and ability level).
15. Provide instructions in an assortment of ways to enable the student’s capacity and ability to attend.
16. Let the student occasionally take tasks home when the class setting is overly distracting.
17. Select a peer, paraprofessional, etc., to signal the student when they are not listening (e.g., the person can touch the student’s arm as a signal that they are not focused on the speaker).
18. Assess the visual and auditory stimuli in the classroom and remove or lessen the unnecessary environmental stimuli.
19. Get a peer to give the information that the student does not hear.
20. Get the student to take part in practice learning activities designed to create their listening skills (e.g., following one-, two-, or three-step instructions; listening for the main point; etc.).
21. Read this article that we wrote on developing listening comprehension skills.
22. Read this article that we wrote explaining why verbal comprehension skills are important to academic success.
23. Read this article that we wrote on what you should do when your child struggles with verbal comprehension.
