Because an audio tape was one of our most successful teaching tools, we place great emphasis on its use. This tape is the first of three avenues designed to help a child with language development. To understand this emphasis, we suggest that you try to imagine the world as a newborn experiences it. To a new baby, everything is new and unfamiliar with very little apparent order. To help understand and sort out his world, he first begins to look for patterns or things that repeat themselves. For example, if he cries when he is wet, he learns that Mom will come to change his diaper. Gradually his skills and his learning become more sophisticated. He not only learns to repeat sounds like "Dada" or "Mama", he also begins to understand that doing so gets big people very interested. Eventually he becomes adept enough with langugage to use it to make specific requests. If, for instance, he says "milk", he gets a drink of milk. But if he is a special child, this kind of ordering and understanding are perhaps not so easy to achieve. The child still needs patterns and sounds that repeat themselves, but now he requires more time and more repetition to find them. Mom and Dad give alot of help but sometimes when their time is limited, they can't provide all the repetition needed to learn. That's why an audio tape of early vocal sounds and words can be so valuable. When it is played every nap and bedtime, the child has an additional chance to hear and organize sounds before going to sleep. Now imagine a typical bedtime. The child is tucked in a cozy bed in a darkened, quiet room. The audio tape is turned on for him and he hears first of all soft, relaxing music which helps his body and mind relax - an important factor in the learning process. Next he hears basic "building block sounds" (alphabet letters) spoken over the music. At first he just listens to the sounds. After a time, he'll probably try making the sounds himself. These will become the foundation for later langugage development. Eventually he can learn to put these sounds together to form words or even sentences. And as with nearly all learning, repetition is the key. The more he hears something, the easier it will be to master. This process not only makes common sense, but is also supported by scientific research. A recent study by two psychologists at the University of Washington/Seattle states that infants as young as six months are listening to and organizing sounds even though they are not speaking. (Science News, 7/15/89). Although the study involved non-disabled children, our experience suggests that the same process is at work for special needs children.
You'll need a tape recorder and either a CD player, a phonograph or a second tape player. When choosing the music you will record, use the most relaxing music you can find. If you don't think you have anything suitable, check your library's collection. Classical music is a good choice but keep in mind that whatever you use should be slow and relaxing. You will also need to make a list of 26 words - one for each letter of the alphabet. Plan ahead so that once you begin you will be able to devote 45-60 minutes to making this tape. First, make a short test tape by recording the music very softly (from either the CD player, phonograph or second tape player) and speaking into the recorder the letter "A"; pause for five seconds and then say "A" again. Play the tape to verify that your voice is soothing, clear and significantly louder than the background music. Now you are ready to make the actual tape. Begin by recording about 30 seconds of the music which will serve as an introduction, then say the letter "A", pause five seconds, repeat "A", pause five seconds, then say the associated word slowly in syllable form (eg. apple would be "a-ple"). Pause about ten seconds, say the letter "B", pause five seconds, say "B" again, pause five seconds, then say your "B" word. It needn't be more than a single syllable: for example, you may choose the word "bus". Continue the process, remembering to maintain a clear and soothing voice. Once you finish, fade the music to Off and press the Pause button on the recorder. Go back to the beginning of your music on the CD, phonograph or second tape player, start recording once more and slowly increase the volume of the music to a pleasant, soft level. This is done because many musical selections do not last the approximately 20 minutes that this tape needs to run. If you're using one that does, there is no need to fade the music to Off and begin again. Simply finish the alphabet, then gradually the volume of the music to the desired level. The last step in either case is to let the music play out. This will help your child drift off to sleep. We also suggest that you make a duplicate recording on the other side of the tape so that when you put your child to bed the next time, all you'll have to do is turn the tape over. This double-sided recording eleminates re-winding each time you wish to play it. Admittedly, there is some work in preparing and making this audio tape. But if you have a child between the ages of newborn and three years and you use the tape twice every day, it can easily be played over 1,000 times, so the long term benefit is well worth the initial investment in time and effort.