Triveni Goswami Vernal
(Registered Special Educator CRR A64010)

The previous blog shed light on Receptive Communication (that include skills like Listening, Reading, interpreting information/gestures/social cues) and Expressive Communication (abilities that help an individual to communicate his or her thoughts, ideas, opinions, emotions etc., to others) and how both are equally significant in shaping an individual’s communication skills.

In this blog we will look at the activities that can be done to develop and enhance Receptive Communication skills and in the next blog, we will look at Expressive Communication Skills.

RECEPTIVE COMMUNICATION:  Activities to develop Receptive Communication should ideally focus on—
a) Auditory Processing Skills
b) Auditory Memory / Auditory Sequential Memory
c) Follow Instructions
d) Inferential Thinking Skills (ability to draw conclusions just by listening to what has been said, even if the entire information has not been shared explicitly).

ACTIVITIES FOR AUDITORY PROCESSING SKILLS:
a) Simon Says
b) Auditory Discrimination games
c) Musical Chairs
d) Story Recall
ACTIVITIES FOR AUDITORY MEMORY /AUDITORY SEQUENTIAL MEMORY
a) Forward /Backward Digit Recall
b) Forward /Backward Alphabet Recall
c) Repeating a string of related words, in the same sequence.
d) Repeating a string of unrelated words, in the same sequence.

ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP THE ABILITY TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS:
a) Listen and Do worksheets (can be Listen and Colour, Listen and Draw etc)
b) Simon Says
c) I Spy (you describe something you see in the room /on the table and person has to listen and guess what it is)

ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP INFERENTIAL THINKING SKILLS:
a) Guess the Sound (Identify the sound being played, by merely listening to it)
b) Use short descriptive sentences in a paragraph to guess the context, location, or scene.
c) Play an audio clip (that may have various kinds of sounds…such as sad/melancholic, scary or happy cheers etc) and ask the person to guess what a person might feel in such a situation.
d) Use audio books to model inferential thinking. For example, based on a description given in a segment of an audio book, one can model what the character may be thinking or experiencing. Once this kind of modelling is practiced, several times, the child may be able to make similar inferences over time.

REFERENCES:
https://www.twinkl.co.in/resource/animals-of-australia-listen-and-colour-worksheet-au-l-1753183284
https://soundsory.com/auditory-processing-activities/
https://www.communicationcommunity.com/inference-activities-for-speech-therapy-freebie-included/
https://pridereadingprogram.com/improve-auditory-processing-with-these-fun-activities/?srsltid=AfmBOorEqnuMTZRX7HeYNvQppLH_FXIjn-r5c94jzTN-BT2LiRUu2i6H
https://www.theottoolbox.com/auditory-processing-activities/
https://connect.humber.nhs.uk/resource/auditory-processing-and-memory-games/


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Author Triveni Goswami Vernal

Triveni Goswami Vernal is an Autism advocate, registered Special Educator (CRR A64010) and an Independent Researcher. Her areas of interest include Autism, Disability Rights, Gender, Art and Northeast studies. She is a mum to an 12 year old on the Autism Spectrum.

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“Purple Skies”
Acrylic Painting and Collage on Canvas Board
8 x 10 inches
Kabir Vernal