About Let’s
Listen and Talk
Let’s Listen and Talk is a programme for deaf children from birth to 5 years old provided by specialists at The Elizabeth Foundation.
Helping babies and young children with all degrees of deafness
We have created Let’s Listen and Talk specially for families and professionals who want to help deaf babies, toddlers or preschool children develop their listening, spoken language and communication skills.
Let’s Listen and Talk enables you to access The Elizabeth Foundation’s decades of experience and expertise in helping young deaf children learn to listen and communicate, even if you’re not able to attend our family centre in person.
Our shared goals
The Let’s Listen and Talk programme has a few simple goals for your deaf child.
Our shared goals are:
Wearing hearing technology
Your child wears – and actually enjoys wearing – their hearing aids or cochlear implants all their waking hours.
Using their voice
Your child is confident to use their voice – recognising that sound and words are an effective way to get what they want.
Learning to listen
Your child is learning how to listen using their hearing technology – and becoming curious about new sounds they hear.
Communicating effectively
Your child is increasingly communicating effectively – it is entirely natural for them to listen and speak.
Understanding speech
Your child is beginning to understand what others are saying to them – so their world is increasingly making sense to them.
Common questions
These are answers to some common questions about Let’s Listen and Talk. If you have any other questions that we do not answer here, please contact us.
The main aims of the Let’s Listen and Talk programme are to enable children to develop their listening and spoken language skills as well as build their self-esteem, and give parents the confidence and knowledge to make informed decisions on behalf of their child.
We achieve this by:
- helping families understand more about their child’s deafness and practical activities they can use all day, everyday to help foster their child’s communication skills
- providing information resources and training to the range of professionals involved in supporting preschool deaf children and their families
The Let’s Listen and Talk programme is provided by The Elizabeth Foundation (see below) for the many families and professionals who would like to access our unique expertise and evidence-based resources but are not able to attend our family centre in Hampshire in person.
Our Let’s Listen and Talk course leaders and advisers have many years of practical experience supporting young deaf children and their families.
Let’s Listen and Talk is suitable for:
- any family with a baby or young child (under 5 years old) with any degree of deafness who would like to help their child learn to listen and talk
- professionals providing education, health or other services for deaf children and their families.
Let’s Listen and Talk supports speech and language development for young deaf children from birth to 5 years old. We have divided the programme into three age groups:
- Baby Programme: birth to around 18 months (available now)
- Toddler Programme: around 18 months to 2½ years (available now)
- Preschool Programme: around 2½ to 5 years (available now)
We define the boundaries between these age groups quite loosely, so the stage of the programme you use with your child may not necessarily be the same as their actual age, especially if they are close to the boundary between two age groups, if they were delayed in receiving effective hearing technology, or if they have any additional needs.
The simple answer is no. What matters is where they are in their journey developing good communication skills. The families who choose to use our programme have children with all degrees of deafness – ranging from moderate through to severe and many who are profound.
Most of the children have sensory neural hearing losses and/or Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD). This means their deafness is permanent. Some of them may also suffer from glue ear’ as well. For those without a permanent deafness (ie glue ear) the impact will be such that it has resulted in a significant delay in their speech and language development.
We are flexible and experienced in supporting children with all types and degrees of deafness. There are many causes of deafness, some of which might result in additional needs and we have experience working with children with very varying ability.
We have designed the Let’s Listen and Talk programme to fit into everyday, busy family life. The more time you spend, the more you and your child are likely to get from the programme, but just 15-30 minutes most days can make all the difference!
We have also tried to keep the Let’s Listen and Talk activities as simple as possible, requiring minimal preparation, and using objects and toys that you will probably already have around the home (or that are easy to obtain).
We have split all of the online information into short and quick-to-read chunks (organised into three programmes, each divided into sections and topics), illustrated with photos and videos, and our online system keeps track of where you’ve got to and what you’ve completed. We have made the online materials accessible through computers, tablets and smartphones via this website and the app, so it is easy for you to access whenever you want and wherever you need. And your profile will move with you between the different platforms. So, for example, you could start a lesson on your computer then log-in using your phone when you’re out and about to pick up where you left off.
Whilst the focus of our Let’s Listen and Talk programme is on developing your child’s listening and spoken language skills, we recognise that many families may also wish to sign with their child.
In our experience, the two approaches can work well together provided the signing approach is one appropriate for use in conjunction with spoken English. The evidence also shows that learning sign language does not interfere with the development of spoken language.
Please note: The Elizabeth Foundation is waiving all fees until further notice for the Let’s Listen and Talk programme so that families who need it at the current time can benefit from our advice, information and guidance.
The Elizabeth Foundation is a registered charity and relies on income from a range of sources to support as many deaf children and their families as we can, wherever they live – please consider making a donation to help support the costs of us providing free access for families to the Let’s Listen and Talk programme.
It is quick and easy to join any of the Let’s Listen and Talk programmes – the Baby programme, Toddler and Preschool programmes are all available now.
To join:
- Either go to our Join page or go to the relevant programme page (Baby, Toddler or Preschool)
- Click on the ‘Join this course’ button.
- You will then be asked to complete a quick sign-up form
- You will then be able to access the course materials immediately – for all courses, no matter which course you initially join.
Or you can go to the ‘How to join‘ page and select the programme you want to join.
Let’s Listen and Talk isn’t your typical online programme. Yes — we use the web and digital tools to make things easy for you — but the real magic is in the personal support we give you. Your course leader will provide guidance tailored to your needs:
- for families, we will use the information you provide about your child, your real-life routines, and what matters most to you.
- for professionals, we can offer practical advice to help you meet the needs of the children and families you support.
Let’s Listen and Talk is flexible, modern, and built around you. You can find out more on our key features page.
How we help deaf children learn to listen and talk
In this video, you can listen to the experiences of the mother of a young boy who has attended The Elizabeth Foundation’s preschool nursery in Portsmouth since he was diagnosed as a baby.
She talks about the approach we use at The Elizabeth Foundation and why she thinks her son and their family have benefited from it. Towards the end of the video you will see examples of some of the activities you will learn in the Let’s Listen and Talk programme.
Riley’s story
About The Elizabeth Foundation
The Elizabeth Foundation is a registered charity, based in Hampshire, UK. We facilitate early diagnosis for babies and preschool children with all degrees of deafness and provide comprehensive educational and support services for them and their families.
By doing so we enable these children to develop their listening and spoken language skills, as well as build their self-esteem and give parents the confidence and knowledge to make informed decisions on behalf of their child.
We offer baby, toddler and preschool nursery sessions at our family centre during term-time, alongside our online services for families and professionals unable to access our face-to-face services.