Do I have hearing? How to test your ear for music at home.

Since ancient times, it has been believed that the presence of a musical ear in a person is a gift from God. Scientists explain this concept by the ability to recognize notes, perceive sounds and reproduce them with the help of voice. There are two main types of ear for music: absolute and relative. Nature bestows absolute ear for music from birth. People who possessed it can easily repeat any piece of music. Relative ear can be gradually developed by playing music.

In order to reveal the presence of an ear for music, it is not necessary to turn to musicians. The easiest way to check ear for music- this is to try to repeat the heard melody as accurately as possible, while trying to reproduce the rhythm. Even if it was not possible to repeat the first time, this does not mean that there is no ear for music. This may be due to impaired coordination in the work of the hearing or vocal apparatus. In this case, you can develop an ear for music with the help of special exercises.

So how do you develop your ear? There are many ways. You can sing with an accompanist more often, try to sing two-part melodies, sing the same melodies in different tones, or sing up and down the scale. Singing as part of a choir helps to develop hearing, especially if these are parts of second voices.

Having revealed the presence of an ear for music, many are wondering how to improve their hearing. Firstly, you can train your ear for music with the help of special online programs. You need to try to duplicate songs with your voice. Listening to the melody, you can try to distribute it to the sounds of any musical instrument, such as a guitar.

The guitar is the most common and convenient musical instrument for home use. If you have a guitar at home, and with the help of exercises you still managed to pull your ear out from under the bear, you need to know how to tune the guitar by ear.

To do this, you need to: tune the first string, which corresponds to the note "Mi", the second string needs to be tuned by pressing it on the fifth fret. The tuning lasts until the same sound as the first string is achieved. The third string is pressed at the fourth fret, and must match the key of the open second string. The fourth string is pressed at the fifth fret, and should match the key of the open third string. The fifth string is pressed at the fifth fret, and should match the key of the open fourth string. The sixth string is pressed at the fifth fret and should match the key of the open fifth string.

In order to make it easier to tune the guitar, the sound of the strings can be downloaded. Makes setup even easier special program- tuner. The most user-friendly AP Guitar Tuner 1.02. It can be easily downloaded from the Internet. With the help of these programs, with a minimum of effort, you can achieve the perfect tuning of the guitar, which will surprise even experienced musicians.

Musical development of the child:
33 answers to parents' questions

Part 1. How to determine the musical ability of a child?

"How do you know if a child has a penchant for music?"
"Does he have an ear for music or a sense of rhythm?"
“Is my child strong enough to learn music?”

In this part, we will discuss five questions related to determining a child's musical ability. The answers to these questions will help parents make a serious choice - whether to send their child to study music or not.

Question 1: How to determine a child's penchant for music?

There are three ways to determine the presence of musicality and talent, the level of development of a child’s musical abilities:

• Conversation with a child
• Determination of the general musicality of the child
• Musical Ability Testing

How to determine the musicality of a child in early childhood, at preschool and primary school age, as well as various ways musical ability testing, we'll go into more detail a bit later. Now, I want to draw your attention to the first way.

Talking to a child seems to be the easiest and most elementary way to find out about his abilities and inclination to music, but in practice it turns out to be very difficult. If you just start asking a child, he is unlikely to answer you with anything intelligible. This should be done between times, specially preparing the situation so that the conversation goes naturally, and does not look like an interrogation. You can talk to him during the game or after listening to children's music, you can not talk specifically, but return to the topic you need from time to time.

Be that as it may, the conversation with the child should serve two purposes.

1) You need to determine the emotionality and artistry of the child- how deeply he can experience artistic images and how vividly, emotionally he can convey them. These qualities are equally important for poetry and for music. Therefore, if your child loves and easily memorizes poetry, reads them with expression, tries to convey the mood - he already has a certain artistry and emotionality. All this is an indicator that the child has a penchant for creativity, he can easily study music and achieve success.

If a child is shy, reads poetry dryly and inexpressively, do not draw critical conclusions! Perhaps your child is an introvert, and the deep feelings that overwhelm him simply do not appear "outside". Perhaps he still "does not know how" to express his emotions and feelings (do it consciously). There can be no single approach, each child will have their own characteristics. But if you see that the child is bored, he does not like not only to talk, but also to listen to poetry, it is difficult for him to remember them - perhaps in this case it is better for you to go in for chess or sports.

So, you can determine the emotionality and artistry of a child by simply asking him to recite his favorite poem.

2) Determine your child's interest in music and creativity. What does he know about music, would he like to do it? What does he like more - singing or playing an instrument? Find out from your child what kind of music he likes best (or more specifically: from which cartoon or movie)? What cartoons or movies does he like to watch and why? What books, about what does he like to read or listen to more? Does he have favorite songs? Ask him to sing one of them.

So you can determine the child's penchant for music, as well as find out what he is interested in in life, understand whether he needs to study music more seriously, go to a music school, or is it enough to attend a music and dance club.

Remember, in order to determine a child's interest in music, it's not so much what he answers (most children of the same age tend to have very similar answers), but how he answers your questions. A certain certainty of the child in his tastes is important. If he doesn't care and he doesn't seem to be particularly enthusiastic about music, you should consider whether musical training the child himself (music classes can captivate him, “open”, but they can also reject him - here everything will depend on the child himself and on the skill of the teacher).

If he can say more or less precisely that he likes cheerful, active music, as in such and such a cartoon; that he loves to sing, dance and play on pillows like drums; he loves cartoons about Spider-Man, because he protects everyone and always defeats “bad monsters”, he loves to read encyclopedias about animals, and his favorite song is “ New Year rushes to us ... ”and not only sings, but also starts dancing ... You have every reason to believe that the child will like to play music and he will be able to achieve certain successes.

Question 2: How to determine the presence of musical abilities in early childhood?

Watching a child (or remembering how he was at this age), you can easily determine whether he has or does not have musical abilities.

The following may indicate that a child has a penchant for music and musical abilities developed from birth:

• increased attention of the child to any sounding background,
• a clear manifestation of interest in the sound of music,
• a vivid emotional manifestation of the joy of the baby while playing his favorite music (some children begin to dance without even learning to walk, sitting in the crib),
• the baby loves to listen to different music, not only children's and lullabies performed by his mother.

Some time ago, scientists conducted a special study with babies under the age of one year - with the help of simple tests, they found out that most children supposedly have an “absolute” ear for music from birth. This fact confirms the opinion that all people have approximately the same abilities (including musical ones), and only the level of development of these abilities is different for everyone.

This fact also leads to the following conclusion: the mere presence of abilities does not affect the success of a person in a particular field of activity. You can have musical abilities developed from birth - a beautiful, strong voice, absolute pitch, and at the same time hate music. Any education, including music, exists in order to develop the necessary abilities in its field and provide certain knowledge. What then is important for success? What is important is the interest, the inclination of a person to a certain field of activity, which allows you to develop abilities in this area faster than other people can do. In most cases, this is the secret of the talent, giftedness of some people and the apparent mediocrity and “lack of ability” of others.

The tendency to a certain field of activity usually manifests itself quite early. The musicality of a child can be detected already at the age of one year, if already at this age he shows a clear interest in the sound of music.

Question 3: How to determine the propensity for music in children at preschool and primary school age?

At this age, all three methods are applicable - talking with the child, testing (we will talk about it a little later), and determining the general musicality of the child.

What are indicators of musicality and the availability of abilities in children aged 3-7 years and older?

1) Maintaining Interest in Music manifested in early childhood. If your child interrupts his business and listens to suddenly sounded music, if he likes to listen to various music, not necessarily only children's songs, but also good pop music, classical music, tries to sing along or starts dancing to the music - all this speaks of the child's musicality.

It should be remembered that the upbringing of the child plays a big role in this matter, but not the main one. If a child is musical by nature, he will show it, no matter if you played music with him or not. If by nature he has no inclination, "thrust" for art, you can "break your forehead", but only develop in the child an aversion to music. All you can do is help your child discover his musicality, give him the opportunity to express himself. If a child showed an interest in music in early childhood, but the parents did not pay attention to it, the child's interest is likely to fade. But this can also happen if you worked hard with the child - sang and learned songs, listened to music, played on children's musical instruments. What to do, human nature is a complex and unpredictable thing! :)

2) Your child is easy and for a long time remembers songs he likes. More or less "pure" sings, loves "compose"- compiles some of his songs from words and melodies known to him (in this case, some kind of “potpourri” or something completely unbelievable may come out). Less often - he composes (more precisely, improvises "on the go") his poems and songs - depending on how bright and expressive they turn out (of course, only emotionally, and not in meaning) - one can judge the child's giftedness and the presence of talent. In any case, all this speaks of the musical and creative abilities developed by nature.

3) Does your child love performing in public?, likes to take an active part in matinees and holidays, likes to engage in creativity in any form - sing, dance, draw, sculpt from plasticine. He has a good imagination, he likes to invent - all this is a good indicator of the presence of creativity and music.

Question 4: Does the child have an ear for music?

There are a number of traditional tests to determine musical ear, voice and musical memory. Such tests are usually carried out at an interview when a child is accepted to a music school. These tests are very simple, but they require a minimum set of musical knowledge and skills from parents, and, in some cases, the presence of a piano.

Test 1 Ask the child to come to the piano and turn away. Play two sounds in turn in different registers (upper and lower) and ask him which sound was lower and which was higher.

Test 2 Press one key on the piano and ask the child how many sounds sounded. Now press two keys at the same time (preferably at a great distance from each other), and ask how many sounds have sounded now. If the child finds it difficult to answer, press the same keys in turn. Play any chord with both hands (in a wide range), and ask how many sounds were made (one, or many).

The first two tests check hearing activity, the ability to "navigate in the sound space", to distinguish individual elements from the general sound of music (at the simplest level). They allow you to determine whether the child understands the difference in pitch, as well as the difference between a single sound and several sounded at the same time. If the child finds it difficult - don't worry, it's not so easy to understand these things, usually they are taught at an early stage of education (preparatory / first class of a music school).

Test 3 Sing the note Mi of the first octave (for example, on the syllable "la" or a simple "a") and ask the child to repeat. Then sing the note La of the first octave and again ask to repeat. If you hear that it is difficult for a child to sing in this range, sing the notes higher: Do-Mi of the second octave, or vice versa lower: Small Si - Re of the first octave. Try different notes to determine the range of the child's voice.

It is important that you sing by yourself, without the help of the piano. Use a tuning fork to sing accurately. The fact is that the sound of the piano, as a rule, “knocks down” children, it is more difficult to adjust to it than to the human voice familiar to them. If you don't succeed, and it's hard for you to hit the note exactly, it's better, of course, to use the piano. Do not use children's musical instruments - pipes, xylophones, children's synthesizers and others.

Test 4 Sing a simple, short melodic phrase and have your child repeat it. Here are examples of such phrases:

Test 5 Ask your child to sing their favorite song.

So tests 3-5 allow you to check:

• child's ear for music
• musical memory,
• "reproductive" musical ear(can the child repeat the sounded note and melodic phrase),
• child's voice range
• can the child intotone (sing “clearly”).

Remember, if a child shows an average result, if he can catch at least the direction of the melody without hitting the exact note, then he has an ear for music, albeit poorly developed. There are, of course, exceptions, the so-called "hooters". These children can sing in a very narrow range, have no intonation at all and cannot even understand general direction melodies. In fact, there are quite a lot of such children, but in music schools know how to work with them and, in the end, develop their abilities to a certain level (in addition, the inability to sing does not prevent them from being talented pianists or trumpeters).

Question 5: How to determine the sense of rhythm?

Here are some tests for determining the sense of rhythm, which are also used in music schools during opening talk with baby.

Test 1 Tap (not fast) a simple rhythmic sequence and ask the child to repeat. Repeat the test 2-4 times, depending on the child's progress, using different sequences. For example, these:

Test 2 Have your child march in place to the music. Perform or record any popular, marching music. For example, the song "It's fun to walk together ...".

Test 3 Ask your child to clap their hands to the music (as they do at concerts when the audience likes a song). Play or put on a recording of any rhythmic children's music, for example, Letki-Enki.

If a child has a weak sense of rhythm, this does not mean that it cannot be developed. If a child successfully completes all tests, this means that it will be much easier for him to learn music, but this does not guarantee that he will not get bored in a month.

Conclusions:

1) Parents can easily determine the child's inclination to music, the presence of musical abilities and the level of their development in the above ways.

2) Developed musical abilities, such as an ear for music or a sense of rhythm, do not mean that a child has a penchant for music. It is the interest, the desire to make music that plays a decisive role in whether the child achieves success in music or not (it does not matter, at a professional or amateur level).

3) The absence of pronounced abilities and a clear desire to study music does not yet give the right to consider a child "incapable", "non-musical". Perhaps it is in the process of learning that the child will reveal his abilities and he will have an interest in music (as they say, appetite comes with eating). Thus, until you start making music with your child, you cannot be completely sure that the child does not have the ability and inclination for music.

To be continued...

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If you need to check your hearing, not everyone can promptly visit a hearing specialist. Hearing test today can be performed without his participation, there are several methods.

Test #1 - Hearing Diagnosis Using Headphones

You can check your hearing yourself with a test. It only needs to be done with headphones. To obtain a reliable result, the test should be carried out in absolute silence.

• You must click on the "Continue" button.
• Next, the sound level is calibrated on a personal computer, as required by the program. It is important to make the settings in advance, because no changes can be made during the test.
• A brief instruction will appear on the screen, according to which the test-taker must press the options “hear” or “no”.
• After complete passage test result will appear on the screen.

Test #2 - Hearing test with an audiogram, or audiometry method

When performing this test, it is important to set the volume level correctly. To hear the sound clearly, you must use headphones. This method allows you to graphically represent the degree of hearing loss, the ratio of hearing thresholds and the range of sounds. colloquial speech, audiogram configuration and type of hearing loss.

You need to calibrate the sound using a test signal. Then various tones will be output through the headphones. You won't be able to hear them all, that's fine. Turn up the volume until you hear a beep. This test starts with a low frequency signal and ends with a high frequency signal.

Test #3 - What sound level in Hz do you hear

A healthy person perceives waves in the range of 16-20 kHz - the audible range. Of course, some changes occur with age and the audible range is reduced. Some people do not perceive individual frequencies. There are those that a person perceives not by hearing, but by touch, these are frequencies below 100 Hz. This happens due to the refraction of sound, so you can perceive sound that is not included in the range audible to humans.

With this hearing test, a person is able to determine the limits of the ear sensitivity threshold. Moreover, this method can be carried out for the purpose of diagnosing acoustic equipment. To tune it, an audio frequency generator is usually used.

If, as a result of the test, despite the fact that the subject is a middle-aged and healthy person, it turns out that he does not hear sounds above the 15 kHz mark, then it's time to visit a doctor, there are problems and they need to be solved. As a rule, a violation of sound perception occurs with hearing loss. To avoid illness or at least delay the onset of hearing loss, it is recommended to reduce the duration of perception of loud sounds. In turn, hearing loss can be caused by a rupture of the tympanic cavity.

Hearing loss can be of two types, depending on which ear (inner or outer) is affected. In order to determine this, one should compare the hearing thresholds for air and bone conduction of sound. Let's get back to the test.

If the tested person is mature or even elderly, these indicators can be considered normal, this is due to the fact that age-related changes have occurred in the body. Frequencies closer to 20 kHz are usually only heard by children. Age limit - 10 years.

It should be noted that there is such a thing as absolute pitch. This is the ability of a person to determine the pitch and name the heard notes without listening to the sounds. According to statistics in the world for every 1000 people there is one with absolute pitch.

Video test for the ability to catch the frequency

This text is pure tone audiometry. This is not just a test, but a video test with which you can determine the capabilities of each ear. The test tracks how the sensitivity of each individual ear changes over the years. Sounds are played at different frequencies. After the frequency must be increased. The extreme frequency that the tested person will catch will be an indicator of the auditory age.

• 12 kHz - age less than 50 years;
• 15 kHz - you are under 40;
• 16 kHz - hearing of a person who is less than 30 years old;
• 17-18 kHz - you are under 24 years old;
• 19 kHz - hearing younger than 20 years.

In order for the result to be as reliable as possible, you should use high-quality headphones and watch the video in maximum resolution. The test can be given to children.

Video test for the most acute hearing in the world

Mobile phone applications

Today you can examine hearing with the help of gadgets. To do this, you just need to install the following applications on your phone.

uHear

The uHear app allows you to find out the sensitivity of hearing and determine how a person is able to adapt to the noise around him. To do this, you will need to pass two tests, in time it will not take more than five minutes. Required attribute- headphones, and you can choose any, the main thing is to indicate their type in the test. The principle of testing is extremely simple: noises of different frequencies are reproduced, thus the hearing limit is determined.

The test subject presses the button as soon as he hears the sound. This should not be a reflex, you must answer truthfully, you should not press a button in order to improve the result.

The basis of the work is the same principle as that of Hörtest. If a person hears the sound with the left ear, press the Left button, if with the right - Right. The result is read very simply: the age of a person is estimated according to the sensitivity of his hearing. If it matches or borders on the real age, then everything is fine. If the difference is quite large - you need to take drastic measures.

How else can you test your hearing?

Hearing acuity at home can be checked using a live speech hearing test. This will require a partner. The subject should take a comfortable sitting position and tightly cover one ear with his hand. The second person should whisper two-digit numbers. You need to move at least six meters away. With normal hearing, a person will make out the named numbers from a given distance. Often, at the time of the patient's admission, such a test of phonemic hearing is carried out by an ENT.

You can get a tympanogram. During the procedure, it is forbidden to talk, move and swallow saliva. A probe is inserted into the ear, and then, using a special pump, air is pumped in, which is immediately sucked back. Thus, the membrane begins to move and it becomes possible to assess the resulting pressure. The sound signal evaluates the reflection of sound from the eardrum.

To study the level of hearing, a tuning fork with an oscillation frequency of 2048 Hz is also used. With the help of this examination, it is possible to determine the condition of the sound-conducting and sound-perceiving apparatus. The tuning fork should be brought as close as possible to the ear and held with your fingers. The result is evaluated by a specialist.

You don't have to go to the doctor right away to have your hearing checked. In addition to passing the above tests online, you can find many different test questionnaires on the Internet, which are a series of questions, according to the answers to which the program will make its conclusion about the quality of hearing. This option is suitable for those who do not have a clear problem. Otherwise, you need to visit a doctor.

Often we ask ourselves the question: “Do I have hearing”? Looking in blue screens televisions, we see a variety of vocal competitions. And sometimes the winners of these contests don't even have music education, they just have a hearing and a voice, and the rest is attached.

Usually those people who cannot distinguish a false note from a real one are considered mediocre musically. Those who can not pick up a melody by ear. The very first thing is to sing any melody into a recorder and ask a couple of friends to listen to it. Your friends should be extremely honest. If they say that you "miss" the notes, then most likely you have no hearing. But that's not a problem. Remember that hearing can always be developed.

The next step is to go to a professional. This person should sing and play himself. It is he who can give you the first answers to questions and help you understand what exactly you need to work on in order to develop your ear.

The big problem is that hearing is needed in order to play musical instruments. You just need to hear where you are playing correctly and where you are wrong.

Determine if there is a rumor

To date, there are several ways to check whether there is an ear for music or not.

• Ask someone who can play the piano to play one note for you. In this case, you do not see which key the person played. Memorize this note by ear. After pressing the piano keys yourself, find this key. If you manage to find the same note, then you have a hearing.
• How to check if a child has hearing? Children are tested for hearing by clapping their hands. Clap the melody with your hands, but not the simplest one, and ask the child to repeat it.
• Pick up a pencil or pen. Your friend should tap out any rhythm with an interval of five to eight seconds. You must repeat this rhythm with great precision. Pauses and duration should be the same.

How to find out if there is a rumor, in a more accurate way?

If you can already play the piano yourself, then the "music test" will suit you. You are played alternately one sound after another in the octave where it is convenient for you to sing. And you have to "get" in unison with the sounds that you hear.

After the tasks described above, you can complicate your task. Notes are played for you, and you must write them down in a music book. This is the most accurate way to determine the degree of development of your hearing. But don't worry, over time there won't be a single mistake in your notebook.

The most important thing is not to get upset if your ear for music is not perfect now.

Always work on your improvement. You should always remember that almost all vocal stars developed their abilities through long and hard work.

Simple and affordable methods for testing hearing at home in infants and children early age

Why test your child's hearing

Even a slight decrease in a child's hearing can adversely affect the development of speech. Hearing loss can be either temporary or permanent. With severe hearing impairment, without special help, the baby will not be able to master speech, since he cannot hear the adult and himself and cannot imitate speech. There are times when a child loses his hearing when he has already learned to speak (for example, at 2, 5 - 3 years). In this case, the baby may also lose speech if the teacher does not provide him with special assistance in a timely manner to preserve the existing speech. Deaf teachers are involved in teaching children with hearing impairments.

Hearing may be reduced as a result of hereditary diseases, infectious diseases (mumps, measles, scarlet fever), ear infections, severe influenza, after treatment with antibiotics. A hearing test is done by an otolaryngologist (ENT) in a children's clinic.

A baby's hearing test should be done in the very first months of his life. Since from the date of the beginning of the detection of the problem and the timely pedagogical assistance depends on how well the child develops.

An initial hearing test can be done at home. In this article, you will learn simple and affordable methods for determining hearing in the youngest children, which can be used for home examination of a child's hearing. These methods can also be used by kindergarten teachers to find out the causes of a child's problems - to find out if the child hears them or if he has behavioral and speech problems because he does not hear well. If problems are found, then the child must be shown to the doctor - Laura.

Hearing development in an infant: what you need to know about the development of a child's hearing in the first year of life

In the first two or three weeks of life a hearing child flinches at loud noises.

In the first three months of life you can see how, in response to the sound, he develops auditory concentration (he opened his eyes wide, stopped moving, turned towards his mother). Such a fading of the child in response to the voice usually appears at the age of two to three weeks.

This is easiest to check when the baby is crying. If the child was screaming, and at this time you gave an unexpectedly long sound signal not far from the child (for example, you rang the bell), then he freezes, stops moving and falls silent.

At 1-3 months, a well-hearing child becomes animated in response to the mother's voice.

At one month, the baby turns in response to the sound of a voice behind him.

At three to six months the baby also, in response to the sound, opens his eyes wide, turns in the direction of the sound.

From 4 months the child may first look with his eyes in the direction of the sound, and then turn his head in this direction. In premature babies, this reaction appears later. For the first time, such a reaction is observed on the voice of the mother. Also, from 4 months, the baby turns his head towards the sounding toy.

Hearing baby at 3-6 months does not like sharp sounds, shudders from them (for example, if someone suddenly called the apartment), opens his eyes wide and freezes. May scream in response to a sharp sound or cry.

An indicator of good hearing development also is cooing and babbling. At the age of about 4-5 months and older, cooing in a healthy child gradually develops into babbling. In response to the appearance of a close adult, the baby babbles intensely. At the age of 8-10 months, babbling develops and new syllables and sounds constantly appear in it (if an adult talks to a child, supporting his babbling). In a hearing impaired child, babbling appears, but does not develop further, since he cannot imitate an adult.

From six months the child can find the sound source (voice, bell, musical toy) located to the right, left, behind him (if he does not see the sound source and is guided only by hearing). Premature or hearing-impaired babies do not do this and remain at the level of a 3-6 month old infant. That is, they react with a wide opening of their eyes, freeze, scream. But they can't find the source of the sound. They will learn this later.

This is very important: up to four - four and a half months, the development of a deaf or hard of hearing child is no different from the development of a hearing baby! All children - even deaf ones - walk! And then all the children - including deaf children - go from cooing to babbling. But from that moment on, the child with hearing loss begins to lag behind in development. And these differences are growing sharply every month.

If a hearing impairment was detected immediately and the baby was provided with medical assistance and an individual hearing aid was selected, and the exercises recommended by deaf teachers are carried out with him at home, then there will be no lag in the development of such a baby! His cooing smoothly turns into babbling, babbling develops like ordinary child. And the child learns speech naturally. The child hears speech, understands, begins to speak like “normal” peers who hear him. And by the age of three he is already talking with might and main, asking questions - in a word, he is an ordinary baby! What can not be said about deaf and hard of hearing children who were without help until the age of three and therefore at the age of three they are “dumb”, that is, they do not speak at all! Although they have excellent potential for mental and speech development.

Therefore, it is very important to help the baby in time. If it cannot be provided in your city, then you can always contact the regional center or clinic big city. Since exactly The timing of starting care for a hearing impaired child is the most important factor. It is much more difficult to start at the age of three to help a child master speech, when time has already been lost and he has not heard anything for three whole years!

And one more important point– in the case of hearing problems in a child, parents usually think first of all about the doctor. But in order to help a child become a full-fledged person, such a baby really needs, first of all, deaf teacher! It is the deaf teacher who will teach you how to develop your hearing-impaired baby, teach you learning exercises for him, advise you on how best to communicate with your baby at home, taking into account his characteristics, conduct classes and show you the games your child needs and teach you how to play them correctly at home. It is developing classes with a teacher of the deaf that is the key to the normal development of the child. Just an operation (they are now doing operations that help deaf children begin to hear) without remedial classes with a baby cannot fully help the child master speech. In the case of the commonwealth of the family and the teacher of the deaf with the doctor, it is possible to ensure that a child with hearing loss will fully speak and communicate and live a normal, full life.

Below in this article you will find:

Part 1 - a method for testing hearing in a child of the first year of life at home

Part 2 - a method for testing hearing in a child of the second - third year of life.

Part 1. How to check the hearing of an infant (baby in the first year of life) at home

At home, you can check the hearing of babies (even at the age of the first months of life) using pea sampling method. This method was proposed by the Institute of Early Intervention in St. Petersburg. The method can be used by teachers and parents of babies.

How to make materials for testing the hearing of a child of the first year of life.

Take four identical plastic jars from under the kinder surprise or old photographic film.

Jars need to be filled like this:

Jar number 1. We fill one third with unshelled peas.

Jar number 2. We fill one third with buckwheat - core.

Jar number 3. Fill one third with semolina.

Jar number 4. Remains empty.

Why this particular filler is used to test hearing and why it cannot be changed in this technique:

- pea shaking creates a sound with an intensity of 70-80 dB,

- shaking buckwheat creates a sound with an intensity of 50-60 dB,

- shaking the decoy creates a sound with an intensity of 30-40 dB.

If you use jars repeatedly to test a child's hearing and during the first year of life, then change fillers after three months. For example, if you spent pea sample at the age of three months of your baby and want to repeat it at the age of six months, then change the fillers in the jars.

Method for testing the hearing of a child of the first year of life at home

A hearing test is carried out by the mother of the baby with another close adult. It is necessary to conduct a hearing test when the child feels well, well-fed, healthy. It is better to do this an hour before feeding or an hour after feeding.

You need to put the baby on the table or put it in the arms of a close, well-known adult (for example, a grandmother who often takes care of a child or a baby’s dad). This adult, your assistant, must be warned not to move when you make sounds.

Start talking softly to your child, drawing his attention to you.

Now take jar No. 3 (semolina) in your right hand, and jar No. 4 (empty) in your left hand. Shake the jars next to the baby's ears at a distance of 20-30 cm from his ears. The movements of your hands should be the same and symmetrical. Then swap jars in places - take in left hand jar No. 3 (semolina), and in the right - jar No. 4 (empty jar).

Watch your baby - does he react to the sound of a jar of semolina? Does he open his eyes wide, freezes, or vice versa, did the movements suddenly become much more active, blinking, looking for the source of the sound, turning his eyes or head towards the source of the sound?

If the child does not have any reactions to jar No. 3, then we take jar No. 2 (buckwheat) and start a hearing test with this jar.

If there is no reaction to a jar of buckwheat, then we take a jar of peas (jar No. 1) and check the child's hearing with it.

Why is this particular sequence of using jars needed when testing a baby's hearing and it cannot be changed. The fact is that the child quickly stops responding to the sounds that he hears. Therefore, we start the hearing examination with the “quietest” jar and only lastly take the “loudest” jar. If the child clearly reacts to a jar of semolina, then other jars may not be presented.

To more accurately assess the results of a hearing test, two important nuances need to be taken into account:

- It can take up to three to five seconds from the sound to the child's reaction to it. A new sound can only be given when the reaction to the previous sound has completely subsided.

- It is advisable to gently lay the baby's head on the back of the head each time before a new sound (if he turned his head in the direction of the previous sound).

How to interpret the results of a pea test hearing test:

— Up to 4 months baby reacts to jars of buckwheat and peas, and does not react to the sound of a jar of semolina. This is fine!

- With normal hearing, a child older than 4 months has obvious indicative reactions to the sound of all three jars (semolina, buckwheat, peas). He turns his head or eyes towards the source of the sound.

— For hearing loss a child under 4 months or does not react at all to the sound of jars of peas and buckwheat, or either reacts or does not react.

- After 4 months with hearing loss, the child cannot determine the source of the sound. Or does not respond to the sound of even one of the jars.

Reactions of the child of the first year of life to the sound he hears

Below is a list of the most informative for us, of course, reflex reactions of babies to sounds (if there are such reactions or one of these reactions to a sound in the “pea test”, then the baby hears this sound):

- blinking eyelids

- trembling of the whole body,

- freezing (freezing) of the child,

- movement of arms and legs, spreading arms and legs to the sides,

- turning the head to the source of the sound or, conversely, to it (in the case of a sharp sound),

- furrowing eyebrows, squinting eyes,

- sucking movements

- change in the rhythm of breathing,

- Wide eye opening.

Note: If every time the child turns his head in the same direction, regardless of which hand the sounding jar is in, then this may be a sign of one-sided hearing loss. This baby needs an audiological examination.

Is it possible to conduct a pea test with a child after a year? No. After a year, a child will no longer react so much to the noise of a jar, so the test will not be informative.

Exercises for the development of hearing and auditory concentration for children of the first year of life by months are given in the section of the site

Part 2. How to check the hearing of a child from one to three years old (at an early age)

A young child can respond to sounds in the same way as an adult and perceives and understands whispers well from a distance of six meters.

If a child in one and a half - two years practically does not speak or speaks very poorly, then first of all, specialists check the baby's hearing. Since hearing impairment is a very common cause of speech problems in a child.

At home, we can test the hearing of a young child with a specially constructed conversation with him. The technique was developed at the Institute of Correctional Pedagogy of the Russian Academy of Education.

The first way to test hearing in a child 1-2 years old

Put in front of the child well-known toys, the names of which he knows well. Remove everything unnecessary from the table with these toys so that nothing interferes and does not distract your baby. Ask “give the doll”, “show the ball”, “where is the dog? Where is the dog's tail? “Where is the doll’s mouth, eyes, nose”, etc.

First, ask requests and questions to the baby, standing next to the baby and speaking in a clear whisper. Then move back to a distance of 6 meters. Ask in a clear whisper first. If the child does not hear, then louder (conversational voice volume).

If the baby could not fulfill your request, then go up to him and repeat it at a short distance from the baby in a conversational voice. Then again move away and repeat the same request in a whisper (This is done in order to make sure that the baby understands the content of the request).

How to interpret hearing test results with this method:

A normally hearing baby will fulfill your requests given to him in a whisper from a distance of six meters. If he does not hear your whisper, but fulfills requests only when you speak in a conversational volume voice from a distance of six meters, then it is better to double-check the baby's hearing with specialists.

Young children are very spontaneous and mobile and do not yet know how to control their behavior. That's why it is not always possible to check their hearing by this method. Some babies simply do not want to listen and show pictures and there is a false impression that the child has poor hearing. But in fact, perhaps he simply did not want to complete the tasks - he was not interested. What to do? The second way to test hearing in young children will help us.

How to check the hearing of a child aged 1-2 years: the second way

You will need an assistant to test your child's hearing. It can be dad, grandmother, grandfather, older sister or brother of the baby - that is, a person close to him, very well known.

Mom takes the baby in her arms and sits down with him at a large "adult" table. There should be toys on the table (pyramid, liners, cubes, buckets, and so on). Toys should be interesting to the child but still well known. That is, he should be carried away by them, but not to such an extent that he does not notice anything around. new toy it is undesirable to take it for a hearing examination, since the baby can be so carried away by it that it simply does not pay attention to sounds (remember yourself, when you are very passionate about something, you also do not always hear what is being said around you).

The baby, sitting on your arms, plays on the table with toys. Your assistant stands behind the baby at a distance of 6 meters from him and whispers the baby by name. If the child does not respond, then reduce this distance. Again, the assistant calls the baby in a whisper. If there is no reaction even now, let him call the child with a voice of conversational volume.

After that, the mother and the baby continue to play with toys, and the mother’s assistant moves either to the left of the baby at a distance of 6 meters, then to the right of the baby at a distance of 6 meters (we alternate these positions in a random sequence). And beeps from the quietest to the loudest.

List of beeps for hearing test:

- musical hurdy-gurdy toy(high frequency sound)

- a musical toy - a pipe (mid-frequency sound),

- drum (low frequency sound),

- unusual sounds (the rustling of a plastic bag, the sound of buckwheat, peas).

Tips for doing a hearing test for young children with this method:

— Intervals between sound signals do at least thirty seconds.

- The reaction of the child to the signal is considered to be: turning the eyes or head towards the source of the sound.

- When the child turns to the sound, a bright picture or toy is shown as a reward.

- If the child does not respond to the sound, then the assistant reduces the distance to the child and slowly approaches the baby until he clearly responds to the sound. Then you will need to double-check the reaction to this sound from an initial distance of six meters.

We play and test the hearing of a young child.

The same technique can be carried out as a game with a child. Here's how it's done. First, we play those toys that will participate in the baby's hearing test:

- Sharmanka. We demonstrate to the child how the hurdy-gurdy plays and how the doll dances to the sounds of the hurdy-gurdy. And when the hurdy-gurdy stops, the doll hides behind a screen (a large box can be a screen). We call the doll with the child, and she again dances to the hurdy-gurdy.

- Dudka. To the sound of a pipe, a car drives, and when the pipe stops, the car drives into the garage and stops. Invite the child to blow - call the car and show how the car began to drive again to this sound. And how she stopped when the pipe fell silent.

- Drum (quiet thud). By the sound of the drum, a toy bunny jumps. When the drum stops, the bunny hides. Play with a child with a bunny in the same way as playing with a doll and a hurdy-gurdy.

— After that, invite the baby to listen to who will be called now. From a distance of 6 meters behind the child, your assistant plays the barrel organ. The child will turn to this sound, and your assistant will show him the doll in response. We also try the sound of a drum and the sound of a pipe. Will the baby react? If yes, then we show him the car / bunny.

— Then we give the child a doll (lyala), a dog (av-av) and a bird (pipipi) in the hands of the child. Playing with toys and again Let's guess who's calling. Your assistant takes these three toys and stands at a distance of 6 meters from the child, now to the left, then to the right of him. He speaks in a clear whisper: “Aw-aw.” If the child turned to the sound, then they show him a dog. The other two onomatopoeias are also shown.

In order for the baby to react to sounds, it is better to first let him play with these toys, try their sounds, get used to them. And only then do a hearing test.

Interpretation of the results of the hearing test in the second way.

With normal hearing, the child reacts to sounds that are given from a distance of six meters. He can also show toys he knows well, the name of which was whispered to him from a distance of six meters.

If the child reacts only to 1-2 sounds from the entire list from a distance of six meters, then it is better to check the child's hearing with a specialist.

I wish you and your children health and joyful development! I hope that this article will be useful to you and I will be glad to receive your comments.

Until we meet again on the "Native Path".

More about early childhood development on our website:

How to choose a nesting doll according to the age of the child, how to play, poems for games with nesting dolls.

From paper, cardboard, fabric. How to do and how to deal with a child according to the book.

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