More About Ling Boxes and Face Masks

What is the Ling Six Sound Test? The Ling Six Sound Test was created by Daniel Ling (a foremost authority on the teaching of speech to deaf children) as a quick method to ensure that a child’s hearing technology (such as a cochlear implant) is functioning properly. It’s a low tech but effective way to know if a child is currently able to hear the spectrum of sounds (pitch and loudness) in the English language, which is critical for language and academic learning. The Ling test is still used widely throughout the world.

How is it Administered? The ultimate goal is for the Ling Six Sounds Test to be completed in just a few seconds, by having the child repeat a series of phonemes in randomized order without visual cues several times a day to check the functioning of the cochlear implant.  However, when a child is first learning to listen, they need to learn to detect the sounds and, secondly discriminate between the sounds before then are able to repeat the sounds without any cues.  Picture cards are used that are best if paired with toys that correspond to the pictures.  Once the sounds-object correspondence is understood by the child, the cards can be used alone to help the child discriminate between the sounds. Eventually, the child can simply repeat the phoneme they hear without the need for the cards.  The Ling sounds should be presented in a quiet environment, and at a normal conversational volume with a few feet of space between the caregiver/therapist and the child.

What are the Critical Sounds? What are the Ling Six Sounds and the toys representing them?  

· Mmm    as in me. A delicious ice cream cone.

· Oooo    as in boo. A scary ghost.

· Ah    as in car. An airplane is used.

· Eeee    as in see. A squeaky little mouse.

· Sh    as in wish. A baby sleeping.

· SSSS    as in us. A long red snake.

Our Boxes.  Partners in Hearing supplies Ling Boxes with the appropriate toys, as shown.

Face Masks.  These are so promising and we hope to do more in response to COVID and generally address the new challenges presented to the children we serve.  Please turn to our Photo Gallery; these masks are fabulous!