In today’s society, the expectations around listening are often confined to visible behaviors and outward compliance, overshadowing the deeper aspects of genuine engagement and understanding. Traditional directives like “sit still,” “look at the speaker,” “pay attention,” and “be quiet” have long been considered the benchmarks or standards for listening. However, genuine engagement and processing go beyond these surface behaviors.
Historically, we followed the Whole Body Listening (WBL) model, developed in 1990 by Suzanne P. Truesdale. This model emphasizes physical stillness and eye contact, suggesting that listening involves more than just the ears. While it aimed to demystify the abstract concept of listening, it inadvertently emphasized compliance over genuine understanding. Through our engagement with the neurodivergent community, we’ve learned that this model can be restrictive and even counterproductive for some, particularly those who listen best while moving or not making direct eye contact.
Listening is a unique and personal experience. For some, the traditional expectations of stillness and silence can hinder their ability to process information. Genuine listening involves regulating and engaging the entire body and brain, forming an integral part of executive functioning. It’s about embracing the diversity in how individuals process information and adapting our approach to suit these varied needs.
The Role of Regulation in Listening:
Listening is a balance between cognition and regulation. Regulation refers to managing alertness, emotions, and energy levels to focus effectively. Each individual has a distinct style of listening and engaging in regulation. Recognizing and adapting to these styles is crucial, as it allows each person to listen in the way that works best for them and not hinder the process. As important as it is to understand how the body influences listening and attention, it is also vital to learn more about what executive function means. This includes both the physical and mental processes that make learning and self-regulation possible.
The Role of Executive Function:
Executive function skills are essential for planning and achieving goals. They include attention, motivation, regulation, organizing, and problem-solving. Sarah Ward, MS, CCC-SLP and Kristen Jacobsen, MS, CCC/SLP Speech and Language Pathologists, highlight the significance of visualizing future goals and mentally simulating actions to achieve these goals. This high-level thinking is necessary for success in academics and everyday life. Simply listening to instructions isn’t enough; visualizing and mentally simulating actions are crucial steps in processing information. For example, a parent might give a 2-step direction “Go upstairs and grab your shin guards and sweatshirt for soccer practice.” Restating the instruction “I need my shin guards and sweatshirt” is vastly different from the child visualizing 5 minutes on a clock and walking upstairs, into their room, over to the closet to get the shin guards on the floor by the shoes, and then grabbing their sweatshirt hanging on the back of the door. It’s complex!
Being engaged is not simply hearing the steps and following the instructions. It is an orchestration between regulation, executive function, and processing. If we add the performance-based standards of asking an individual to ‘sit still’ or ‘be quiet’ or ‘make eye contact’ and that is not their regulation style for listening and attending, we might be inadvertently doubling the demand of the process.
Supporting Developmental Skills:
These skills are essential for a child’s cognitive and emotional development, and the good news is that they develop over time. As children grow, they mature in their ability to listen and engage, and our role is to support this journey.
Join us for our workshop on February 27th at 12 PST, where we will explore these concepts in greater depth and provide practical tools to support the development of listening and learning skills in children.
Register now and be part of this transformative journey in nurturing genuine engagement in young learners!