Let’s Listen and Talk

Let’s Listen and Talk - an online resource for parents and professionals

Let’s Listen and Talk is a new online service from The Elizabeth Foundation, offering reliable and up‑to‑date information, advice and support to parents and professionals caring for deaf babies, toddlers and preschoolers, from birth to 5 years.

The Elizabeth Foundation has created Let’s Listen and Talk for families who want to help their child develop listening, spoken language and communication skills during the crucial preschool years, but who are unable to access our services in person.

Let’s Listen and Talk takes you step‑by‑step through the process of building your child’s listening and speaking skills

What Let's Listen and Talk offers you and your child

By joining the Let’s Listen and Talk programme, you and your child can benefit from:

• A structured series of home lesson plans providing practical and relevant advice and information.
• Easy-to-follow activities you can use at home to develop your child’s communication skills, with sample video clips of parents and their children.
• Tailored, individual support from our expert team based on your child’s needs and progress.
• Regular communication via your choice of telephone, online, email, video and/or WhatsApp, Facetime, Skype, etc.
• Access to the online resources at any time and anywhere using a computer, tablet or smartphone

Tailored support from birth to 5 years

We have split Let's Listen and Talk into three age bands:

• Baby programme (birth to around 18 months): By working through this programme, you will be able to help your baby begin learning to listen and start developing their early communication skills.
• Toddler programme (18 months to 2½ years): As your baby grows into a toddler, this programme will help you learn about the many new ways you can continue to build your child’s listening, language and speech skills.
• Preschool programme (2½ to 5 years): The Preschool programme explains ways for you to encourage and extend your child’s communication skills as their growing curiosity and imagination are helping them to look at the world in new ways.

Alongside these three programme, all registered users of Let's Listen and Talk can also access our specially-written Getting to Grips with Technology and Terminology course and our NEW 'Learning through music' resources (Baby and Toddler music sections available now; Preschool sections currently under development).

Feedback from users

“An invaluable resource for parents and professionals alike.” Audiological Scientist

“The lessons are very good and complement the protocol and activities advised by my Teacher of the Deaf.” Parent

“With the Toddler Programme, I’m not feeling lonely or overwhelmed anymore. I’m opening my laptop and I’m feeling support from professionals who understand how it is be the parent of a deaf child. With every lesson, they provide encouragement and have tips and ideas for how to help me to support my baby.” Parent

FREE access

Please note: We are 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 voluntary income to maintain its services for babies and preschool deaf children. We receive no statutory grants or ongoing government funding. Please consider making a donation to support the costs of us providing free access to Let's Listen and talk.

Supporters

The development of the Let's Listen and Talk programme has been generously supported by a number of organisations, including:

• The Communication Consortium Grants Programme – (funded by The Rayners Special Educational Trust) is supporting the ongoing development and delivery of the Let's Listen and Talk programme to help bridge the gap in early years learning for deaf children.
• The Garfield Weston Foundation – this major grant-making trust has provided funding to support the development and delivery of this project.