Developmental Approach to Successful Listening II

by Gayle Goldberg Stout and Jill Van Ert Windle

 This page contains some information I picked up from a workshop on the DASL II program presented by the authors.

* The criteria for passing each subskill has changed to:

When a student achieves at least 90 percent accuracy on a subskill using a variety of listening activities, then he or she can move on to the next subskill in the curriculum.

What is the DASL II?
Where can I get a copy?
Highlights from the workshop.
Some nifty and fun ideas to use in therapy.
Additional areas to work on.

What is the DASL II?

The Developmental Approach to Successful Listening II  is a sequential, step-by-step listening program to help hearing impaired children and adults develop and use their residual hearing. It was developed at the Houston School for Deaf children by Gayle Goldberg Stout and Jill Van Ert Windle. They wanted something that would be easy to implement, progressed in very small steps to allow the children to succeed, would make it easy for teachers to plan appropriate goals for IEPs, and something that would promote success in learning to listen.

Where can I get a copy?

Cochlear Corporation
400 Inverness Drive South
Suite 400
Englewood Colorado 80112
USA
Toll Free: 1-800-523-5798
Telephone: 1-303-790-9010
Fax: 1-303-792-9025

The Part Number is FUZ041. 

Don't miss the Phonetic Listening Word List for the DASL II.  The part number is FUN331.

A few highlights from the workshop:

When beginning the DASL placement test, if the child is able to test in a sound booth, start with Sound Awareness Test Item D.

The correct order in which to implement the DASL II :

• Sound Awareness Subskills : 1-2-3-4-5
• Then perform Glendonald Auditory Screening Procedure (GASP) and the Ling Sounds (see below for links). These screening tests are important because if the child can not detect specific speech sounds, then it will do little good to work on learning to discriminate those sounds.
  • I've received many emails asking where the GASP can be purchased. All you need to know to administer the GASP for use with the DASL II is included in the book - in my copy, it's on page 65. If you want to find out more about the GASP than is covered in the DASL II, you can find the test in Auditory Training by Norman P Erber. ISBN: 0882001493. This book is out of print, but used copies can be found.
• Leave the Sound Awareness Subskills and start on both the Phonetic Listening Subskills and the Auditory Comprehension Subskills. You can go back and work on Sound Awareness Subskills as you see a need, or whenever you feel the time is right.
• When you start working on open sets, go back and also start working on closed sets with competing stimuli.

 The DASL II is not a "Cookbook" or inflexible tool. Some children will be ready to tackle some subskills out of order. This is especially true of children with cochlear implants. It all depends on what each child is able to hear best.

Phonetic Listening and speech development go hand in hand and should be worked on together. The best way for the child to practice speech is for them to repeat your prompt, and to give them a turn at being the teacher.

Be sure to have the child fill out the interest sheet. Try to use words related to the child's interests whenever possible to maintain a high interest level.

On the back of the interest sheet write down sentences the child uses all the time. Use these sentences when possible (for example, when discriminating between sentences of differing length, pick 2 sentences from the back of the sheet.)

To make competing stimuli tapes, record 5 people sitting around a table each reading from a different book.

The Ling Sounds

Now for some nifty and fun ideas to use in therapy:

• Using Bingo stampers, let the child blot out a word or picture for his response..
• Cereal Box Book: Cut the front and back from an empty cereal box. Staple these together with blank paper in the middle to create a notebook for each child. This can be used to record  responses in, to hold worksheets, to create stories in,......
• Baggie Book: Take a bunch of zip lock baggies, stack them, and staple the bottoms together. Cover the stapled bottom area with cloth backed tape (silver duct tape). You can use these books to hold pictures, created pages for a story, small items,.....
• If you happen to run across a fancy fly swatter (I have one that looks like a thong sandal and the authors had ones that were character faces), you can lay pictures representing the closed set for responces out on the table and let the child swat his response. Do I need to mention that you should NEVER use a fly swatter that has actually been used to swat flies for this activity?
• Lay out pictures representing the closed set for responses. On top of each place a dried sponge. Using a bunch of party toothpicks, the child places a toothpick in a sponge for his response.
• When working on intensity, use small, medium, and large dixie cups. Have the child place a mini marshmallow in the cup for their response. When this activity is over the child's bonus is he gets to eat the marshmallows (or chocolate chips, raisins, peanuts, popcorn....)
• When working on pitch, take a yardstick and attach a cup to the bottom, middle and top. Have the child place an item in a cup for their response.
• When working on critical elements, try using plastic foods on a plate.
• Make up some "matching" worksheets. Have the child use licorice sticks instead of a pencil to do his matching.
• Place stickers representing possible responses on the child's fingers. Have them hold up a finger for their response.

Additional areas to work on:

If you use the DASL II, you may want to consider adding work in the areas of auditory memory and sequencing.