Bombardment

noun

a continuous attack with bombs, shells, or other missiles.
"an aerial bombardment will precede the attack"
synonyms: shelling, strafing, pounding, pelting, blitz, air raid, strafe, bombing
a continuous flow of questions, criticisms, or information.
- "a steady bombardment of emails and phone calls"

I looked up this word in the dictionary before I got started writing this post to make sure it conveys what I wanted about this strategy. At first glance, I questioned myself as this strategy has nothing to do with weapons. However, the second definition seems more applicable so I’m going to stick with this title.

So what is Auditory Bombardment anyway?

Auditory Bombardment provides numerous opportunities for a child to hear the target phoneme, sound or language (Dickson, 2010).

(Fickenscher, S., & Gaffney, E. (2016). Auditory verbal strategies to build listening and spoken language skills. Retrieved from http://www.auditory-verbal-mentoring.com/contact/contact.php) *can also be retrieved from these website using the navigation at the top of the page*

This definition fits with the description of “bombardment” being something that is continuous. In this case we are being continuous with the exposure to the target information via an auditory presentation. (Let’s also discuss how we can use this strategy with visual language. I’ll get there too.)

What does this look like? What kinds of targets are appropriate? We know that the exposure to sound needs to be meaningful so let me give an example.

I had a leaner who was still not using some key phonemes fluently in her speech. (Here is where I would love to share all the intricacies of her hearing etc. but really the strategy can be described without violating her privacy :) ) To give her more opportunities to understand these sounds- I chose Auditory Bombardment as a target strategy for a session with her mom. I believed that this would give her multiple opportunities to practice these sounds in running speech after hearing them numerous times.

I came at lunch time for 3 consecutive sessions and modeled to mom how we could structure lunch time to be a learning experience. The first day we focused on /p/ and we prepared peppers, peas, peanut butter, peaches, pineapple, pepperoni, and popsicles. I had a simple spinner (from the game Twister) and put pictures of these foods on it. Then, she spun and tried whichever food it landed on. She asked mom to try the food, she asked me to try the food. We spent some time talking about the experience and then moved on to a new food. At the end, we reviewed by categorizing these foods into a Love It, Like It, Learning It chart (from Veggies and Virtue.) Any time the initial /p/ was not clear, mom or I would repeat or expand her sentence, modeling correct production.

This is how I addressed it with a slightly older child who needed reinforcement of some previously taught skills.

I was aiming to build these skills for her:

attention to sound
integration of listening into daily routines
comprehension through listening
proper articulation of speech sounds

There are plenty of songs and nursery rhymes that can help you use Auditory Bombardment without re-inventing the wheel. For example, “Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee”

Bottom line in all this being, the repetition needs to be meaningful and able to be integrated into a natural routine. Having a child listen to a list of words with the target sound doesn’t do much to integrate those sounds into their repertoire. I am not familiar with the Cycles Approach and its use of Auditory Bombardment so maybe someone can comment below about how that works. I know there is a research base both for and against but it is not my area of expertise.

So what would this strategy look like if we were using a visual language such as ASL? I wouldn’t call it Auditory Bombardment but we can apply the same approach for giving a child increased exposure to a target handshape or grammatical structure. Using a rhyme or handshape story would be some activities where this strategy would be used. But just like I chose a list of materials that incorporated my target sound, when using sign language I can do the same thing. I might bring a box with a boat, bubbles, and baby. While exploring and playing I can repetitively expose the child to the B handshape, /b/ sound, /b/ cue for Visual Phonics, as well as finger spelling the words.

As always, if you’d like more information on this strategy you an download the entire ebook via the link at the top of the page or the individual handout by clicking here!

I highly recommend a deeper read for many other examples of how to use this strategy aside from only initial sounds!