Baby Sign Language Thread #4

[*Ali*]

Cadan had stopped signing since his speech is so good these days but he has started right up again when we are signing to colby. It is cute. And really good for colby to see a 2 sided conversation with signs since he can see requests being met when cadan signs for stuff.

[Khalam's Mama]

I also find k has stopped since he has been speaking so well for so long. He tried a few when I encouraged him though so I will continue. It is cute to see.

[*Ali*]

Ooh we have our second sign "finished". It is more a waving of both hands but consistent. Quite handy when feeding him as his two signs are either finished or more

[Papaya]

yay, that's great Ali! After we got those two and milk, it wasn't long until F was picking up all sorts of things.

[amayzie]

Oh ali- i'm REALLY glad your 2 signs are finished and more- I teach key word sign (you might call it Makaton)- aimed at people supporting people ith disabilities- and kids with language delay, parents and workers, and I always say 'teach finished and more, they are both really really useful signs' ANd i thought i was wrong all this time- Hamish has 2 'signs' neither are finished, more or help- but the ever language useful 'shower' and 'bye' - which really isn't a sign as such!! one of them is a NOUN!!! I spend all my time telling people not to focus on nouns- and here is hamish signing bl*ody SHOWER!!! Still- better than nothing! It's pretty cute though!

[amayzie]

It now occurs to me that expecting Hamish to sign 'finished' at the end of a meal- to indicate he's had enough is pretty stupid as he is NEVER FINISHED!! NEVER!!

[Chicane]

Katy - why shouldn't there be focus on nouns?

[*Ali*]

Colby is pretty sure when he's finished he's finished.
Shower could still be useful when he needs one after a messy meal
Bath was one of cadan's first signs. I found nouns that could serve as requests like food quite handy but I can see that just being able to sign them to say cat, car etc is less useful than to say one is hungry etc. if using with a child with speech delay. Cute though.

[amayzie]

Yeah- just that nouns are not communication wise all that functional- especilly when looking at kids with language delay, or intellectual disability. So for example- the words for the colours, foods, and even toys get used in specific situations only a relatively small number of times in a day- and represent one type of language function. Wheras words like- help, more, finished, do, want, have, put, play, drink etc can be used in a wide variety of situations and represent a range of language functions. I guess that i just tell people not to focus on nouns as that's what people usually jump to- 'tell me the sign for toilet' 'tell me the sign for DVD, pencil, glue'- where we usually want to be encouraging COMMUNICATION- so getting a child to sign 'want' and then point to what it is that they want (for the most part it will be in their vacinity) is a more useful tool than teaching them to sign 'pencil' say- that can be only used in one specific situation.

THat said- the great thing about baby sign is that it really is an added extra- so in a way anything goes. Even when i'm working with kids with disabilities nouns are fine- as long as they are going to be really useful to the child. So if the child's favourite thing in the world is a duck then teach that sign.

Also- i'm a big big advocate of key word sign- and baby sign- to aid understanding. If you are holding an orange for example it's going to be more useful to sign 'more' or 'eat' in relation to the orange as it would be fairly clear to the child that you are referring to the orange- you don't need to sign it. It's also got to do with your capacity to learn and use signs! 

Can you tell this is my job/passion?! Are you sorry you asked?!?

[Chicane]

Not at all sorry I asked! I find it fascinating, thanks for explaining xo

[Papaya]

I've never thought about it like that Katy, but I totally agree - if I had to choose F's three most useful signs, they would probably be more, finished and help! Even though she can say both more and help, she still uses the signs for emphasis so they'll still among her most used. Drink is also really good, particularly to distinguish thirst from hunger, yk?

Had never thought of teaching put or have...hmmm, will have to think about those ones...

[amayzie]

those were just examples... put is an awkward one.. but we used to teach it as part of the training... basically if you try and think of a range of communication functions and then you are suporting the understanding, and possibly development of these skills... when i am not lying in my warm bed i'll get my book with the interactive vocabulary we teach to give you some ideas- just more thoughts... i know you ladies are crazy good at signing already- but it might give you some more thoughts..

[*Ali*]

No, I need ideas for more signs so please go right ahead Katy

[Khalam's Mama]

The signs we have now for B are more, potty and all done. I am working on the ones I used a lot with K. These include yes, no, eat, drink, bath, tired, home, tissue, nappy, sit, stand, walk, bag, happy, sad. we also did lots of animals to go with the books we read. K always loved orange. At one point he could use it with the right direction to say either the colour (out) or fruit (facing in). He could never say orange and just today at nearly 3yo and having been using sentences for over a year he asked for an "orloon" and did the sign for it. Food nouns are helpful when they are pointing at the kitchen and you ask "what do you want" rather than having to go through the whole fridge/cupboard and freezer etc.
B does the sign for star when he wants to sing too.

[amayzie]

'orloon' LOL!!

The signs we teach as part of the KWS training are:
How are you
Alright/okay    next
more             now
finished          time
want/need      sorry
like               after
give              eat
help              drink
go                yes/no
sit                home
make            mine
have             what
when            where
who              please
thanks 

Some they include but suggest you just use a natural gesture rather than worrying about a 'sign' as such are:

come         look
put            good
car            up/down
little/big     stop
bath          open/close
wait

That's the first lot we teach- there's another set that has more descriptive words, but i find the first set to be a good start, especially when you are going to be using other nouns as well- It just gives you an idea of some wider language words i guess- covers a few more bases. I find it's a good idea to use some of them yourself without expecting your LO to use them as it will aid in their understanding.