American Sign Language: Fingerspelling E,F,G,H

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F

G

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Here's the next lesson in fingerspelling the alphabet. The girls were all over the place but between the two I was able to get 4 letters! Whew!

Sheila Cason MD

American Sign Language:How to Fingerspell A,B,C,D

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D






















That's my girl giving you Mommy MD's first fingerspelling lesson! She's been signing since she was eight months old and loves to learn new signs! Make sure the shapes are crisp and clear and facing outward. Practice in front of a mirror if you want to see how they look to other people.

Sheila Cason MD

Sign Language and Children

By Marie Hunt

Mommy MD Staff Writer

The popularity of "baby sign language" has increased as more parents and caregivers find value in this form of communication with their children. The use of sign language with hearing infants and children, experts say, can greatly increase communication between fully verbal adults and the child who is still developing their language skills.

It was observed that in a home where parents sign to their child, such as a home with a non-hearing family member, the child can begin communication as early as six months, while in a home where sign language is not present, the child normally begins to communicate around the age of 12 months. It was formerly believed that the point at which a child begins to speak depends on brain development, and while this is still considered part of the equation, it has been found that motor skills play a large roll in the development of verbal expression. It takes much more coordination for a child to form a word than for that same child to use their hands in a simple gesture; so while their brain is capable of understanding the concept they wish to express and they are aware of a special label for that concept, a child's ability to express it verbally is delayed by the complexity of the muscle coordination required for speech.

A study has been conducted by Simona Ghetti, a professor of psychology at the University of California Davis who works at the university's Center for Mind and Brain, wherein 55 young children were tested to discover whether or not they were capable of introspective thinking, a skill that was thought not to develop until the age of four or five. It was found that this type of thinking occurs in children as young as three. Ghetti believes the reason this has not been discovered until now is that past studies have been reliant on verbal testing, while children at this young age are still developing their speaking skills. Researchers found that they were able to obtain more accurate results by using visual cues and allowing the children to answer the test questions with gestures.

A teacher of American Sign Language, Sarah Jernstrom has reported benefits to introducing sign language as early as birth, allowing the infant to become familiar with the signs even before they are able to duplicate them. Experts believe that using sign language with babies and toddlers not only reduces frustration in the parent and child but may also give them a head start in verbal communication.

References

http://www.idahostatesman.com/life/story/204831.html
http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2007/11/22/sparta_independent/news/10.txt
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/NEWS01/711080354

Tips to using American Sign Language

• Get a basic sign book and learn the signs. Keep doing them until you are comfortable with them.

• Choose signs that will help with communication such as “more” and “all done”

• Throw in fun signs too. Kids love animal and action signs.

• Teach manners such as “Please” and “Thank You". One of the first signs my son did was sign please. Not only did it teach him to be polite but if he saw something he wanted and he didn’t know the word he’d just sign please and that usually worked.

• Watch children’s hands closely. Kids will sign in little tidbits, much like babbling when you are learning to speak. When you notice a little sign, praise them and say the word and repeat the sign correctly. As they increase their fine motor skills, they’ll get better.

• Teach them signs that communicate well when they are older such as: No, Stop, Telephone, Wait, and Pay Attention. I signed the last one recently to my oldest when she was at swim lessons. She was goofing around and looked at me across the pool. I was able to get her to refocus without going over to her and embarrassing her in front of the class.

• Learn why the sign was created. It makes it so much easier to remember.

• Don’t force them! If they don’t want to sign don’t make them! It’s supposed to be fun. You’ll find as they get older in school a lot of songs in school and church are signed at the same time. They’ll love recognizing the signs and be proud that they can play along.

• Teach everyone in the family! The older kids will catch on really fast and if they use it as well it helps.

• Expect to sign for months without much apparent understanding or replication. But then all of a sudden, when you least expect it, they’ll sign something!

• Don’t try to sign every single thing at first, just incorporate a few signs into your day and you’ll find that they will learn gradually.
  

Sheila Cason, MD

American Sign Language and your Baby

That's my baby signing water. His version of water but water nonetheless!


Today he said “La La”.

That’s “I love you” in babyspeak. My 19 month old said it the first time today. He starting signing “I love you” a couple of weeks ago therefore I knew the actual spoken words were to come soon.

Some people fear that their baby will have speech delay if they use sign language but the opposite was found to be true. According to a study that was published out of Chicago in 2005 titled “Gesture Paves the Way for Language Development” “Gesture both precedes and is tightly related to language development.”

I was lucky to learn American Sign Language, the beautiful visual language of the American Deaf population, in college. With my first two girls I signed mostly for fun since even at a young age had a large amount of spoken words. But with my son, I started teaching him when the screaming got too much! We figured he had something to say and we’d help him out a little.

I started signing to him when he was about 6 months of age with “all done” and “more”. These for obvious reasons I knew would come in handy when he wanted to get down from his high chair or he wanted more food. But when I really got serious at 15 months old, his vocabulary blossomed! He took months to learn some signs such as water but minutes for "apple" and seconds for “candy”. I think he was pretty motivated!

My son is speaking more and more each week. I know as he learns to speak more, signing will be something he does for fun and not out of a communication necessity. But for now it is part of every conversation we have, and I’m so grateful to be able to understand how he feels and what he wants.

Sheila Cason, MD