Sunday, April 12, 2009
Why a sign language Class
I started this class out of my own personal need. I have a child who has been diagnoses with a severe speech disorder and from the age of 12months I was told he would need to have an alternative way to communicate. Sign Language was given as an option. The speech therapist felt it would help keep down the frustration and tantrums. So, the journey began as we looked for classes or books on how to teach our son sign language. And at first it was very easy because it seemed like the stylish thing at the time was to learn "Baby Sign". Eat, Milk, Banana, Drink, Apple... all the cute basic stuff. I took a class with my son at the local community center. And the teacher was very helpful. We visited a deaf school and their program for children my sons age, but we were only allowed to observe since my son is hearing. These program are for hearing children only. Finally, We learned about "Signing Times" dvd's and got off to a good start. My sons Infant & Toddler teacher suggested a women who taught in-home classes and we took those classes for about 3 months and it was very helpful. Now that my son is 4 years old and still uses some signs, some voice and eventually he will use a computer device the need is not as great as it was 3 years ago, however, i have a huge amount of compassion for those who find themselves in our families place of wanted to know what to do and how to do it and no true place to go for answer. I have a lot of resources and answer and most importantly passion. Whatever I can do to help I will do my best.
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We too have a child with severe speech delay. Hers is because a brain disorder called schizencephaly. We found that signing was a life saver for us. Our daughter had a whole new world open up to her as we learned to sign. We used the DVD series called Signing Time!. It is a fun way to learn and keep practicing. The series uses all modalities to teach sign and we love the music that is incorporated into it. We have found that our daughter knows more words than us and we watch the videos without her just to keep up. :) She also uses an AAC at home and at school. She is in kindergarten and it has been extremely difficult in getting the teachers to really use sign language to communicate with her so, the device has been key. Good luck to you it is an interesting road ahead. I would check out http://www.signingtime.com you will be amazed at how excited your son will be.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I love hearing from parents because there are days that I feel soooo lonely in this walk with my son. My son has just received his AAC (SpringBoard) and the teacher is planning to train him on it beginning this week. I hope that his experience is as good as your daughters I haven't seen it actually used in the classroom, I've read some of the research but that really doesn't mean anything until you can see it in action. I will never forget the principal of my sons school saying that my son was the only child in our County with his issue and they did not have a program that really would meet his needs. What a blow. But I refuse to accept that. I will keep fighting for my son to receive what he needs. Signing Times has been a life saver.
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