So many wonderful new words in the summer!! Yahoo! Don't you just love adding to your child's wonderful language? So many things now are 'warm' and 'hot'. The sun on your face and the wind and even the grass upon which we sit are warm and feel good! Take the time to point this out and sign the signs for 'warm' and 'hot' over and over in many different situations. Repetition is key to learning and generalizing signs.
Generalizing a word means to recognize it in many different situations. We all do that so easily with the sign for 'more' and 'all done' ( or 'finished'), now in the summer it is so easy to do with our lovely weather and outdoor signs. Think of how many times you sign 'flower' to each and every different flowering plant you see and yet those plants are all different. Your child integrates the information and understands that anything that has petals and and looks pretty is a flower. Continue to do this with all the wonderful summertime signs.
Among the many signs you will use now are:
sun,
rain,
cloud,
grass
flower
hot
warm
water
swim
jump
play
run
color ( chalk)
rainbow
bug
butterfly
bird
all the many colors
more
outside ( look up 'go out' or 'outdoors' as well)
swing
slide
wind
happy
rabbit
squirrel
chipmunk
worm
fish
play ground ( sign play and area)
beach ( sign sand and area)
trees
cool
shadow
splash
sunglasses
..... and of course the list goes on and on.
Be prepared use your ASLpro and ASLbrowser.com to look up the signs and practice them yourself to be prepared. Once you use them use them again and again across many different settings and they will be well generalized in your child's mind.
Have fun signing!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
ASL- BSL and Baby Signs
American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) are not one and the same. All around the world, with as many languages as we have, there are different and varied sign languages as well. Sign language is not universal or common across all cultures or languages. Baby signs, however are spreading around the world and the evidence collected about the benefits of signing to young infants and toddlers is growing.
Please refer to and explore the link below to the Literacy Trust in the United Kingdom. You will find many of the same questions and answers that have been explored here on this blog and among parents, caregivers, doctors and researchers.
Among these are:
Does signing with a baby help?
How does it help?
When do I start?
How do I start?
What are the benefits?
What are the detractors?
Who can do it?
How much do I sign?
The main premise of this blog is communication. Whatever you do with your child, do it with love, acceptance, with laughter and for the benefit of you and your child. Do nothing that feels uncomfortable or that you question. Talk when you sign, laugh when you tell stories and be creative when you sing.
Please see the site below.
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby/signing.html
Please refer to and explore the link below to the Literacy Trust in the United Kingdom. You will find many of the same questions and answers that have been explored here on this blog and among parents, caregivers, doctors and researchers.
Among these are:
Does signing with a baby help?
How does it help?
When do I start?
How do I start?
What are the benefits?
What are the detractors?
Who can do it?
How much do I sign?
The main premise of this blog is communication. Whatever you do with your child, do it with love, acceptance, with laughter and for the benefit of you and your child. Do nothing that feels uncomfortable or that you question. Talk when you sign, laugh when you tell stories and be creative when you sing.
Please see the site below.
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby/signing.html
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Auditory stem cell research
Cochlear implants provide so much assistance to people with hearing loss. The implantation of children as early as possible is widely accepted. The implantation is usually in one ear only and it is possible to do both ears. Some have chosen this option.
One possible reason to stall the implantation of both ears is the possibility of new and more innovative processes to come in the future. The surgery as it is now accomplished, destroys the hair cells in the ear and therefore would make the benefits of these new discoveries nil. Here is one that I have just read by a Swedish team. See below:
Cell transplants may cure deafness
April 22nd, 2009 (PhysOrg.com) -- When Uppsala researchers found immature stem cells in the inner ear of humans a few years ago, it caused a global sensation. They have also managed to grow hearing nerves from stem cells and human tissue from donated cochleae. Moving images of how nerve cells, like social, swimming beings, seek out each other are now suggesting entirely new and breathtaking perspectives to researchers.
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"The film is revolutionary in that it shows how auditory nerves develop: like social beings they explore their surroundings and find a partner. You can see how the nerves, without any direct contact, signal each other and, like ants in an anthill, help each other communicate and form a nerve node, a so-called ganglion," says Helge Rask-Andersen, professor of experimental otology at Uppsala University and a chief physician at Uppsala University Hospital.
Nearly a million Swedes have handicapping hearing impairment. A few years ago researchers at Uppsala University and Uppsala University Hospital managed for the first time in the world to grow a human auditory nerve - a breakthrough that paves the way for new ways to treat both severe hearing impairment and deafness.
"It's our hope that in a few years cell transplants will be a real treatment alternative or complement to cochlear implants."
In 2004 Helge Rask-Andersen and his associates found immature stem cells in the inner ear of adults, a sensational piece of news in the research world. They have also managed to cultivate hearing nerves from stem cells and human tissue from donated cochleae. With the aid of images taken at three-minute intervals, using a so-called time-lapse microscope, it is possible to follow how the cells, with feeler-like outgrowths, seek contact and sometimes hook together and form ganglia - how the nerve bundle grows into 4 mm long auditory nerves. According to Rask-Andersen, the images are unique in many ways. Brain nerves have been filmed before, but they are tiny and short, whereas auditory nerves are long.
"They've never been seen like this as social beings, since for so long it wasn't possible to film them. You can clearly see that a wandering nerve can ignore a nerve, hook onto another parallel nerve fiber, and then pull it so they coalesce into a bundle."
The next step will be to study how this growth is affected by electric fields. The researchers want to see, on the one hand, whether electric stimulation can get remaining nerve fibers to grow in hearing impaired individuals and, on the other hand, whether nerves can be made to grow out again after having been damaged or exposed to alcohol and other toxins. In a perspective of a few years, Helge Rask-Andersen envisions new means of treatment.
One possible reason to stall the implantation of both ears is the possibility of new and more innovative processes to come in the future. The surgery as it is now accomplished, destroys the hair cells in the ear and therefore would make the benefits of these new discoveries nil. Here is one that I have just read by a Swedish team. See below:
Cell transplants may cure deafness
April 22nd, 2009 (PhysOrg.com) -- When Uppsala researchers found immature stem cells in the inner ear of humans a few years ago, it caused a global sensation. They have also managed to grow hearing nerves from stem cells and human tissue from donated cochleae. Moving images of how nerve cells, like social, swimming beings, seek out each other are now suggesting entirely new and breathtaking perspectives to researchers.
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Umbilical Cord Banking - www.ViaCord.com/Cord-Blood-Experts
Learn the Benefits of Banking Your Baby’s Cord Blood. Free Info Here
TV Ears and Hearing Aids - www.TVEars.com
Wireless Headset Doctors Recommend Clear TV dialog even with Mute On
"The film is revolutionary in that it shows how auditory nerves develop: like social beings they explore their surroundings and find a partner. You can see how the nerves, without any direct contact, signal each other and, like ants in an anthill, help each other communicate and form a nerve node, a so-called ganglion," says Helge Rask-Andersen, professor of experimental otology at Uppsala University and a chief physician at Uppsala University Hospital.
Nearly a million Swedes have handicapping hearing impairment. A few years ago researchers at Uppsala University and Uppsala University Hospital managed for the first time in the world to grow a human auditory nerve - a breakthrough that paves the way for new ways to treat both severe hearing impairment and deafness.
"It's our hope that in a few years cell transplants will be a real treatment alternative or complement to cochlear implants."
In 2004 Helge Rask-Andersen and his associates found immature stem cells in the inner ear of adults, a sensational piece of news in the research world. They have also managed to cultivate hearing nerves from stem cells and human tissue from donated cochleae. With the aid of images taken at three-minute intervals, using a so-called time-lapse microscope, it is possible to follow how the cells, with feeler-like outgrowths, seek contact and sometimes hook together and form ganglia - how the nerve bundle grows into 4 mm long auditory nerves. According to Rask-Andersen, the images are unique in many ways. Brain nerves have been filmed before, but they are tiny and short, whereas auditory nerves are long.
"They've never been seen like this as social beings, since for so long it wasn't possible to film them. You can clearly see that a wandering nerve can ignore a nerve, hook onto another parallel nerve fiber, and then pull it so they coalesce into a bundle."
The next step will be to study how this growth is affected by electric fields. The researchers want to see, on the one hand, whether electric stimulation can get remaining nerve fibers to grow in hearing impaired individuals and, on the other hand, whether nerves can be made to grow out again after having been damaged or exposed to alcohol and other toxins. In a perspective of a few years, Helge Rask-Andersen envisions new means of treatment.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Potty Training
BabySigns (r) has a new training video that has received rave reviews. Many books, DVDs and blogs are devoted to this subject but Baby Signs is just fantastic in their approach. You can see it at:http://pottytrainwithbabysigns.com
Parents with whom I work are just extremely happy with the results they are getting. It is recommended for two year olds but it works for any age. The characters are so cute and the system is fantastic.
It is another one of those things that when you see it, you will think, "Now why did I not think of that?"
Happy viewing. Happy dry days!
Parents with whom I work are just extremely happy with the results they are getting. It is recommended for two year olds but it works for any age. The characters are so cute and the system is fantastic.
It is another one of those things that when you see it, you will think, "Now why did I not think of that?"
Happy viewing. Happy dry days!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Do Baby Signs Inhibit speech?
Parents and some grandparents sometimes wonder if using baby signs with a baby or toddler will inhibit the production of speech. The short answer is 'no'. Research supports this. The use of any alternative communication activity or device supports and enhances speech and language. At the recent Council for Exceptional Children state workshops, a presenter commented on the fact that using an augmentative speaking device for some children who were not using their voices, prompted the child to begin to speak. Previously the children did not speak or attempt to initiate communication. When they could make choices, make their desires and initiate contact, they also started to blossom.
This was also a finding of a recent PECS training. (See earlier blog). At this training the speakers said that parents and educators thought that if non verbal children used pictures to exchange for desired objects and activities, then they would not continue the process of using their spoken words for expression. This was not the case! When the children became more fluent and active using picture exchanges, they also began to use speech.
This is very true of baby signs. Sometimes, it does seem as if the toddler is signing for quite a while before they really begin to speak. This can create a level of anxiety for parents and caregivers who are really waiting for speech. It is difficult, I know, but wait. Let the language, the richness of expression develop and I promise you that speech will come.
At a recent day care visit a little toddler was very sad. She does not have much speech.... yet.. but she can sign. She signed 'sad' back to me when I signed 'sad' to her. We sat and kind of made sad faces and signed 'sad' for a few minutes. I think she may have been making sure at some level that I really understood her. Then she pointed to her shoes and signed 'shoes'. We went back and forth for a few turns with 'shoes'. Then it dawned on me that her shoes were making her sad. I said "Do your shoes hurt? Are you sad because of your shoes?" She looked at me and crawled on my lap and stuck out her foot. I took off her shoe and she was no longer sad. Then I took off the other shoe and she was happy. I could see where there was a red mark where her shoes were tight across her arches. Yep! They did hurt.
Then it was like a light bulb went off. She signed all kinds of things to me and used the words she had. I believe she really felt that I understood and that she could be understood. I have no doubt that very, very soon her speech is going to catch up to her signs. I see evidence of it now and I know it is just a matter of time.
Stay tuned......
This was also a finding of a recent PECS training. (See earlier blog). At this training the speakers said that parents and educators thought that if non verbal children used pictures to exchange for desired objects and activities, then they would not continue the process of using their spoken words for expression. This was not the case! When the children became more fluent and active using picture exchanges, they also began to use speech.
This is very true of baby signs. Sometimes, it does seem as if the toddler is signing for quite a while before they really begin to speak. This can create a level of anxiety for parents and caregivers who are really waiting for speech. It is difficult, I know, but wait. Let the language, the richness of expression develop and I promise you that speech will come.
At a recent day care visit a little toddler was very sad. She does not have much speech.... yet.. but she can sign. She signed 'sad' back to me when I signed 'sad' to her. We sat and kind of made sad faces and signed 'sad' for a few minutes. I think she may have been making sure at some level that I really understood her. Then she pointed to her shoes and signed 'shoes'. We went back and forth for a few turns with 'shoes'. Then it dawned on me that her shoes were making her sad. I said "Do your shoes hurt? Are you sad because of your shoes?" She looked at me and crawled on my lap and stuck out her foot. I took off her shoe and she was no longer sad. Then I took off the other shoe and she was happy. I could see where there was a red mark where her shoes were tight across her arches. Yep! They did hurt.
Then it was like a light bulb went off. She signed all kinds of things to me and used the words she had. I believe she really felt that I understood and that she could be understood. I have no doubt that very, very soon her speech is going to catch up to her signs. I see evidence of it now and I know it is just a matter of time.
Stay tuned......
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Signs are so cute but....
Signs are so cute and kids love them but -
do they inhibit speech?
are they hard to learn?
not specific enough?
do they generalize to broad populations?
There have been many research papers done, blogs done, (my earlier blogs) and countless videos and workshops all attesting to the wonders of babies and sign language and yet there are people who are skeptical.
What does a professional do when confronted with these questions? What does a parent do who has chosen to learn and use baby signs? Listen and really hear the question for what it is. That is what I do. Many folks just want more information, they do not want to be confrontational or perhaps they have a concern that needs some further explanation.
So, give the facts. Let them know that it is a time honored method of communication. Show them how easy it is. If it is not generalized into the broader public, then it will be something special that you and your child share, like your traditions for holidays or Sunday visits to the zoo. Not everyone HAS to do it. Although, I do notice that more and more day care facilities, preschools and nurseries are doing it and demanding more of my services. Soon, I think it will be pretty general.
It does not delay speech but only enhances it. I recently attended a workshop for another method of language exchange called PECS and in the workshop, the presenters explained how those questions are give to their method as well. Folks ask, "Won't using pictures, inhibit speech?" The answer is no. That when child begins to initiate language and get lots of positive feedback (in many forms and styles - those that are most reinforcing to the child), then he/she shows an increase in speech. I know that is the case for using sign language as well.
The point is this, it is not necessary to convince others of our viewpoint but only to know and stick to the facts, listen well and let the proof be the best results. For those of us in the field of communication, that result is greater and improved communication. Baby signs is proven to begin this journey. The results are happy, productive, communicating children and very happy and proud parents.
do they inhibit speech?
are they hard to learn?
not specific enough?
do they generalize to broad populations?
There have been many research papers done, blogs done, (my earlier blogs) and countless videos and workshops all attesting to the wonders of babies and sign language and yet there are people who are skeptical.
What does a professional do when confronted with these questions? What does a parent do who has chosen to learn and use baby signs? Listen and really hear the question for what it is. That is what I do. Many folks just want more information, they do not want to be confrontational or perhaps they have a concern that needs some further explanation.
So, give the facts. Let them know that it is a time honored method of communication. Show them how easy it is. If it is not generalized into the broader public, then it will be something special that you and your child share, like your traditions for holidays or Sunday visits to the zoo. Not everyone HAS to do it. Although, I do notice that more and more day care facilities, preschools and nurseries are doing it and demanding more of my services. Soon, I think it will be pretty general.
It does not delay speech but only enhances it. I recently attended a workshop for another method of language exchange called PECS and in the workshop, the presenters explained how those questions are give to their method as well. Folks ask, "Won't using pictures, inhibit speech?" The answer is no. That when child begins to initiate language and get lots of positive feedback (in many forms and styles - those that are most reinforcing to the child), then he/she shows an increase in speech. I know that is the case for using sign language as well.
The point is this, it is not necessary to convince others of our viewpoint but only to know and stick to the facts, listen well and let the proof be the best results. For those of us in the field of communication, that result is greater and improved communication. Baby signs is proven to begin this journey. The results are happy, productive, communicating children and very happy and proud parents.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Spelling and baby signs
Spelling using one's fingers as in ASL ( American Sign Language) is called Fingerspelling. It is an integral part of sign language and therefore of sign language. Many of my two year old students can spell. How? They sign and sing the ABC song, they use a letter in their name sign, they use the "t" for bathroom and "y" for yellow and play. It is a very short step to using those letters to spell words.
Today in a session with a two year old, his favorite book was the ABC book and he happily signed and sang the ABC song, showed me all the letters and what they were for, as in: 'A' is for apple, and 'B' is for butterfly. Those words that he knows to spell, like dog, and mom, and cat, he happily spells as he says and signs them.
I can hear people asking, sure it is pure rote memorization but does he know what it means? Yes, if I say C A T spells, dog, he shakes his head no and says "NO! It spells cat."
Another little one named Tony knows how to spell his name. He is also two. Recently when he saw the word 'toy' spelled on a 'Signing Time' video he said, "Tony!". Wrong but very close! He knew it was a word, it was spelled and it was almost the same as his name. He can also spell his brother's name, mom, dad and dog.
So spell away, introduce words and their spelling in a fun and natural way. Sing songs, play games and tease with spelling. Make up a song, or use an old stand by, like Twinkle Little Star or Mary Had a Little Lamb tune and put letters to words in it. Say, B I L L Y spells Billy and I know that name is silly, B I L L Y spells Billy - B I L L Y - to the tune of Twinkle and spell it with fingerspelling at the same time. Kids love it! They love learning, they love new things and they love using their hands.
Play games such as spelling something wrong and then saying, " NO" in an exaggerated teasing voice. When toddler can spell dog and/or cat easily and well then, spell one wrong, and say, "Is that dog? NO!!!". They love it and quickly learn there ARE times when they can say "No" and it is OK to do so. This is a huge concept especially with little ones who often get an adverse reactions from parents when they, the toddlers, say "no" for the umpteenth time.
Will your child be more prepared for kindergartne because he/she can spell? Only time will tell, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Today in a session with a two year old, his favorite book was the ABC book and he happily signed and sang the ABC song, showed me all the letters and what they were for, as in: 'A' is for apple, and 'B' is for butterfly. Those words that he knows to spell, like dog, and mom, and cat, he happily spells as he says and signs them.
I can hear people asking, sure it is pure rote memorization but does he know what it means? Yes, if I say C A T spells, dog, he shakes his head no and says "NO! It spells cat."
Another little one named Tony knows how to spell his name. He is also two. Recently when he saw the word 'toy' spelled on a 'Signing Time' video he said, "Tony!". Wrong but very close! He knew it was a word, it was spelled and it was almost the same as his name. He can also spell his brother's name, mom, dad and dog.
So spell away, introduce words and their spelling in a fun and natural way. Sing songs, play games and tease with spelling. Make up a song, or use an old stand by, like Twinkle Little Star or Mary Had a Little Lamb tune and put letters to words in it. Say, B I L L Y spells Billy and I know that name is silly, B I L L Y spells Billy - B I L L Y - to the tune of Twinkle and spell it with fingerspelling at the same time. Kids love it! They love learning, they love new things and they love using their hands.
Play games such as spelling something wrong and then saying, " NO" in an exaggerated teasing voice. When toddler can spell dog and/or cat easily and well then, spell one wrong, and say, "Is that dog? NO!!!". They love it and quickly learn there ARE times when they can say "No" and it is OK to do so. This is a huge concept especially with little ones who often get an adverse reactions from parents when they, the toddlers, say "no" for the umpteenth time.
Will your child be more prepared for kindergartne because he/she can spell? Only time will tell, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
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