Quote:
Originally Posted by Ginette
I had twin girls (hearing) that were born 1 month premature. I taught them sign language as soon as I could. This resulted in less fustration on their part and mine. Both girls said their first word verbally at 6 months and very quickly picked up speech. They were used in studies done by our local University because they were beyond their peers verbally.
Unfortunately as soon as they learned speech they were no longer interested in sign. I should've encouraged them to stick with it but felt frustrated by hearing outsiders dumbing down sign language which only confused my daughters.
Background info.
My husband is hearing and I was born severe-profoundly deaf. My hearing parents taught me total communication (both sign and oral) Bless their hearts, they believed that I had every right to communicate with both worlds. But now I can honestly say I am mainly oral deaf. My sign language skills are awful especially after not using it for the last 12 years.
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Good for you for exposing your babies to sign from birth! Just wanted to add that many people assume that because a child stops using sign expressively that they are no longer using it receptively, either. That isn't always true, expecially in the case of deaf children. While they may have sufficient oral skills to make themselves understood orally, they may still need it to understand language receptively.