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Herald Argus
As early as three months, infants coo and make noises -- but parents sometimes don’t know what they want.
“A ‘mah’ sound can mean ‘mother’ or ‘milk,’” said Karen Horvath, presenter from Northern Indiana Communication Exchange (NICE), “and parents might not know which thing the baby wants.”
Using sign language can sometime eliminate that confusion for parents -- and the frustration for the child if he can’t get what he wants.
The American Sign Language Club at Purdue North Central welcomed NICE as part of their first sign language “play date” Saturday, for both hearing and deaf children.
In addition to the infant presentation, toddlers and children also had their own programs, and those who didn’t already use ASL learned how to present “The Three Little Pigs” for their parents and audience members.
Both hearing and deaf children were part of the program, Anne Lute, president of the ASL club said, to encourage understanding between the two camps.
“Students at public schools might not be exposed to deaf culture,” she said. “And deaf children might not feel so isolated” by interacting more with hearing children. “Hearing kids might find (deaf children) are not so different from them. They might say, ‘They like to play just like I do,’” she said.
Lute, a sophomore Education student from Michigan City, said she was very encouraged by the level of participation Saturday for the first-time event.
“We wanted this to be open to the community,” she said.
To fulfill the requirements of a diversity grant, Lute said the community needed to be a part of the event. Around 25 children, ranging in ages from infants to 10 years old, attended Saturday’s play date, including families from Goshen and Indianapolis. They hope to branch out and offer the program again.
In the infant program, Horvath and partner Antonette Needham were teaching parents of small children the benefits of learning ASL. They showed parents how to make and model signs for “milk,” “juice,” “mommy” and “daddy,” among other simple words used by babies.
But both Horvath and Needham stressed that parents shouldn’t give up if babies didn’t respond or mimic the signs immediately, or even quickly.
Horvath, whose youngest daughter has a hearing loss, began using signs at 3½ months, making the sign for “milk.”
“She didn’t make any other signs for a while,” Horvath explained.
But soon after that, her daughter began stringing multiple signs together in sentence form.
“Be consistent and have fun,” Horvath and Needham counseled. “Parents shouldn’t give up if kids don’t sign back immediately.”
Keeping up with ASL usage can be difficult after the child has mastered verbal speech, Horvath said, but treating ASL as a second language may be the key to keeping children interested and involved. Many high schools and college are accepting ASL as a second language requirement, much like French or Spanish.
Participant Anna Hill from Hammond is getting re-established in the ASL support group circuit after a multiple-year absence.
Hill, who is deaf, has hearing children and has been asked to teach ASL by her home schooling group in Northwest Indiana.
“My daughter spoke 25 words of ASL before she ever spoke (verbal) English,” Hill said, reinforcing the idea that teaching ASL to both hearing and deaf children simplifies two-way communication earlier than verbal speech typically appears.
The play date was co-sponsored by the Northwest Indiana Deaf Club and NICE, and a luncheon was sponsored by Sprint, who offered information on telephone access and new technologies for deaf consumers.
As early as three months, infants coo and make noises -- but parents sometimes don’t know what they want.
“A ‘mah’ sound can mean ‘mother’ or ‘milk,’” said Karen Horvath, presenter from Northern Indiana Communication Exchange (NICE), “and parents might not know which thing the baby wants.”
Using sign language can sometime eliminate that confusion for parents -- and the frustration for the child if he can’t get what he wants.
The American Sign Language Club at Purdue North Central welcomed NICE as part of their first sign language “play date” Saturday, for both hearing and deaf children.
In addition to the infant presentation, toddlers and children also had their own programs, and those who didn’t already use ASL learned how to present “The Three Little Pigs” for their parents and audience members.
Both hearing and deaf children were part of the program, Anne Lute, president of the ASL club said, to encourage understanding between the two camps.
“Students at public schools might not be exposed to deaf culture,” she said. “And deaf children might not feel so isolated” by interacting more with hearing children. “Hearing kids might find (deaf children) are not so different from them. They might say, ‘They like to play just like I do,’” she said.
Lute, a sophomore Education student from Michigan City, said she was very encouraged by the level of participation Saturday for the first-time event.
“We wanted this to be open to the community,” she said.
To fulfill the requirements of a diversity grant, Lute said the community needed to be a part of the event. Around 25 children, ranging in ages from infants to 10 years old, attended Saturday’s play date, including families from Goshen and Indianapolis. They hope to branch out and offer the program again.
In the infant program, Horvath and partner Antonette Needham were teaching parents of small children the benefits of learning ASL. They showed parents how to make and model signs for “milk,” “juice,” “mommy” and “daddy,” among other simple words used by babies.
But both Horvath and Needham stressed that parents shouldn’t give up if babies didn’t respond or mimic the signs immediately, or even quickly.
Horvath, whose youngest daughter has a hearing loss, began using signs at 3½ months, making the sign for “milk.”
“She didn’t make any other signs for a while,” Horvath explained.
But soon after that, her daughter began stringing multiple signs together in sentence form.
“Be consistent and have fun,” Horvath and Needham counseled. “Parents shouldn’t give up if kids don’t sign back immediately.”
Keeping up with ASL usage can be difficult after the child has mastered verbal speech, Horvath said, but treating ASL as a second language may be the key to keeping children interested and involved. Many high schools and college are accepting ASL as a second language requirement, much like French or Spanish.
Participant Anna Hill from Hammond is getting re-established in the ASL support group circuit after a multiple-year absence.
Hill, who is deaf, has hearing children and has been asked to teach ASL by her home schooling group in Northwest Indiana.
“My daughter spoke 25 words of ASL before she ever spoke (verbal) English,” Hill said, reinforcing the idea that teaching ASL to both hearing and deaf children simplifies two-way communication earlier than verbal speech typically appears.
The play date was co-sponsored by the Northwest Indiana Deaf Club and NICE, and a luncheon was sponsored by Sprint, who offered information on telephone access and new technologies for deaf consumers.