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http://www.4hearingloss.com/archives/2005/12/communicating_w.html
At just over one year, Rachel O’Connor could have a conversation with her mother, without speaking one word. "She can tell me when she wants something to eat," said Kristina O’Connor, an Alexandria resident. "She can tell me when she wants something to drink or when she has a wet diaper."
By teaching Rachel, a hearing child, American Sign Language, O’Connor was able to reduce many of the frustrations that parents experience during their babies’ first years, before they begin to speak. And, by learning sign language, O’Connor is helping her daughter in ways that cannot be seen as easily as the hand signs.
"Research shows that IQs are higher," said O’Connor, a licensed clinical social worker with a focus on children and adolescence, about teaching babies sign language. "It also reduces frustration and increases parent bonding."
Sara Franco, founder Signs and Lullabies, a small business teaching hearing and non-hearing babies sign language, began working with O’Connor and Rachel when Rachel was 11 months old. Meeting with them once a week in a private session, Franco started the pair on learning just a few hand signals, with a lot of repetition. After eight to 10 weeks, Rachel understood and would sign back, said O’Connor.
"Six months is usually when you are just starting the signs," said Franco, who teaches baby sign classes for hearing children at the Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Fairfax.
As the third most spoken language — behind English and Spanish — in the United States, American Sign Language offers additional benefits, said Franco.
Because she teaches sign language to both hearing and non-hearing children, Franco said it is important that children are able to communicate, no matter what their hearing status is. If hearing children learn to sign as babies, and continue learning the language, once they reach elementary school age they would be able to communicate with any hearing-impaired students in their school or neighborhood. This helps the hearing-impaired child feel included because their peers can communicate with them, said Franco. When one of her young students with a hearing disability said all she wanted was for her peers to play with her, Franco said she went on to tell a group of hearing boy scouts the importance of including everyone, even if communication is difficult.
Learning sign language can also increase the vocabulary of children when they begin to speak, according to research done by Joseph Garcia.
Active in the deaf community as a certified interpreter since the 1970s, Garcia came up with a topic for his graduate thesis paper by 1986. After watching communication between hearing children and hearing-impaired parents, he noticed that hearing children of deaf parents started communicating with sign language at an earlier age than hearing children did with spoken language.
Because little information was available on hearing children of hearing adults using sign language to help with early brain development, Garcia investigated the results of using sign language as a method of early communication for his paper. He learned that babies who are exposed to signs regularly and consistently at six-to-seven months of age could begin using signs effectively by eight or nine months old.
"The benefits of learning ASL [American Sign Language] is that your child is actually building brain," said Franco. "You never drop your voice, you always speak and sign at the same time."
This is an important tool to remember, said Dr. Susan Moriarty, a board certified pediatrician of 20 years.
"You don't want them to replace words with signs," said the physicians director of the Columbia Gateway and Severna Park Medical Centers for Kaiser Permanente.
But, because babies between 9 months to 2 years are so eager to learn language, teaching signs with words should not hinder verbal development, she said.
"One reason why you get the 'terrible twos' is because they [children] get so frustrated because they can't express what they want when they want it," said Moriarty about children's temper-tantrums.
"By teaching children signs with language it tides them over until they can speak," she said.
LEARNING SIGN language also helps build the brain in two places, said Franco. When learning how to sign, children are being taught to follow words before their verbal skills are fully mature. While they may not be speaking yet, by learning the different signs with the words, children are building additional pathways in their brain because of the added brain synapses firing. This ultimately increases their brain development, said Franco.
"In the right side the visualization is being stored," she said. "This makes them better readers and better spellers when they are older."
"A lot of medical professionals are really supporting this signing with the babies," said Franco.
Research shows the best time to begin baby sign is when a child is around 6-months-old, she said. But, older children can learn the language.
At the start of her six week lesson plan, Franco teaches parents basic signs like milk, eat, more, ball, bath and wash cloth. From there, parents who want to continue are able to sign up for additional classes that progress from the basics. During the lesson plans parents are also taught the importance of repetition and doing the signs in sequence, to help the babies properly learn each sign.
"I’m teaching the mothers, that’s what we’re really doing," she said about her classes. "I try to teach the moms and then they work with the babies as much as they can at home."
"I ENROLLED because I was familiar with some of the research and the benefits of baby sign," said Rebecca Adye, one of Franco’s baby sign students this summer.
"She definitely has noticed some of the signs," she said about her daughter Allison. "She’ll recognize and respond to them, so I try to do the signs we learned here."
Although not signing back yet to her mother over the summer, Allison was responding in her own ways to the signs, said Adye.
"I plan to keep up with it and what I am aiming for is hopefully she’ll be able to communicate soon," she said. "When she is older then she’ll be able to communicate with kids in school who could be hard of hearing."
Kristin Cockrell, another one of Franco’s summer students, said she joined the class because she too was familiar with the benefits of baby sign language for hearing children.
"There is a structured way of learning," she said. "I started the classes to hopefully decrease frustrations before he can talk, so he can sign to us." Her son Kyson understood about five signs this summer, before his motor skills were fully developed, she said.
During her lesson, although the babies — most of them 7-to-8 months — were crawling around not paying attention, when Franco began to read "Good Night Moon," the children stopped. Staring at Franco while she signed, it was clear they understood something, even if they could not sign back.
In O’Connor’s case, she hired Franco to work one-on-one with Rachel, which she said has paid off.
While at a doctor’s visit where Rachel had to get a shot, when she began to fuss, O’Connor used sign language to communicate. Asking her where her shoes were, Rachel went over to them and picked them up to show she was ready to leave.
"My pediatrician though it was a fantastic idea," she said about the doctor’s reaction to Rachel’s signing.
"The smile on her face is wonderful when she can communicate with the rest of us," said O’Connor. "It’s really not that hard to learn and it’s amazing to watch these little young people communicate with you."
At just over one year, Rachel O’Connor could have a conversation with her mother, without speaking one word. "She can tell me when she wants something to eat," said Kristina O’Connor, an Alexandria resident. "She can tell me when she wants something to drink or when she has a wet diaper."
By teaching Rachel, a hearing child, American Sign Language, O’Connor was able to reduce many of the frustrations that parents experience during their babies’ first years, before they begin to speak. And, by learning sign language, O’Connor is helping her daughter in ways that cannot be seen as easily as the hand signs.
"Research shows that IQs are higher," said O’Connor, a licensed clinical social worker with a focus on children and adolescence, about teaching babies sign language. "It also reduces frustration and increases parent bonding."
Sara Franco, founder Signs and Lullabies, a small business teaching hearing and non-hearing babies sign language, began working with O’Connor and Rachel when Rachel was 11 months old. Meeting with them once a week in a private session, Franco started the pair on learning just a few hand signals, with a lot of repetition. After eight to 10 weeks, Rachel understood and would sign back, said O’Connor.
"Six months is usually when you are just starting the signs," said Franco, who teaches baby sign classes for hearing children at the Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Fairfax.
As the third most spoken language — behind English and Spanish — in the United States, American Sign Language offers additional benefits, said Franco.
Because she teaches sign language to both hearing and non-hearing children, Franco said it is important that children are able to communicate, no matter what their hearing status is. If hearing children learn to sign as babies, and continue learning the language, once they reach elementary school age they would be able to communicate with any hearing-impaired students in their school or neighborhood. This helps the hearing-impaired child feel included because their peers can communicate with them, said Franco. When one of her young students with a hearing disability said all she wanted was for her peers to play with her, Franco said she went on to tell a group of hearing boy scouts the importance of including everyone, even if communication is difficult.
Learning sign language can also increase the vocabulary of children when they begin to speak, according to research done by Joseph Garcia.
Active in the deaf community as a certified interpreter since the 1970s, Garcia came up with a topic for his graduate thesis paper by 1986. After watching communication between hearing children and hearing-impaired parents, he noticed that hearing children of deaf parents started communicating with sign language at an earlier age than hearing children did with spoken language.
Because little information was available on hearing children of hearing adults using sign language to help with early brain development, Garcia investigated the results of using sign language as a method of early communication for his paper. He learned that babies who are exposed to signs regularly and consistently at six-to-seven months of age could begin using signs effectively by eight or nine months old.
"The benefits of learning ASL [American Sign Language] is that your child is actually building brain," said Franco. "You never drop your voice, you always speak and sign at the same time."
This is an important tool to remember, said Dr. Susan Moriarty, a board certified pediatrician of 20 years.
"You don't want them to replace words with signs," said the physicians director of the Columbia Gateway and Severna Park Medical Centers for Kaiser Permanente.
But, because babies between 9 months to 2 years are so eager to learn language, teaching signs with words should not hinder verbal development, she said.
"One reason why you get the 'terrible twos' is because they [children] get so frustrated because they can't express what they want when they want it," said Moriarty about children's temper-tantrums.
"By teaching children signs with language it tides them over until they can speak," she said.
LEARNING SIGN language also helps build the brain in two places, said Franco. When learning how to sign, children are being taught to follow words before their verbal skills are fully mature. While they may not be speaking yet, by learning the different signs with the words, children are building additional pathways in their brain because of the added brain synapses firing. This ultimately increases their brain development, said Franco.
"In the right side the visualization is being stored," she said. "This makes them better readers and better spellers when they are older."
"A lot of medical professionals are really supporting this signing with the babies," said Franco.
Research shows the best time to begin baby sign is when a child is around 6-months-old, she said. But, older children can learn the language.
At the start of her six week lesson plan, Franco teaches parents basic signs like milk, eat, more, ball, bath and wash cloth. From there, parents who want to continue are able to sign up for additional classes that progress from the basics. During the lesson plans parents are also taught the importance of repetition and doing the signs in sequence, to help the babies properly learn each sign.
"I’m teaching the mothers, that’s what we’re really doing," she said about her classes. "I try to teach the moms and then they work with the babies as much as they can at home."
"I ENROLLED because I was familiar with some of the research and the benefits of baby sign," said Rebecca Adye, one of Franco’s baby sign students this summer.
"She definitely has noticed some of the signs," she said about her daughter Allison. "She’ll recognize and respond to them, so I try to do the signs we learned here."
Although not signing back yet to her mother over the summer, Allison was responding in her own ways to the signs, said Adye.
"I plan to keep up with it and what I am aiming for is hopefully she’ll be able to communicate soon," she said. "When she is older then she’ll be able to communicate with kids in school who could be hard of hearing."
Kristin Cockrell, another one of Franco’s summer students, said she joined the class because she too was familiar with the benefits of baby sign language for hearing children.
"There is a structured way of learning," she said. "I started the classes to hopefully decrease frustrations before he can talk, so he can sign to us." Her son Kyson understood about five signs this summer, before his motor skills were fully developed, she said.
During her lesson, although the babies — most of them 7-to-8 months — were crawling around not paying attention, when Franco began to read "Good Night Moon," the children stopped. Staring at Franco while she signed, it was clear they understood something, even if they could not sign back.
In O’Connor’s case, she hired Franco to work one-on-one with Rachel, which she said has paid off.
While at a doctor’s visit where Rachel had to get a shot, when she began to fuss, O’Connor used sign language to communicate. Asking her where her shoes were, Rachel went over to them and picked them up to show she was ready to leave.
"My pediatrician though it was a fantastic idea," she said about the doctor’s reaction to Rachel’s signing.
"The smile on her face is wonderful when she can communicate with the rest of us," said O’Connor. "It’s really not that hard to learn and it’s amazing to watch these little young people communicate with you."