Normal for 2 year old that knows sign language?

W

WilliamJones

New Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
INTRODUCTION: Our 2 Year 2 month old son knows some sign language ( ABC's, 1-10, Colors, and about 50 other words ). He is not deaf, but was born more than 3 months premature and has had a few issues due to his early arrival. He started talking around 2 and signs A LOT. We do not know any other 2 year old children that know sign language as well as he does and are curious if his behavior listed below is normal.
QUESTION: Is it normal for him to walk around looking at his hands and signing. He doesn't do it all the time, but very often. Example: This weekend we were at a Wedding. He danced with everyone on the dance floor and much of the time he would be doing his ABC's or counting as he danced and danced around the floor, often staring at his hand. My hope is that he hears the music and is singing his ABC's because he doesn't know the song and it is natural for someone who signs at an early age to sign while walking around as a lot of kids who can't sign just walk around and talk. To see him compared to other kids his age, they just walk around in circles with their arms swinging, and he walks around with one hand up, signing what he sees, counting or doing ABC's. Is it common for 2 year olds who sign to behave this way? If you have expierence with a 2 year old that signs, could you describe their behavior while just walking around or running around? I thank you in advance for your time and expertise.
 
First: How do you know the kid is actually signing? Where is he learning it from?

Second: My daughter at 21 months told a dude his clothes were too small for him (which was true)....
My daughter knew wayyyyy so much sign language by 2. Of course it helped being a part of a completely deaf family.
 
He has learned it from a combination of YouTube (to learn ABC's), DVD's to learn basic words (Mommy, Cat, Cow, more, all done, want etc.), Flash Cards, and a few Sign Language books. His mom and I have learned along with him, but he is much faster than I am (and he learned faster than I did too). I see a lot of what he is saying, but sometimes don't catch on until I am looking at some video of him. For someone who can't read sign language, it looks like a kid running around making strange hand movements in the air. You may see him sign 'Red Ball' and of course he is running to his red ball, or at the petting zoo he ran to the Cow with his thumb on his head making the letter 'Y'. At first, and in real time, I didn't catch it, it looked like a kid flapping his arms, but on video it is as clear as it could be (he sometimes does it with both hands). It is unlikely he will ever be at the level of your daughter, but I hope you can help. He likes to do his ABC's, and does them very fast. Often he is just walking around or in the case of the wedding, he was dancing and signing his letters, then would do some numbers, and I believe he would do a word here and there if he heard it in a song. Does your daughter do this? It seems a bit obsessive from time to time, but learning it at such a young age, it may be just the way his brain works. He is just thinking out loud with his hands. We are concerned due to is long medical history (born more than 3 months early), if this behavior is normal, or due to some other problem we should be watching for. We know signing 'Red Ball' and getting his red ball is normal, as is saying 'Cow' when running to the cow, but are concerned about signing ABC's while just walking, running or dancing around Over and Over again. Any input is greatly appreciated.
 
Alright,
It's definitely unusual for a kid to do things like that - but since you are teaching him the language - it is natural for him to use it.

I would keep it up. Some kids are more visual learner than others. Sounds like your kid is. Not that it's bad. - If you know that to be true, you can change his education ways to be more visual - he will develop faster.

Just saying.
 
We are keeping our eye on autism. There are some signs, but some items are due to his medical history. He is in therapy 4 times per week (physical, OT, and feeding) due to his prematurity. He has never regressed, and always moved forward in all areas. He will pretend play, make eye contact, answer to his name, loves physical contact, normal response to noise, imitates me all the time, would rather play with us than alone, does not 'act up', changes from playing with one item to another without a problem, can count past 20, knows ABC's by sign, letter, shape, knows all colors (very smart kid) and a bunch of other items that would signal he is not autistic.
He does have this thing with ABC's and counting that is odd, and he does have a short attention span. He is a little behind in his social skills and was a late talker, just started putting together 2+ word sentences a few months ago, so we watch that. He was on Oxygen for his first year, and we kept him in the house and away from almost everyone for his first 2 years so he didn't get sick (a need with a preemie born so young). I would believe that would attribute to some lack of social skills, as he just saw mom and dad and a few hours per week with a therapy teacher and all the doctor visits.
He is doing more and more as we are now getting him out and started playing with other kids. We believe there is something there, and I was just hoping that children that learn signs at such a young age may have this as normal behavior. If it is not than this goes into the 'something to worry about' category. We will bring this up with his therapy teachers, and get him an autism screening if there is no improvement in the near future. This is not the first time we have heard the word 'autism', but he is being watched by 4 teachers at therapy, and his pediatrician is well aware of his history and current status and currently none of them believe we are headed down that road. We are realists, and know they all could be wrong, or just haven't told us yet, or are not with him enough to see what we see. Thank you for you input.
 
Is it possible he has Autism Spectrum Disorder instead?

As long he's communicating to himself or his parents then you shouldn't be so worried. Also it's good to hear he's using ASL, which you indicated is helping him with language development and whatnot.
 
My kids used to sing around, hop skip, la-la, blah-blah. Never ending, motor mouth. Motor hands, whew. See little girl signing on you tube My Happy Hands? Whatever he is doing, your son sounds adorable. Good luck. Concentrate on what is right with kids, deal appropriately with what isnt. Just a grannys opinion only.
 
Maybe he has learning disablity? My husband did not speak till 3 and has learning disability. Learn how to use sign language was easy for him than to read a book. My boys were signers when they were younger but not that good as others who come from strong deaf family nor your son too seem pretty far ahead compared with my boys when they were little.
 
WilliamJones said:
We are keeping our eye on autism. There are some signs, but some items are due to his medical history. He is in therapy 4 times per week (physical, OT, and feeding) due to his prematurity. He has never regressed, and always moved forward in all areas. He will pretend play, make eye contact, answer to his name, loves physical contact, normal response to noise, imitates me all the time, would rather play with us than alone, does not 'act up', changes from playing with one item to another without a problem, can count past 20, knows ABC's by sign, letter, shape, knows all colors (very smart kid) and a bunch of other items that would signal he is not autistic.
He does have this thing with ABC's and counting that is odd, and he does have a short attention span. He is a little behind in his social skills and was a late talker, just started putting together 2+ word sentences a few months ago, so we watch that. He was on Oxygen for his first year, and we kept him in the house and away from almost everyone for his first 2 years so he didn't get sick (a need with a preemie born so young). I would believe that would attribute to some lack of social skills, as he just saw mom and dad and a few hours per week with a therapy teacher and all the doctor visits.
He is doing more and more as we are now getting him out and started playing with other kids. We believe there is something there, and I was just hoping that children that learn signs at such a young age may have this as normal behavior. If it is not than this goes into the 'something to worry about' category. We will bring this up with his therapy teachers, and get him an autism screening if there is no improvement in the near future. This is not the first time we have heard the word 'autism', but he is being watched by 4 teachers at therapy, and his pediatrician is well aware of his history and current status and currently none of them believe we are headed down that road. We are realists, and know they all could be wrong, or just haven't told us yet, or are not with him enough to see what we see. Thank you for you input.
Click to expand...
Autism is a possibility since those types sometimes talk/sign to themselves. However, think positive since it's a sign that he is actually learning at a young age and can be very beneficial for the learning process when he grows older and enters an educational environment.

Autism or no autism, I'd still be impressed considering his age. My nephew is 3 and he still doesn't know letters or numbers. He only knows some signs such as CAR, BIRD, CAT, FISH, etc.
 
Back
Top