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Baby sign language?



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 15th 04, 12:44 AM
Zen Cohen
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Default Baby sign language?

Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn
to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.' (eg:
http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm)

TIA.


  #2  
Old September 15th 04, 12:53 AM
Donna Metler
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"Zen Cohen" wrote in message
...
Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn
to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.'

(eg:
http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm)

TIA.


You can learn basic ASL signs in isolation pretty well from a video or a
book (easier from a video), and since baby signs is just isolated words, not
the structure, it should be sufficient.

I would suggest using real ASL signs rather than made up baby signs-I've
looked in some of the baby signs books which use created signs, and some of
them teach signs which are very close to being offensive or obscene in
ASL-which might not be good if you use them to your child in public!






  #3  
Old September 15th 04, 12:53 AM
Leigh Menconi
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"Zen Cohen" wrote in message
...
Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn
to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.'
(eg:
http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm)

TIA.


Our daughter has Down syndrome so we started sign language early because we
knew she'd have speech delays due to poor oral/motor strength.

Start with a sign language book for children, Sesame Street puts out one
that features the woman from the show who's deaf doing the signs. It
concentrates on verbs and nouns that you'd typically use with a very young
child (nouns like blocks, ball, car, and various animals, verbs like sit,
stand, eat, sleep; miscellaneous words like more, down, up, etc).

Our daughter is still pretty much unintelligible (age 5) to most people but
using her signs we can tell what she is talking about most of the time along
with her rudimentary spoken approximations.

Leigh


  #4  
Old September 15th 04, 01:06 AM
Jamie Clark
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We did Baby Signs with Taylor and I'd highly recommend it. We used the Baby
Signs book by Acredolo & Goodwyn. I liked the flexibility to create your
own signs, or let baby create their own signs. The books has lots of good
examples, and it's very easy to do on your own. That's how I did it.

I started when Taylor was 9 months old, and she picked it up very quickly,
and I think it enabled her to speak sooner than she might have. She's also
been a pretty easy baby/toddler, partly I think, because she can communicate
her needs to us.

I highly recommend it!
--

Jamie & Taylor
Earth Angel, 1/3/03

Check out Taylor Marlys -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1,
Password: Guest
Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and
Password

Check out our Adoption Page at http://www.geocities.com/clarkadopt2004/


"Zen Cohen" wrote in message
...
Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn
to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.'
(eg:
http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm)

TIA.




  #5  
Old September 15th 04, 01:07 AM
Not My Real Name
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"Zen Cohen" wrote in message
...
Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn
to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.'
(eg:
http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm)


I bought a book of basic ASL signs and started using them when DD was 6 or 7
months old. I should have started a little earlier, but it wasn't something
that came naturally to me, so it took some time for me to get into it.
Totally easy to pick up. Just say the word and make the sign at the same
time. Start with things that are common for your baby -- for us, it was
things like "Daddy," "Mommy," "cat," "nurse," "all done," "more," etc. I
don't know that she ever really did signs for "Mommy" and "Daddy," because
she started saying those words really really early. She picked up the
spoken word "cat" before the sign, but then she went through a stage where
she'd sign "cat" instead of say it. (She also then went through a stage
where she'd just say "meow-meow" for a cat instead of signing or saying it,
lol.) There were some words for which she'd use both a sign and the spoken
word, but for most things, she did one or the other. She held on to some of
the signs for a long time, even after she could speak the word, and if she's
really excited about something, sometimes we'll still see a sign on
occasion. Usually it's "more," accompanied by the spoken word, which was
one of her first and most often used signs.

I really believe very strongly in the value of signing to your child. Some
babies really won't take to it, but many will. I have a friend whose first
child picked up several signs, but then despite doing the same stuff, their
second child never really took to signing. That second child didn't speak
more than a couple of words until well over a year; "Mommy" didn't come
until he was 15 or 16 months old. But then at 16 months, bam, the kid took
off with speaking and was speaking in two- and three-word sentences at 18
months. So ymmv. For us, I think signing really helped with the transition
from infant to toddler, from about 9 to 15 months. (By about 15 months, she
was able to say a large amount of words clearly enough for us to understand,
so I didn't teach her too many more signs after that.) It cut down on the
plate-throwing at dinner, for instance, because she could sign "all done" to
let us know. She could ask to nurse or to have more of something, instead
of whining and/or grunting and getting frustrated. It also was so amazing
to be able to have a conversation with her, or at least to see what was
intriguing to her. Like if we were shopping and she saw a stuffed bear,
she'd sign "bear," and I'd know what had caught her eye. I think it also
gave her confidence to try to speak as well, because she knew that we were
interested in understanding her and that we were excited when we could tell
what she was thinking, and so she'd try even harder to communicate. I'll
definitely try signing with our new baby!

Like I said, I used mostly ASL signs. Sometimes I modified them a bit if
they were too complex for a baby, and sometimes DD would come up with her
own variation on them. We got a few of the "Baby Signs" board books from
the library, and she liked them a lot too. I was less keen on those because
they're not always real ASL signs or variations thereof, but they're
something. And sometimes DH or I would just make up a sign on our own,
especially if we were out and about and DD wanted to know a sign
immediately.


--
-Sara Big Baby Signing Fan!
Mommy to DD, 2 1/2
And Someone Due 2/05


  #6  
Old September 15th 04, 03:04 AM
Nikki
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Donna Metler wrote:

I would suggest using real ASL signs rather than made up baby
signs-


Here is a good link that shows signs for numerous words.

http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm


--
Nikki


  #7  
Old September 15th 04, 03:15 AM
Hope
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On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 23:44:04 GMT, "Zen Cohen"
wrote:

Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn
to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.' (eg:
http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm)

TIA.



we love love love it! I bought a book by Acredolo &Goodwin and
another by a different author (a man- I've loaned it to someone and
can't remember). The best thing I bought were some board books with
baby signs in them, my 20 month old daughter LOVES them and has used
all the signs in them for months. I use the ASL dictionary at
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm to add signs that
I don't know to our vocabulary.

My daughter like most toddlers understands everything, but we can't
understand her most of the time. She uses signs all day, it lets her
start conversations or complain ("the dog took my apple"). When she
becomes able to pronounce a word, she usually drops the sign (she's
dropped 'more', 'drink' and some others because she can say those
words now).

She has even made up a couple of signs, she has a sign she made up for
"outside" and another for "shower". Oh and she made one up for
'playdough'.

I have been signing at her since about 6 months, she started using
them herself at around 12 months.

Hope

--
Riley 1993 c/s
Tara 2002 HBAC
  #8  
Old September 15th 04, 03:15 AM
Christina
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"Zen Cohen" wrote

Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something

you can learn
to do effectively on your own


I can't recommend Signing Time (www.signingtime.com) highly
enough. The videos are excellent, fun for both kids and adults to
watch, and they make signing so easy to incorporate into daily
life.

The site that Nikki mentioned is very helpful as well.


Christina
mom to DS, 2.75 yrs
and Version 2.0, edd late April 05


  #9  
Old September 15th 04, 07:11 AM
Kelly
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We bought the book "Baby Signs" to use. It was easy and we used simple
signs (more, tired, thirsty, bathroom, etc) There are several inexpensive
rec center classes around here for "Signing with baby" but most didn't work
with other kiddos in tow. It's worth a try if you are interested.

Kelly
#4 2/05

"Zen Cohen" wrote in message
...
Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn
to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.'

(eg:
http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm)

TIA.




  #10  
Old September 15th 04, 11:01 AM
Mary W.
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Default



Christina wrote:
"Zen Cohen" wrote


Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something


you can learn

to do effectively on your own



I can't recommend Signing Time (www.signingtime.com) highly
enough. The videos are excellent, fun for both kids and adults to
watch, and they make signing so easy to incorporate into daily
life.


Seconded! At 3 years, my daughter has rediscovered these videos
and we are signing again for fun! These are great videos.


Mary

 




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