Alyson Sign Language Update

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Awhile back I mentioned that Alyson was learning sign language by her Grandmother,and the fact that she was learning so quickly was impressive. I just thought I would update you a bit on how that is going.

Last night Alyson bit off a bit more bread then she could chew...literally, and started to gag a bit. I rushed over and asked if she was alright and started to sweep her mouth with my finger. She instantly signed "No", then signed for "water". I just thought that was so cool. She cannot say no yet, nor say water, but she knew exactly what she wanted and needed and communicated it perfectly.

For any of you that have kids or grand kids, I encourage you to teach them sign language. Alyson is taught the words by her Grandmother all week long, and has learned over a dozen words so far. Some are great because they are manner words, like "Please" and "Thank you". Other are more service words like "all Done","More", "water" and "eat." "Cracker" and "Cookie" are also words she signs.

There are many more that she knows, but the point is, she can communicate with us and her frustration level is very low. Well sometimes, she is learning so fast, and learning by her Grandmother that there are times we know she is signing, but have no idea what it is. We have to call my Mom up and ask her what the sign of the day is to find out what she wants.

There are two bad points I guess. The first is that its hard to say no to a 19 month old when she signs for "Please"...a twist on batting the eyes and pleading with you to give in. At that point its hard to say no. The other thing is, we noticed the words she signs, she seldom says. Like she can say "All Done" as well as sign that, but this is the only thing she signs/says. Most of the other words she just signs.

I don't think that is too bad though. It may slow down some spoken words, but I doubt she will be 5 years old and only sign "No" instead of speaking it. I think she just doesn't say some of the words she signs because she does not have too...yet anyway.Time will tell, but for now its nice to have her sign the stuff she wants and needs.
 
Great news, Travis.

With our youngest we also used sign language for a while. There are a number of books and videos out there that talk about teaching some simple sign language to youngsters, since their hand control develops sooner than their speech ability.

But sorry, Frank, they lose it as quickly as they get it. Admittedly, that is our own fault, as we only used it as long as we needed to, and then focussed on speech.
 
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