Through my reading about Down syndrome I have learned that
many children have delayed speech, sometimes for many years. All the
things I have read recommend using sign language with the spoken word,
so the baby can learn to communicate before they are physically able to
speak.
Children with Down syndrome often have delayed
speech for two reasons. They can have hearing loss from chronic ear
infections because their ear canals are tiny and prone to infection.
Many children also have low muscle tone and tongue coordination issues
which reduce the ability to speak clearly at a young age.
These
facts paired with my respect of sign language and the sign language
community has convinced me to start learning sign language. Ellee is
learning it too!
When Ellee was a baby we dabbled in
‘Baby Signs’ which is a modified version of sign language. Ellee used a
few signs such as more, please, milk, etc. I did get annoyed with the
baby sign program because they modified many of the signs rather than
using the true American Sign Language signs, even if babies would be
physically capable of making the true sign.
So, to
start our journey, Ellee and I started watching ‘Signing Time’ on
Netflix. They teach signs around a theme, such as sports, weather, etc.
Then they put the signs to a song to reinforce. Ellee loves it and we
have learned quite a few signs. Sometimes she will start signing
randomly, ‘tree’ and ‘flower’ are her favorites. Very cute. She also
uses the signs when she hears them in conversations or asks what the
sign is if she forgets.
Then of course, Ellee starts
asking about signs that were not included in the video. One video
taught us the sign for ‘sun’ and Ellee needed to know the sign for
‘moon’. At that point I decided I needed a sign language dictionary. I
searched on amazon and received 9K results!
Luckily,
I have a friend from high school that is a teacher for the deaf. I
asked her advice and learned even more. American Sign Language (ASL) is
a language of its own with its own grammar rules separate from English.
Alternatively, you can learn to use the ASL signs to English grammar,
which is not learning American Sign Language but is merely utilizing
the signs. We both agreed that since Katie will eventually learn to
speak, and can hear, it made the most sense for us to use the ASL signs
with English grammar. She recommended the Random House Webster’s, American Sign Language Dictionary. She preferred this dictionary as having the best pictures and descriptions of how to perform the signs.
Our
dictionary showed up yesterday, now Ellee knows the signs for ‘moon’,
‘heart’, ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’ and all is right in her world.
I
am really enjoying learning the ASL signs but I am not sure that Katie
will even need it. All indications for her language development are
looking great. She passed her hearing test and has not had any
infections. She is already cooing, babbling, blowing raspberries, and
making a few vowel (ahhh, ohhh) sounds. She eats like a champ which is
apparently HUGE. The muscle strength, tongue and breathing coordination
required to breastfeed are often very troublesome for children with DS.
The muscles needed for feeding are the same ones used for speaking.
Katie rests with her tongue in her mouth which will help develop the
palate in her mouth properly. She also holds babbling conversations
with me. She speaks, I repeat, back and forth very constantly and
regularly. Whether she ends up using sign language for a few months or
years, I still want to keep it up since Ellee and I are having so much
fun.
Here are the signs we know so far: most of the
alphabet, 1-10, hello, what, outside, tree, leaf, flower, spring, cold,
hot, sweater, rain, snow, sun, moon, football, basketball, soccer/kick,
baseball, dance, run, nice, name, meet, different, same, share, time,
know, learn, heart, mom, dad, old, new, read, book, play, today.
