American Sign Language (ASL) adventures

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.