When we first heard about Signing Time [affiliate link], it was because I had read about teaching a baby to sign – that it reduced frustration for them to be able to communicate before they could speak. I ended up thinking that all of those children had to be BRILLIANT to be able to learn to sign, because even though the J-man loved watching Signing Time, he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) sign. He didn’t have the fine motor skills to pull off doing any sign that had finger movement or shaping.
The only sign the J-man ever used was “more” and I’m still not sure that he understood what he was asking for. The only time he ever used it was when we were playing a game where we carried him around and stopped suddenly, and he had to ask for “more” before we would move again. So he understood that we would start running again, but I think he just thought the sign meant something like “go.” Once the J-man was able to actually say the “g” sound (for GO!) he stopped with signing “more.”
In the span of something like 5 minutes, I just taught Dale Jr to sign “more.” He was sitting in his high chair eating (also something new this time around), and I asked if he wanted “more” or “all done” – signing each thing. (Our “all done” is like an umpire making the SAFE signal at home plate, because the other way to do “all done” looks too much like stimming for the J-man to ever differentiate.) Dale Jr would open his mouth like a baby bird in a nest, and I would pop in another Gerber Puff, each time signing “more!” before.
Suddenly, when I asked if he wanted “more” or “all done” he clapped his fists together. “MORE” I shouted, and gave him another puff. “More or all done?” Again, he clapped his fists together. “MORE!”
Then, before I could ask the question, Dale Jr looked at me pointedly, and clapped his fists together. “MORE!”
I called Tim downstairs to make sure I wasn’t reading more (heh) into the situation than it warranted, and Dale Jr showed Daddy that he could sign “more” with a bit of resignation – all, “I just want the dang Puff, people, so could you give it to me?”
And, we celebrated.
Posts that hopefully are similar:
- Yeah Toast!
- Shining More and More! Quarterly IEP Report
- All the Good Things
- Blast Off!
- The Sign for Brother
- Shut Up
- What’s Your Autistic Toddler Like Now? (Part 2)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Let’s hear it for Dale Jr!!
But let’s hear it for the J-Man too!
JB – my next post is about the J-man, and his amazing stairs!
Awesome! I’m interested to know if J-Man’s communication improves as he watches his little brother. I’ve started signing with Anabelle and I’ve seen Wesley practicing signs on his own, but not with any real attempt to communicate yet. Can’t wait to hear more!!
Jennie, we hope that might happen. The J-man doesn’t sign, but we’re hoping that with all the vocalizing that Dale Jr is doing (Bs and Ps and Fs and Ms and Ns and possibly something that sounds like a Th sound) the J-man will get interested in it. We’re also teaching Dale Jr to wave – which is incredibly funny because he gets that you move your hand, but he does what Tim calls the “smooth” wave instead of back and forth.