I have a daughter who is still very young (21 mths) that with her drs and such we have agreed that teaching her sign language to communicate it the best bet right now. She has very little verbal abilty.
I was wanting to know if anyone knows of or recommends a site or something for teaching her and us learning as we go also.
The baby sign books are ok but this maybe something long term so we want to be as close to ASL as possible.
Just to add. We are learning with her. And she can not go to day care at the moment. Speech is the least of her issues at the moment and day cares we have already been told would be like feeding her to wolves. She gets social interaction with children so the social aspect is fine. In fact she is extremely advanced in social skills. But it is the other areas that keep her from day care.
But we cant wait til we learn it to be able to teach her. She has a speech therapist that is working with her and us, but she recommended finding what works for us and i am at a wall not sure what is best.
But like i said this may be a long term communication way for her or it maybe able to be tapered off with age. But it cant hurt for her to be good at it even if she develops a normal speech level later.
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Do a web search on sign language, you should be able to find a good site somewhere…..good luck
One of the best ways is for you (parents) to learn sign language yourselves at first, and then use it when you communicate with your child, because it will learn the most from you and it surroundings, therefore it will all so be a good idea to place your child in a daycare center that uses sign language to the hearing disabled children.
At this age, the best language is “to do like” basically you show what to do, like drinking from a glass, etc.
I do not know what the financial part is in the US, whether you can get any help to learn yourselves or have to pay it yourselves, but you have to learn it for yourselves, otherwise your child will develop it´s language skills later then normally.
but check the web, and the local government.
The Everything Sign Language Book is excellent. It is available in almost every book store..retails for about $14.95. Have you contacted your local Early Intervention office? They can provide a Speech Therapist (free of charge, birth to 3) for your child as well as consulting you. Generally they start out with only 2 to 3 simple signs such as “juice”, “more”, “night”.
Best wishes!
Ps. Also if you are interested in music therapy, check out your local Kindermusik. Many offer it in sign.
Another option would be the PECS System(Picture Exchange Communications System). Your child uses pictures to tell you what she wants and later the pictures are out together into sentences. I have seen this used with kids with Autism with great success. Our son used it for about 6 months until he got more language.
Definitely call EI(Early Intervention) if you haven’t gotten on the program already. They may have people who can teach all of you sign language at no ro reduced cost. Also see if your local college has anyone trained to teach you as sometimes students will work for lower rates in exchange for practicum and clinical credits