Our First Signing Class

Our first sign language class was awesome! Dawn is a great teacher and since she is also parent to a child with special needs, understands how best to approach learning. The kids had a great time and we were impressed at how many signs they already KNOW! WOW!! *I* have some catching up to do ;-)

This class is for anyone who would like to add to their sign vocabulary. If you have a baby or young child and want to learn some signs to use, this would be a good place for you. Certainly children with out the basics would be welcome and we could do our best to catch them up!

We are going to be practicing entire sentences using Exact English. Children with DS often have a hard time with proper construction of sentences and having a visual such as sign language, helps them to learn it and be able to speak it. Speech is always the goal with the use of sign.

I found this interesting study :

"How Manual Sign Acquisition Relates to the Development
of Spoken Language: A Case Study"

Kouri, Theresa - School of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242

The relationship between signed and spoken word was observed in a young girl with Down Syndrome during a treatment regimen using simultaneous input.

All of her words were recorded over an 8-month period and classified according to the manner of speech and communication production (i.e., spontaneous/imitated; signed and/or spoken).

It was revealed that most of the words that the girl initially signed were later spontaneously spoken and that most of her signs evolved into spontaneous speech.
Several ideas and themes were demonstrated with specific words (ex: signs to speech), and sign/spoken developments during the first versus the final four months of the research study. It was concluded that use of simultaneous signs supports the formation of spoken language.

I know I witnessed the above with Christine! She has quite the spoken vocabulary, but her articulation makes if very difficult to understand her out of context. Sign gives her the ability to be understood at a more complex level rather then for her to resort to simpler words to get her message across. It also helped her to score higher on the vocabulary parts of formal assessments. It's been a huge help at school with auditory material. She simply can not sit and absorb lots of information by listening alone, so sign language helps her to 'hear' and retain what is being taught. We have also discovered that signing her spelling words results in perfect tests!

We are way past baby sign , but as she gets older we are finding sign to be even more helpful then it was in that stage of her development.

If interested our class meets every other Weds 5:30-6:30, the next class will be this upcoming Weds, October 15.

Here are a few more resources about signing with special needs children :

Children with Special Needs
Using Sign Language
This supports children with language impairments needing more input to understand be able to retell stories. I have found signing the key parts of any story or experience helps her retain and understand more and faster as well.
Insight Into Struggles Of Children With Language Impairments

Hand Gestures Linked To Better Speaking

The Use of Signs by Children with Down Syndrome
Yes, She Can! Language and a Student with Down Syndrome