BABY SIGNS. A Guide for Parents and Professionals

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1 BABY SIGNS A Guide for Parents and Professionals 2017

2 Baby Signs For nine long months, parents have waited for the new arrival or an addition to the family. In those first moments as new parents are filled with love. Then a routine hearing test at the hospital changes their lives with only a few words "I am sorry, your baby is Deaf or Your baby has a hearing loss." A diagnosis of hearing loss can be frightening and upsetting for any new parents and their family wondering how they can communicate with their new baby. An increasing trend has started for hearing babies to learn some signs before they can talk, therefore giving them a communication tool to express what they want i.e. milk, food and bed. Baby signs are simple to learn, they even use some British Sign Language (BSL) and some American Sign Language (ASL). All you do is learn the sign for a word, not the grammar/linguistics of BSL. You can speak as well whilst using baby signs, the earlier the better to give deaf babies similar opportunities as hearing babies. If you are interested and would like to practice or learn more about BSL, please contact your Advisory Teacher for the Deaf, or they can refer you to an Advisory Deaf Inclusion Worker to support you and your family. Parents of hearing children who use baby signs with their young children have found it really helpful. Some of the parents believe that it has helped with their child s spoken language see what they said below.. The best thing about it, signing, is actually being able to communicate with your children before they can talk..they love it..you can tell by the measure on their face and the giggle they give you..it is really rewarding.. Nicky, mum of Hannah and Josh. (itvbabysign.com) He s very communicative now. He learnt the sign for change, if he needs a diaper change. He ll do that now if he doesn t like the music I ve chosen! Hollywood actress, Debra Messing. (itvbabysign.com) Babysigns has had a calming and highly entertaining effect on my household. From my enthusiastic two year old who learnt very early on that she could get what she wanted before she could speak, and now has a phenomenal vocabulary, to my 10 month old son, who has just started to realise that he can communicate with us too with his hands it is a delight to watch them signing together and many a temper tantrums have been diffused with the use of signs. I can t imagine who parents cope without it. Caroline, mum of Mary and Tom. (babysign.co.uk) Both myself and my daughter are hearing but as an aid to communication I started using some basic signs with her when she was about 4-6 months. The difference this made to our communication was amazing, from a young age she was able to tell me what she wanted which meant that I was able to respond to her needs quicker and more effectively. It also meant that she didn t suffer from any temper tantrums, I strongly believe that this was due to the fact that she wasn t frustrated as she was able to tell me what she wanted. In comparison to many of her peers she was a calm toddler. The fact that she knew Sign Language was in no way detrimental to her spoken English, in fact I believe it helped her English as it gave her a strong understanding of language. I would strongly recommend using some simple baby signs to anyone whether their child is Deaf or Hearing Carly, BSL Interpreter, mum of Millie.

3 Useful Tips Basic Handshapes Deaf babies develop signs early on, usually starting first with a flat hand. Signs can be used for words such as mummy, daddy, bath, bed, poo, kiss, bye, oh, and clapping. Babies can use their hands for the first time to express what they want i.e. flat hand on the mouth means eating or drinking. They can also easily communicate a basic need with their flat handshape such as wanting a favourite toy or needing something to eat or drink. This aid to communication makes for a much happier baby. Over time the handshapes then develop into other basic handshapes such as making a fist, a bent hand and c hand. Flat Hand mummy, daddy, bath, bed, poo, kiss, bye, oh, clapping. Fist Hand handling spoon, rattle, soft brush, cuddling teddy. C Hand drink, ball. Bent Hand sleep (hands closed as eyes closed sleep) Sign First Most parents usually give an item to their hearing babies, using their voice to express what it is, (it could be anything such as a snack, drink or favourite toy). Deaf babies rely on their eye contact to see what is happening around them, therefore when parents show an item to their Deaf babies, they need to demonstrate the item and sign the related sign simultaneously before giving it to their Deaf baby. The easiest way to sign in this way is to put baby down and then sign to them. This gives the baby an opportunity to learn and understand signs through visual language. The earlier the parents expose their Deaf babies to sign language, the earlier the Deaf babies begin to connect with the world around them. Using a visual sign language will not only reduce frustrations relating to communication, but it can increase a child s knowledge and sense of well-being. Eye Contact Eye contact is really important. So much can be conveyed when looking at someone directly facial expression, lip patterns, emotions, emphasis, questions. Think about how you can encourage eye contact. Babies love being tickled, and this is an excellent way to interact to gain eye contact. Coloured hand puppets too are an excellent method to gain eye contact as the parent s hand can move around the baby and towards their face to show expressions (peek a boo) Bright and flashing toys are another way of using objects to improve this. Parents should hold the objects close to their own faces, so as to encourage the baby to give eye contact and sign simultaneously. Communication Here are a few communication tips that might be useful to parents.

4 Parents should use a signing space from their nose to mid tummy and between the shoulders. Do not use signs outside of the signing space. Sign using your own body/face, not the baby s. Use both hands, try not to adapt to one handed signing. Check where the light source is in the room, i.e. natural light from a window or a table lamp. Make sure you are not standing in front of the light, as this will create a silhouette, making it hard to see you. It is recommended that prams or buggies are positioned so the baby faces the adult who is pushing them. To gain a baby s attention, tap them on the arms or legs. Other strategies to develop eye contact include touching, waving, pointing and trying to gain attention. Instead of music, why not put a warm night light in the baby s room, to relax them before they go to sleep? Keep going! Communication is really important. Growing up Deaf or with a hearing loss in a hearing world can pose challenges to emotional wellbeing. Evidence suggests that Deaf children in families with poor parent-child communication are more likely to experience emotional and behavioural problems. By signing with your baby, you will be giving them the best start in life. And it can be fun! Your baby will be learning signs, even if they don t sign them back to you straight away. Don t give up! All children learn to see or hear language first. Some babies may take a while to sign back to you, but don t worry. Keep signing, signs may not be clear at first, it s a gradual process. Your child will begin to use their hands, signing to communicate, and their manual dexterity will improve over time. The important thing is for you to continue signing, whether your baby is copying you or not. There are many benefits to all the family signing around the child; it s a wonderful way to make them feel included. Try to encourage all the family to sign to the child; don t leave it all to mum! The important thing is not to give up. Keep going! Signing with your hearing baby will not affect their ability to speak later. Signing is way to develop communication earlier on. Hand/eye coordination develops earlier than speech skills. They will develop speech and language quite naturally later on. Useful Websites & Resources National Deaf Children s Society provides full information and support for newly diagnosed deaf babies and offers basic sign language courses for the whole family in local areas. On-line visual story books for babies and toddlers with a BSL signer. A useful resource for parents to practice their signing in story telling. On-line payable courses divided into 6 sections with access to this exclusive website for one year. Also it is available to download from apps store.

5 BSL books, DVD s and activity cards as a learning resources for early years can be purchased from Forest Books. Lots of suitable BSL graphic signs resources for early years to purchase and some free downloads. Parents will find all sorts of really useful games, books and resources to help you teach your child to learn sign language. Amazing Baby s a first guide to baby signing. Each signed word is clearly illustrated with step-by-step photos and the vocabulary is divided into sections, including family, clothing, meal time, outdoors and animals. There are also several BSL apps available that could be downloaded, preferrably on a mobile phone or tablet. Sign graphics are available from Cath Smith s resources. ( If you would like more information, please feel free to contact either an Advisory Teacher for the Deaf or Advisory Deaf Inclusion Worker at the Sensory Team. They may know of other Deaf children and families in your local area. We provide courses for parents to learn sign language, so please ask your local Teacher of the Deaf about the next course available. Babcock LDP, 2 nd Floor, Milford House, Pynes Hill, Exeter, EX2 5GF Telephone: Fax: Website:

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