Jenny Whitman  0:00  
Okay, so I'd like to introduce you to our instructor this evening. Some of you may already know, Emily Calhoun, we are very grateful for her willingness to teach this class. And we would you like to introduce yourself for those that might not know you.

Emily Calhoon  0:18  
I am a Moebius mom to my son, Luke is 12, thus being a preteen doesn't really want to come out and say hi to people. He, we knew he had Mobius, a couple weeks into his Nikki stay, he has a trick still a ventilator at night. And with his jaw, and like tongue structure kind of thing. He's until they can fix his jaw really, he's not really doesn't have the ability to speak. So which we didn't know at first, but he's kind of going to be nonverbal. Probably forever, he makes a lot of noise. And he knows how to make noise, but he doesn't speak clearly. And, but so we've been doing Mobius and things for about 12 years, I have two other girls, a nine year old and a five year old. That came after Luke and I are just kind of in they all do sign and have done signed to various degrees. But I'm right now I'm a stay at home mom, Luke with all his medical needs kind of forced that not that I was really planning, I kind of wanted to stay home, but it kind of tipped the issue for me and trying to find care and I homeschool my kids. I'm not when it if you school, your kids at school, that's okay, I homeschool my kids because it's easier. And I kind of like my kids. But I know some people that like I have nothing against the schools. But that's kind of what I do. We live Way up north in northern Michigan. So I live in a community of 3000 people and feel like I live in town and we'd rather live out of town with less people. But we live in a town we're good we have an airport right next to us we have a little airport. So we get to watch the planes and Luke really likes though isn't. So we enjoy that part of living in town and friends closer. But um, I guess that's me, I'm, I guess by trade. I'm an over educated environmentalist, as my mom says I have degrees in research ecology, and lots of learning that I haven't really put to use in ecology, however in research and trying to figure out what's going on with Luke, lots of experience. So I'm, but today we're here to do baby Signing Time. Um, and so Jennifer gave me some question Jenny, give me some questions about kind of, like a framework and to start with would be kind of what would be the reasons for teaching your, your child to sign your baby to sign. Especially like, whether they're nonverbal or whether they're going to be verbal, in the future. And some reasons like I found personally but I've also seen written down are, it reduces a lot of frustration for your kids, because they can communicate better, and really lots of less stress for you, and you're able to connect with them better if you know what they want. And, and so, and I've heard too, as I've read stuff about it, that through my years of 12 years now that I've been looking into this, there are studies that show it actually increases even with kids that are verbal, and going to be totally verbal, it increases the ability to communicate and the want because you can start a conversation they know words for simple things, you can start a conversation about a bird up in a tree and continue to talk about them. And so the come the conversation and the ability that communication and vocabulary, it doesn't it like actually helps your brain I was reading something that is help let your brain work better. Because when you have a second language, it just really increases What does it say increases I'm planning, problem solving, and other mentally demanding tasks as you think about things.

Unknown Speaker  4:19  
And so really, for anyone, my kids, so I have Luke, he came first we taught him we started working with sign knowing that he had a trade. He was on eventful time, for a long time. And so he was not talking and we knew he wasn't gonna talk for a while. So we'd certain teach him sign and he was like, all over that. And at five and a half months, he was signing suction milk and mom and which was like, Whoa, this is great. So we have our next kid like this is you know, this communication. That was really cool. You know, she's totally she, she learned signage, she no sign, but she started talking so fast and so in complete sentences right away, that she didn't use that much. And our third child, she right now is in speech therapy because she has her own language in her head. And she leaves off things that she doesn't like. So she's still she doesn't use as much work, she's doing a lot better. But she used sign for when we taught her sign, that was the only way to communicate to with or understand anything of what she was saying. And, and, I mean, there's still frustration with communication, because we've kind of left the sign as she got talking more. And, but, so it was helpful when we thought maybe somebody was wrong, she wasn't even talking, she was just signing. And we had somebody come and evaluate her and she was evaluated or six months under her age for verbal communication, but like six to 12 months over her age for any, when you included the sign language that she knew. And so they were like, we're not worried about her if she's speaking in sign language, like, and you understand that she's good to go. Um, so I mean, I have a variety of different cases where it's nice to learn, like, is also nice to communicate to my husband, in church, or a place where we're not trying to, we're trying not to disturb somebody about signs across the room. So it's kind of nice to communicate with other people, when I want them to get something, especially for Luke, because there's a lot of things going on. And we can kind of get on the same path without like, disturbing whatever event is happening. Um, so also, I saw for parents, it helps you respond easier without getting like super upset your kids probably because you can understand what they're saying, or you have an idea of where their tantrum might be going. And there's less tantrums and frustration for kids. But like, it also helps you with a deeper connection, because you, I mean, that communication part. And I feel like with Mobius kids, they don't have that initial facial facial expression anyway. And so any communication is just like, Yay, like for me. And, um, and because my son, he didn't even move that much like he was kind of like this floppy mess for a long time. And so he are, and we, because he needed section a lot. So we actually made up signs for maybe it was something that we looked up, but for suction. And so he still will sign that. And we still have signs. And like if I or if I'm saying you know, you need a suction, it's still part of our vocabulary, which is really, really nice. And then we kind of know what he wants. And it's like a good indicator. I'm sending other questions, I'm trying to go kind of an order here, in the sense of

Unknown Speaker  7:52  
how long does it take for kids to learn, some tape may take up to two months, I've read like I'm taking my kids, it was very variable loop was really fast. My second daughter was kind of slow and clunky, but she started talking. So it wasn't like a need for her. And so for me with my kids, I feel like the need, they have to communicate in that manner because they don't have verbally has like, expedited. Like that's how fast they learned. But I know some people's kids don't want to sign to them at all. And so it's something that I've had good experience with, but I know some others have struggled. So it's something to be patient with. And understand that a language is this is another language like signing, even though we're like signing English, it's still a whole nother way to communicate one another. So if you think about kids, and how long before they talk, I mean, kids are saying one in two words kind of barely legible. I think that like one to two. And but they're not really talking in sentences unless you're my nine year old, I guess in some kids talking sentences early like, but then otherwise, I mean, before they're dreaming sentences, and really understanding them can be a couple years, and you're constantly talking at them. They're in environments where people are constantly talking and using language. So they're hearing all that language for years before they're able to use it. So to know that part of and to be patient with. And we're talking about babies ending with versus like full ASL or something like that, but in a sense to be patient, the more you model it, the faster it'll be. And so if you just occasionally use it, you know, it's going to be slower than if you're, you're really making effort. And so when they say like, how to start, maybe you use two to three days, like for three to five signs, and take some core ones and use those and so our first three signs that like for loop that really hit him because in his circumstances we're suction milk for his food because he He still had milk, we took that in, but we, we gravity fed, we didn't have a pump, so he got to actually see it. And so, milk and then mom, and, um, so those and we did those, and like, so mom was easy. Every time I came up to him, I mom, like, you know, mom's here kind of thing and mom, and, um, and then suction, he needed suction at a time, this kid is like the junkies kid. And we have seasons where I live. And seasons are really bad for kids with traits, but maybe even warmer areas, they're still bad, but like spring in like fall, like right now he spends after like breakfast, like a whole half an hour just being a big junk lot, you just have to sit next to him and suction them. And so we did suction every time. It's like, Oh, I'm going to suction you and we take it out. And we said to suction or you know. And so we're choosing words that get used a lot. A lot of people choose eat further first for some first because you know, kids are eating my mouse and more. Because those are the things you want. Like, Do you want more? Do you want more because you can have more books, you could have more food, you can have more of tons of things. And so you want more hugs Do you hunt, and, and some kids and then two with babies, like more is like this, but like they're gonna sign I met what is one of my friends baby sign more like this. And I just had an I had her and I'm like, you're signing something. And it was before I had kids, but I knew some sign language say done something I'm like, and I know your mom knows sign language, like, what could this be? And I had to think and I'm like, what are we doing, but we are getting grapes, I'm feeding her this food. And she's just like, more more. So there is some variation. And, um, and the thing would be like not to be too You always sign it correctly. But don't expect and don't.

Unknown Speaker  11:54  
Don't demand like the app, the correct sign fully from them. Like is you just model it correctly as much. And, and I know some of our kids don't have, you know, older fingers. I mean, we I have 10 fingers. And so my fingers go like this. And when I do something like play a finger, my son could do this with his fingers until like a year ago, maybe or two years ago. And so there's approximations and he we have iPad, but he doesn't do an eye, but I couldn't think of anything else. And so we kind of just kind of fist bumps in pad when he wants his iPad. And we made that went up, I have no idea if that's correct. So, and there's stuff that we make up on the fly, because we just need words, there's stuff I try to look up in a dictionary online, just I type in a word and say ASL. And, um, but so they and one of the resources I use is site baby Signing Time, or the Signing Time, calm, they have baby stuff, they have like a sign time for like preschoolers, they and they kind of have a range and they go up to conversational level signs, and they have so many videos, all of my kids love them. And we still sing songs, we were just singing the rainbow song, do you know the colors of the rainbow and like, all the kids know that that's how my kids the rainbow from the signing shows. Um, but they they're really engaged and the baby ones also I like because they show babies doing. And I'm going to have some resources that we talked about. And I'm going to sit and Jenny's going to send them out or post them somewhere after this. And they so they show babies doing not exact things, but they show on baby's head. And they have a lot of babies doing other things that are close, or their approximation of the sign, which I think is really nice. And my parents and my in laws really appreciated that because they're not with them every day, but they can see the range of how a sign would look. And which is really nice, because it doesn't always look the same to everybody. And when we don't have our fingers or like Luke's fingers don't work with the dexterity that mine do. And so I can take his approximations and kind of see, okay, that's probably this and, and go from there. Um, so that they say kind of start with three to five. And then you know, add a couple more, add a couple more. And I would say the more you can use them, like when you pick your three to five, in put them into your everyday like even if you're not talking to your child, or buy your child, if you're talking about eating to your other kids to your husband to your you know, your mother, whoever else is in the house, if you're always using the sign when you talk about it, I feel like and I'm not the greatest at modeling like I need to do more modeling. Right now we use an iPad for communication, so that he can communicate with everybody. And I feel like modeling the more and the more modeling the even so that the more we model it, the better. It will be The like, the better they'll get it, because if we're saying it to everybody, then it takes on more meaning. But having I know, when we were in therapy, they say having like concentrated times, if you have, like, do kind of that, but, you know, obviously mealtimes would be eating and talking about some of the foods and maybe the signs for like banana, a banana or milk, you know, and whatever they have down, like, we do a lot of water. And so my, my daughter will still, when I don't understand what she wants to drink, she, she'll still put her hands up. And even if I don't see her hand, like what she's doing, I know that if she's going up to her mouth, when she's talking about something to drink, if I can understand it, okay, she wants water. Um, and so and they do juice. And so, which is kind of a hard one for kids with a little j, at least my kids aren't, but they try. And so I know juice and water are in different areas. So in usually they're doing them a little differently. So it's, it helps understanding and so using maybe a book, or some play time to really focus have like a focus time a day to work on, like certain ones, and then just try to incorporate them into your day.

Unknown Speaker  16:12  
And it's contrary to think, and when to start with a question, I would start as soon as possible. Like, there's never, it's never too early, and it's never too late to start. Because we start talking to I think of it as we start again, like a language, we start talking to our babies, the minute they're born, and we're talking to them, or, you know, we're talking around us, so I'm just starting to use signs. And even if it's a little clunky at first, and it's not great, that's okay. And, um, but the more again, the more we use them, the more we see them, the easier it gets for them to incorporate and for us to just and we're speaking that language as well, with some of those words we chose and one thing I'm Signing Time is actually a it's and that's I think of there's different dialects because I learned some sign language throughout my like grade school and then did some in college and ever and I was friends with a girl that was mostly deaf, so use a lot of sign language and ended up visiting her a gal you det, which is a deaf University in DC and people have different dialects. Just like I know Jenny doesn't sound like my mid upper Midwestern dialect. And if you get me into the up where I was, all my, all my ages go away and I speak like most people think like northern Minnesota and Fargo and that kind of thing. And I can speak like that in an instant.

Unknown Speaker  17:46  
And, um, but so we all have different we speak different ways. We use different words. I have friends from England, and I had a diaper incident i was i was watching a girl and I kept asking her daughter, do you have Do you need your diaper changed, and she had no idea what a diaper is because they call them nappies. And she had an accent because we just had the raw we were so there's different dialects. So if you learn a styling, and you come across you think I know some it's Oh, should I've been using a different one or wherever it's okay. People say words different ways. kind of pick something and just if your family and you stick with it, and if you find yourself in a deaf community and they use a different one, then you'll probably just mesh into that because some of our kids may never be verbal. And we may always use some sending, which in my community. I wanted to learn more son and like have Luke incorporated into some ASL teachers at that time. Nobody was teaching not at the community colleges. And the schools were like, No, nobody wants it. We teach them all. to lip read and, and just to speak, actually, which I think is so sad. Because that's not like, I guess it may be it's my Signing Time. And Rachel Coleman and her daughters is that, yes, that can be a thing. But they're kind of like your heart language, like your first language, if you're deaf is going to be sign language. And, um, because that's how I mean you can speak all the things you don't have to struggle with that in a way. So Signing Time is ASL, and not just baby signs. Because there's some sometimes you'll get books and there'll be different signs, you know, depending on where that are baby sign language books, but they're arbitrary signs. Sometimes they're just different ones. Which is fine. It's not, I don't think like ASL versus, you know, some baby sign you found in a book is gonna be a big deal. Just as long as it has meaning. Like, you know, drink is like you're in a cup and you're drinking. But if you decided to drink like, you know, let's tap your shoulder. People aren't gonna you know, your kid isn't going to hold on to that as much as signs that have meaning like when we did iPad because it was an eye and then you know, like a pad, you know, kind of like paper. is here. So, you know, this is a pad of paper. And, um, so if I do make up signs because I can't really find iPad at that point in the lexicon of ASL, um, I make them so they are meaningful. And ASL like the signs usually if you look up certain ones, they usually say what's behind why that sign is the way it is, um, I'm trying to think of some top signs that will probably, you can, it kind of depends on your situation like, most people aren't going to use suction as one of their first three signs. But for us, suction was an important part of Luke's life. And so we use suction, but like mom and dad, and you know, eating and more, and like milk were important. Yeah, and we can sleeping and we have love. I have other ones just when they're hungry. And so this hungry because this is your esophagus going down your stomach, you're just hungry. Oh, I'm so hungry. And I'm and potty, which we've used as, like a tea I have to go potty using for babies aren't potty, per se. But, um, they're a diaper. And so the diaper is like, little fingers, like little tabs in a diaper. So their diaper like do you need a diaper change, you know, a diaper change. So you're switching something. So a diaper change. And, um, and then in these are a lot of just but like all done, which there's a lot of there's some there's gone and all done. But we used all done, because it was something easy for him to do. So sometimes there's different signs, like we do different and we use different a lot now. Because sometimes if you give him a choice, is that are you feeling like this? Or like this or something different? And I can? Because he responds well to yes or no. And, but I can give him the ability to not choose one of my answers, because he's tends to choose and so I can say different, and then we can go on to another set of things to try to get what he is looking for. Um, and But yeah, I saw you doing book, so and you just like opening a book. So again, some signs, we have milk. And this one is the one that to me is the most arbitrary, but I feel like it's probably like, you get milk from others and probably like an utter thing. But a lot of people use it and we're squeezing. And kids seem to be able to do it fairly well. And so if that's the gig, the milk, and then eat and food are kind of the same, or just putting your,

Unknown Speaker  22:43  
like your, you know, up to your mouth. And truthfully, my son eats by a tube in his stomach, we don't really like eat towards the two, we still use this one. And we still use he has milk. And like even if it's formula, it's still, we still say milk or your I don't know if we switched when you switch to actually getting food if we switch to saying food. Um, but he does use food now, because he wants his iPad for eating. Because my kids get iPad at eating times as their iPad time to watch videos. And so, um, he uses eating and like you'll, you know, where am I gonna eat kind of stuff like, she's really schedule oriented. And if we're not, if I talk about like, we're getting food out, he's like, oh, we're going he's thinking oh, we're going out. So like, where are we eating? Where are we eating her word away. Um, so mom is down here by your chin and dad is up by your forehead. In general in sign language, women things are below, you're on the bottom of your face and men are on the top like boy would be a baseball cap. And girl would be a bonnet is the bonnet string. And so like your son because you think of baby is a big one because lots of kids really enjoy babies. Babies enjoy babies. And so to have the sign of babies just like cradling a baby. But um, and if you see a lot of signs and inside time they talked about that because like aunt is here and your uncle is up here. And so things are and grandma and grandpa because I know lots of leaves my grandparents on both sides really well. So you have your mom you just another generation grandma and grandpa we do and then like there was a great grandmother that came and we're like just go out more and so put your job and so looks like we're gonna go with a great grandma. Like it just goes. Like it's just kind of a generational thing. The old done, just kind of waving it away. Or I'm all done like, which is kind of a I mean a natural thing like I'm done. Like, let it go. Oh we also use stuck because that's something like sometimes we need you know the end or stop like I I need you to stop. And so sometimes we put out our hands. But we've been doing stuff like this, because then I know you're not my son likes his fingers like this just in a general sense. So this is different to stop. And to go, and wherever you're going, it's going this way, or this way, or, you know, to go somewhere. Um, so, and interestingly, my son did go, he always pulled it back a lot. And he didn't get but we knew what he was doing. So there's a variation, like, you know, he was trying to say go, but he's still kind of, it's like, he has to think about, like, which way his fingers are pointing. And, I mean, love is a big one is easier love. I mean, I love you to say, I found that putting the fingers like this, like my daughters were so excited when they could say this with their own fingers. Because it's a hard thing to get these ones up without these ones. And Luke has never gotten it. I mean, he's got the y's now for play. And I mean, the colors with yellow is that but the play, he's just like, I feel like in a year, the past year two been really good that I'm, so be flexible with what your kids can do. And the kids the fine motor skills were a big word sometimes. And we stopped like doing really fluent ASL, because the fine motor skills weren't there. But he's been interested to pick it back up, because it's fine motor skills are better. And, um, and so. And there's a lot of things I would say, I like Signing Time. I like it because one, she has a deaf daughter. And she used to be right, like, she was like, in a rock band or something like she wrote song. So she, her songs are extremely catchy, and they're good. And, and so her, her other daughter, she has another daughter who has cerebral palsy. So she also deals with a special needs physical needs child as well. And so maybe that endears me more to her that she has kids with a lot of different needs, and she makes it work and distribute policy girl I've seen her in the video is Leah is the who's deaf? Lucy, Lucy has cerebral palsy gotta think they're ALS. But she has been the videos and she signs and so I guess I don't know, I just really like her. So my dialect is Rachel Coleman. Signing Time is when I stay with you. But like, that's my dialect. Um, and I'm trying to think of all the

Unknown Speaker  27:47  
I think I'm trying to see if I hit all my fingers here as I'm just talking. But um, so I like them right now there. And I'm not like, their affiliate or whatever. But I feel like, I'm like promoting them. But I really just, I mean, I still like their stuff. They have like an online platform that you can subscribe to, but we have a lot of their actual DVDs like in the case. And, um, and they're just, we I mean, they were on constant repeat, we had the CDs, my son actually listened to the music, just to listen to the music for years. And we still have their lullaby CD, we still listen to like that still music for everybody. Rachel Coleman has a lullaby one. She has like a nursery rhyme. I know that we got more recently, and it goes to the nursery rhymes with songs with signs, which are really cool. Um, I just really liked them. There's other ways other people that do sign language. So if you Google it, you've got tons of things. And for full on ASL, there's a lot of free stuff out there. I'm working. I've worked with a couple things. And we haven't really I haven't really got Luke connected with I'm working on different kinds of programs because the one I liked he of course was like, Mom, this is boring. Like he didn't say it like that with that face. But you could see it in his eyes. I mean, you know, but it's like he said his eyes It's like so we don't do that one anymore. But I guess I'm if you guys have any questions about further things or anything? No questions. Okay. I'm trying to think of there's Yeah, I don't think there's anything more other than to just go for it. And it's not I feel like it's not gonna hurt anything. It does take a little bit of effort to get it moving. And and cuz I mean, I know with my daughter I was like, we were trying and trying. And she just was like, although now that like she's nine now I can see it in her she's like now. I'll just you know learn to talk. When we get That far like she did. I mean, she knows besides and she did. And they know with Luke, they, you know, they know some of the sign language they know. And their brother and sister and they know each other and like, there'll be doing something loud and they know he's no balloon. He doesn't like the popping balloons, so they go play balloons upstairs. And it was a birthday recently. So they like the balloon got downstairs and Luke just starts going nuts. Like balloons. There's balloons. It looks like blue and blue. No balloons? Oh, yes and no. So yes. Is your fist. And just like a little head nod. Yes. And your thumb is actually in front. It's and I learned only recently, it's a variation of some words in ASL are said really fast. And why he s? So if you did that, so they just, it's just shortened to Yes. And then No, it's two fingers. And n is like this. It's hard to see. But so they so no, is just snapping like, No, no, no, no, no. My son does this, which is actually 20. But he can't do two very well. It's like you can't touch these fingers in. So it is so good. I just still do No, no, he even does he does his little pinchers. No. And he gets him. He's like, No, no, no, no,

Unknown Speaker  31:18  
I'll be like, No, just as much as any other kid likes there. No, no nose. So those are ones. I mean, most kids don't have trouble saying yes and no, the there's head nods and stuff. But it's something maybe to encourage it can be fun to say no, no, no. And have a little heads that say yes. And and so there's that. And truthfully, Luke, I think says yes, kind of like this, which so I mean, my I'm teaching time and it's not exact. So again, you know, I do the signs, you know, as accurately as possible. And I just take what they feed back to me. And in the sense that the more we practice, the better they get. Because as babies it's hard to really correct and them to I feel like understand and you're just so we just signed. And you know the girl saying no correctly. And I've been no both of Luke and Hannah to be at each other like no, no, no to each other like, faces and stuff. Which is it warms my heart sometimes even when they're fighting to see them bigger and fighting to Luke all of a sudden, like sit on his sister. Because rivers like this, she came out this huge baby. And she's this little teeny sliver of a thing now. And he'll be they all use our furniture as a jungle gym. And especially now that we don't, you know, we're not as out and it's rainy season, which is passing on furniture, why we don't get new furniture, but he'll just roll over the couch sometimes. And she's like laying there and just honor. And so I the interactions of and I would say for Luke his body language, and his eyes tell a lot. But it does take a while for I know for me, for other people to warm up to him. And sometimes expressive communication is hard, they don't really want to do. So. Simple signs, like he will say sign up people who don't really know, and use me as the interpreter, which we're trying to get away from because he's 12. And he has a brain that's functions just fine. You can choose difference up he doesn't want to, but just simple little signs. Even if you know they're to share when they get some signs with grandmas and grandpas and the people in their life. So it's not just, you know, they can communicate with more people and it, you know, opens up their worlds when their face and their body sometimes they're just not doing the emotions and expressions that they maybe want. It helps them to show some feelings that because I know one of the same times there's happy which makes sense you're in if you're a lot of happy and you're excited. And so Luke is excited. And if you're scared, you kind of go like this and like insane you make the face but Luke pretty much gets his he can scare and not make the face and it's still I know because of like his body language I know kind of that motion and surprise and you know when we don't do sad much I realize I think stats like this because they're asleep. Maybe sad, girl. I'm getting rusty on that. Nobody talks about being sad. We talk about being angry, like oh, you know, we talk about being angry. And because angry is a big emotion for kids. I feel I mean, I get angry. You're just angry. And I'm and Luke does angry because we he used to play on his trake which when he was angry, which is as you trade credit, so not a good thing. Don't plug into your hangry pull it out. And look actually he adapts the point he started didn't have much time before he stopped breathing before he turned blue. So This is a very bad thing. So we got him to do this. And so he does this when he's angry sometimes. And we take it because it's more natural for him now. So we, so there's we're rolling with what works for them. And so when he's really angry or frustrated, and he starts doing this, you're like, Okay, okay, I get you, let's let's, you know, move, let's change the situation, let's move on to something else. But we've, and we continue to learn more signs. And a lot of times as they come up, like the iPad thing, and we have schedules, how does the schedules, we do schedules like this, and I have no idea why at this moment, how that relates to an actual ASL schedule. But he does this schedule, he loves schedules. And I think a schedule used to be like this, and that's about as far as he got sick, because the rows and columns have like a scheduler planted. And he was into the periodic table for a while. So this might have been more related to your table. So schedules went like this. And, um, and he and like, what time and so times, you know, like your watch that nobody has any more, but you know, they're not many Oh, let's gotta watch on it looks like

Unknown Speaker  36:12  
time for a watch. And, um, and just like he wants to schedule for school and the schedule for this. And, you know, do you want your iPad? Or do you want to put it on a piece of paper, and like clean and paper or really close in school, and there's a lot of things that are just nuance, so we just use them to the best, like, you know, what, how my kids are using them. But I'm lying has a lot of just looking up sign language, there's tons of things out there, that can be overwhelming. I know, I get overwhelmed by certain subjects when I look at them. And I'm like, where do I start. So just from my experience, I started with Signing Time, and I still love them. And the songs are still in my head guaranteed the colors of the rainbow we sound the colors of the rainbow today, spur of the moment, we had rainbow colored cupcake or muffin cups, I think is what spurred that on. And, and so she was standing on a stool my three daughters singing, you know, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet to she wasn't signing with it, but they know this. Um, but they do cut like my son does a lot of colors. And I'm, you use your you're supposed to use your left hand if you're left handed and you're ready for it headed, fairly ambidextrous, but I'm somewhat left handed. And but mostly left handed. So I I flipped through my hands, but they do sit, which for baby Signing Time probably isn't a big deal. I've just been trying to learn more ASL. And, um, and then generally, when people sign they do not like if they're teaching you, I wouldn't mirror you. Um, so that's sometimes a little harder to deal with, is that people teaching you sign language are always actually signing with their right. And so you know, I don't know how this camera flips it or not, but this is my right hand. But if I'm looking at it, I yeah, I don't know, I'm my brain is not going to spatially function like that. But just know that most people, when they teach their teaching, with their right hand being the right hand, and they're saying, if you're using your right hand, they'll still teach with that. And you have one action hand. So you're, if there's two handed signs that they're doing the same thing, play this. But if you're just using one hand, like mom and dad, very often you're just using your dominant hand, which naturally I think kids do, because that's their dominant hand just like you, they start writing a certain way. But I personally, I don't know, if anybody's left handed, I sometimes find it hard. And if I'm talking to my kid, that if they're on a certain side of me, for me to turn and talk to that, it I don't know, I signed with both of them. I know inside time, one time that when they do the alphabet, they say this, to practice with your with both of them. I'm doing like fraction of the speed, they go through this alphabet song, which is super cool. And they go so fast. Like I mean, she's teaching it slow. But then kind of the fun part is in these courses, she gets faster and faster and faster and faster and faster. And so it's kind of like a challenge to see if you can keep up I cannot keep up. But it's good practice and they do it with both B so that you can get used to things because a lot of signs family, this is f so family is family, but then you do world you have W's and you have worlds so a lot of signs will use so knowing an alphabet of you know just for as teaching your kid the alphabet to associate the letters, the sign letters with that, because as you're learning more signs, because some of our kids are going to be nonverbal for a while. And like Mike Luke uses an iPad now. He still uses Sign Language and he still wants to know more. Because it's always there, your hands are always in front of you. Even if you have a Dynavox or an iPad, like you're in the bathtub, I will not let the iPad in the bathtub. Like, no, it has a special speaker on the back and it's not waterproof. It never has been. As much as you asked for the iPad in the bathroom, you are not getting it, you can finish up your bath, and then we can go. And so they're your hands are always there. When you're sitting on the potty. You can sign to somebody though, I'm like, Can you sign without touching yourself? Like, you know, this is fine. This is such yourself when you sign on the toilet, but there's a lot of communication that happens. So I like to incorporate it to just 404 that. When I'm done with this call, we'll talk about it. Okay. Okay, that's River. I'm the one who actually use sign just as much as Luke for a while. But she wants to open a present, it was her birthday, and one of the nurses brought her a present and she was gone last night when the nurse brought it to herself must open present. I said, so we'll get to that. But, um, and I guess I like I like Signing Time because they have videos that are topic wise, they have one about parties and birthday parties. And I feel like it helps kids and kids are into other kids are interested in sign like not everybody can knows it. But people are in I feel like, definitely I've had people be interested to learn a sign or two or something to be able to communicate with Luke. And and he is slower to communicate. And I found most people extremely understanding. And more and more people I feel like now have some sort of sign language, like kids have some sort of basic sounding words. Now it's because a lot of people want to teach their kids a little bit of sign, or I'm hoping more ado, because it's just such a good. It's just such a good tool for communication. So I've just been talking for a long time. And but I should be done. Because we got to go open and present. But any questions or comments are anything?

Unknown Speaker  42:10  
We definitely agree like we do. My son's almost two. So we've been doing a lot of sign. And it's been very, very helpful. I definitely agree with you. What HDD find Luke started putting like sentences together, or did you start trying to put like two things together?

Unknown Speaker  42:23  
Um, that's a good question. I'm trying to think of the list of I don't I would say, probably a two or three. Yeah, we're trying

Unknown Speaker  42:35  
to like, please, and thank you.

Unknown Speaker  42:39  
Oh, yeah. Let's be polite when we sign you. Yeah. And I don't know if it kind of I'm trying to think if when we started with the Signing Time, like we went from baby SIGNING TIME TO Signing Time videos, if that had more double signs. And that I'm trying to think when we did that, and maybe that produced more things to us. Or maybe Yeah, I feel like it was two or three because he taught himself to read at like, three ish. And, um, which he just loves books. And I had nothing to do with that. Like, other than I provided books, like, nothing to do. Because my, my next daughter is, like, in the span of reading is at the top edge of she's not reading, like, when her I mean, I don't know what normal is, but she's reading at the far end, the higher age of normal, or the it's slower for her than but, um, so I'm not sure. I know. Anyways, it seems to make sense. Like, I feel like he's like, approach them and yeah, I don't know if he realizes I try to make them do full sentences now. But like, like I want and then and I think that's where I started I started making do I want to like you know, I I want to ball or I want to eat your I want a book. He likes to just say he'll sometimes a book and I'll I'll sit there more of my with my friend and be like, ceiling, ceiling ceiling when he's like repeating words. Like you'll just say, well, book book, or Lego, or whatever he's saying. And I'm like, Oh, yeah, and I'm like, I see books over there. Because I mean, when they're babies, that's great. But like, I'm like, there's some books over there. Oh, yeah. Do you want me to read my book? I can go read my book and like my fun book. Sure. I'll go I'll go do that. No problem. Like, let me so um, I guess yeah, I want were big ones. And then putting play like for toy things for putting play on things. Or maybe more something. Yeah. would be just trying to think of easy things that would apply to a lot of things. But yeah, he's starting to get like, you know, like dad in the bath. Oh, yeah. Like that's a good one. They still saw Yeah, yeah, thank you. He's still sounds like, you know, like knee bass, like, you know, if he's gonna get a bass and he doesn't have I was trying to learn ASL and there's a, I became, it seems like there's an eyebrow thing with like the way you ask questions and put your eyebrows down and up. And I'm like, and I got all kind of started learning ASL like for adults, I go to the college presidents tape and I'm like, like my eyebrows, going nuts and loose kind of like I'm like, I know you can't move your eyebrows, but am I doing it right, and they David this eyebrow thing. And so I, I mean, this was like only a couple years ago. So we've been doing a sign a lot before I got that, that there was an eyebrow thing that went to this. But for our kids, they're not going to move their faces and their eyebrows like that. So I'm an ESL can be very expressive. And I just kind of have to, like, not get triggered by like, you know, so you put it in your face. And that's where you show this and just let it go. And we're just gonna sign this up. And not you know, get excited because they're wanting you to be scared or excited or, you know, and do that emotion, even though I, I usually do it myself. But like, my kids not gonna do that. And that's okay. You know, and he, I'm amazed at the body language and what he can show through his body language. And my nurses learned real quick, like, I had a newer nurse this past fall. And she learned his violin, which I mean, because he's clear, like real quick, because he's one of these in bed. He doesn't like at night. He's not, doesn't have his iPad with them. And so the nurses learn, and he does a lot of yes and no questions at night, because he's too groggy, too. So I'm like, Oh, don't ask them big things. Like yes and no. are different. Hers is a different are. So yeah. Oh, we have more. I see. You have. I can't see your name my screen so far away.

Unknown Speaker  46:54  
I don't think that Tifa and yeah, yeah. Who is your little one? I'm Mackenzie. He's two years old. And being a typical two year old toddler. Like you sit on my lap. She's I think she's we think she's in therapy. All of a sudden in the middle evening. She doesn't want it. So she sent her all done actually is a children in a second order. Oh, that's nice. Like just like, yeah, does not have this way. It's a slapping of the hands. And she'll say all done. And so she's like, I washed my hands of this. Let's do the very thing. And this is a favorite time. The first one she uses it for everything. Like,

Unknown Speaker  47:35  
oh, oh, you want to sit down and join us? Good. There we go. Yeah, another one. And then I'll push all the buttons on the screen, man.

Unknown Speaker  47:45  
But yeah, and one thing, this is baby Signing Time, I have a nonverbal kid, I would also encourage, I was like, I liked the iPad, but I wanted a lot of sign too. But I have through the years, my personal experience of looking back, I still would have liked more ASL. But doing the iPad communication, we use proloquo to go and now we're on proloquo for text because he can spell and stuff now. But if they're going to be nonverbal, for you know that, you know, it's just not gonna happen for a while for whatever reason, whether they have a trick or they're just not verbal. Use different systems for communication, because I feel like in my experience, and what I've heard from other people, the more you can get communication tools in their hands, whether sign language, or an iPad, the less frustration there is, and iPads to it. Luke's not, he can be really good at it when he wants to. But it was a learning curve to I mean, it didn't all of a sudden, just because he talked to sign language as much as he did. He didn't talk with iPad that but we started when he was three, I could have done a ton more modeling, but and been faster. But it works. So I would encourage to pair with the signing, which I would encourage you to look for alternative communication devices, we use iPad and pull up codigo love it. But I know there's a lot of other cool stuff out there. And so I guess that's the one thing like even if your kid is partially verbal, there's some stigma to like, oh, if I give them this communication device, or if I teach them all this sign, they're going to not want to be verbal. And I feel like that's not true. And for people that they want to communicate with you and give them as much leeway to communicate, and it'll come if it's going to come the verbal will come to it's not going to suppress their verbal stuff. And I've heard like people say at school like they Oh, they don't want to use it. I had an awesome we are homeschooled now but I had an awesome school system in special ed early on that were fabulous about using alternative communications whether it was like they had paper pod boards, which I thought was ridiculous. I'm not carrying around something like that, like No thank you, but I took that and we just put it on an iPad for proloquo. To go, which proloquo to go has, like, everybody has like much better vocabulary like basic, like starting places than they did when Luke started like 10 years ago. So, um, but just to encourage that, and iPads, refurbished, and there's people like we have people in our lives that some of our iPads were purchased by friends, for us, some buy different places, insurance pays for some now, it was a big process. But a good a good speech person or school person would help that, just to have that and have something that's always that they carry. We have we wanted what even when he was in school that was ours. So it could go to school, and it could come home. And it didn't stay at school, because their words don't stay at school, we want as much communication with them. And he can't really he didn't, he carries around now, but it's been he didn't at first, but you just try to keep that any communication you can as much in front of them, and modeling as much as possible, because it's hard enough to communicate when you got no facial expression. And you're kind of floppy, and you know, what else, you know, either your limbs look different, you got to treat coming out of your neck, whatever. Um, I've just found that to be good and kids are interested in because he's got an iPad. So everybody's interested in everybody is interested to talk to Luke, Luke, how do you talk, tell us something, show us how this works, like everybody wants to see. And it can be quite distracting. Like when we got to our homeschool group, everybody wants to sit and look at Luke's iPad. But they they are used to him there, you have to be very patient. And I'm I am they've people have come to know. And he can say a lot more with the iPad than he can with sign language because of his fine motor skills. So he's able to articulate and now that he's 12, he has a huge vocabulary. He can't say that stuff with his hands. Like, he just doesn't have the dexterity or the fluency we haven't. Because there's no ASL community to just like, jump ourselves into some deaf community that would probably help. But I'm in on my part in the schools did push cars with an iPad, everybody can understand you because you're putting in words, we still encourage sign when we can we encourage all forms. But I do push especially at 12 the iPad because they know he has more thoughts then, you know, like, you know, more to eat, or I'm on my iPad.

Unknown Speaker  52:29  
I know you have more thoughts in your head than that? Or like, no, no. Yeah. You know, like, he's a preteen. But so just in all forms of communication. And I guess that's it as I continue to talk, I'm sorry, I'm very verbose.

Unknown Speaker  52:50  
No, that was great. Emily, thank you so much. I can't thank you enough for sharing your time and experiences with us. And I just like to thank everyone again, who participated in this session, for your time and for coming tonight. If you'd like to learn more about baby sign language for beginners, in addition to this video recording, we will also have a few links in our digital briefcase that will be listed on the mother's Syndrome Foundation 21 virtual events website page, and I will send out an email with links to that as well, as well as a brief survey. And also, we hope that everyone can make it to some of our other parents sessions this month. Next Monday, we'll be having a session discussing resources for parents. And then on May 18, Rene Roy Hill will be giving a special presentation on speech and feeding for younger and older children. And you can attend any of these free sessions by registering on the money center foundation virtual events website page. And again, I'll include a link to that on the email you'll be receiving shortly. So thank you again for joining us, and I hope everyone has a great evening. Nice to see you.

Unknown Speaker  53:59  
Bye, guys.

Unknown Speaker  54:00  
It's Emily. Thank you, Emily.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai