This past month J Frog has made great strides in his communication skills. I think it was the sign for "sheep" that finally solidified the "signing = communication" concept for him. Daddy was reading a book to him with a sheep in it and after a few minutes he got it. Once he got that sign he started trying out more. The sign for sheep seems to have been his Tipping Point.The other day I arrived home from work and Marian said that he had a new sign.
"Stuck" was our sign for "do you need help?" and he was really making an effort to use it. He had a new game where he pushed his dump truck until he hit a while and would announce "da!" and then put his hand to his chest or neck. You can see the sign in the first photo. The second shows him hitting the wall and the third shows both. I followed him around for 10-15 minutes playing the game over and over again. He was so excited to be communicating that the game never got old. 
Since then he's picked up "fish," "monkey," "trash," "dog," and a few others I can't think of. He still does a lot of yelling, but at least he can give us a little direction now.
2 comments:
when did you start doing the signing thing? I was thinking about it, but I've heard such mixed things. And I'm not crazy about formal classes - did you do it that way or just practice at home?
We've been signing with them since around the 6 month mark. I did it with LR too, but his verbal skills came along so quickly that he dropped his signs by the time he was 2. J Frog's speech is delayed enough that I'm really glad we have sign to fall back on. We only use maybe 2 dozen signs, but that's all you really need. I studied ASL in high school and college, so it was easy for me. You don't need a class though. I have a couple of books you could use if you'd like.
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