Sign Language Helped Find Our Son's Voice

When our oldest son, Jack, was 18 months old he made his first sound. He was playing and made a noise that sounded exactly like up, but until this point in his life he made no attempt to make noise or gesture to get what he wanted. He was a very content child who would either go get what he needed or go without. I was concerned about this but when I expressed this to friends and family, most would ease my fears by saying "so and so's child didn't talk until he was 3" or "boys don't talk until later in life". While their statements made some sense, it still bothered me he didn't try to communicate with us at all. He was social and wouldn't mind being held by people, even strangers, but he wouldn't follow simple requests, answer to his name or even point to something he wanted.

At his 18 month well baby check-up I mentioned something to the doctor about him falling short of some communication milestones. She agreed that he was pretty behind and suggested some tests to see if hearing was the issue. We went to a few places and all agreed he had no issues with his hearing. Our doctor then pointed us in the direction of Early On.

Early On is a extension of the Michigan school system and will come to your home to assess your child's development. Children develop at different times but they can offer some resources to help parents if a child is not meeting those milestones. First they will send someone to assess the child by playing everyday games (peek-a-boo, find the object, etc). They will also ask some question about your family history and concerns of your child's development. After our evaluation, Early On enrolled our son into an at home speech therapy session each week. From age 21 months - 2 1/2 years we had speech for 30 minutes, 2 times a week.

In addition to the outside help, my husband and I started teaching ourselves sign language. We would talk to Jack by signing and using the word and he started to mimic us. He didn't do the sign perfect or say the word but he would try to do the same thing we were doing. My husband was always on youtube looking up "ASL Easter" or "ASL monkey" when we didn't know the sign for something we were trying to explain to our child. We had books, printouts from Early On and flash cards but seeing it done was so much better for us to retain the word to use when talking.

I also stumbled upon Signing Time one morning. It is a show where a woman signs a word, has children signing the word and uses a song so you can remember the word. The music was something that held Jack's attention the most and I feel a great asset for myself learning to sign. Jack loved seeing the kids and the songs, but it really stuck with me when she explained why a sign looked the way it did. I will admit the songs were catchy too.

Jack started going to school at 2 1/2 where he had a paraprofessional (someone who assists a special education teacher) in his classroom who would sign. I think this was the turning point for him. Seeing someone outside his home signing and being a bit older, Jack was signing 20 - 30 words. He still would not say a whole word but he would make sounds when he was signing. One day while he was playing, I saw his little fingers touch together and heard a faint "mo". He signed the word more and was trying to say it. It was the first time I saw him use a sound and I knew he knew what it meant. From that point on he signed and his audible communication grew by leaps and bounds.

Jack is now almost 5 and talks up a storm. He will still struggle with common sounds and words. This is very frustrating to him but if you ask him to say what he wants to say a different way he can usually get his point across. Signing is still in his life but not a much as it once was. We will use it when we are in large (noisy) groups and I need him to understand me or he needs to tell me something.

I don't feel signing delayed my child's speech but I know it helped him find his voice.I am also very grateful for Early On for stepping in and giving our family the resources to help our son. If you feel your child is not reaching their milestones, please contact :

Early On of Michigan

Email: eoreferral@edzone.net
Toll Free: 1-800-EarlyOn (1-800-327-5966)
TTY: (517)668-2505
Fax: (517)668-0446
Address: 13109 Schavey Road, Suite 4 DeWitt, MI 48820

You can find Signing Time on PBS Sunday morning at 6:30 or at your local library. They also have a  Signing Time facebook page.