When Ginger Cleveland’s second son Atticus arrived roughly seven weeks early, this advanced sign language instructor at the Signing Time Academy put her hands where her heart was. “I began teaching American Sign Language two years ago when my oldest son Gabriel was 2 1/2,” Cleveland recalls. “Since Atticus was born at 31 weeks, having the ability to teach him American Sign Language has meant that while he’s slightly developmentally delayed in his speech, he is still quite capable of communicating with us. He is now 16 months old and only has three spoken words but has an understanding and use of over 30 signs.”
It’s been said that infants have been able to demonstrate an understanding and capability to begin simple sign language as early as 5 months old. Sign language can be a great tool for parents to help eliminate frustration for themselves and for their preverbal children by giving them a way to communicate their wants and needs (for help, milk, more, etc.). But for parents with children who have special needs (ranging from autism to Down Syndrome), it can be just as powerful to see the first word as it is for some parents to hear it.
That was the case for Rachel Coleman, co-creator of Signing Time, whose youngest daughter Lucy was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 9 months old. “At age 2 her neurologist said she was mentally retarded and would never learn to speak nor would she be able to communicate through sign language,” Coleman writes in the Signing Time curriculum. “But we believe in miracles! Lucy did begin signing when we were creating Signing Time. She started signing ‘more’ and shortly after that she signed ‘water’ and then Lucy’s world opened up. The confidence and success Lucy gained through signed communication would enable her to later develop speech with her tiny quiet voice, supported by signs for clarification.”
Now, at age 6, Lucy loves to participate in her mainstream first-grade classroom where she still signs beautifully and speaks clearly as well. Other children with mental challenges like Lucy are feeling the freedom of communicating with the help of American Sign Language (ASL). “The great thing about American Sign Language is that the vocabulary is unintimidating for parents to learn, so entire families can learn together,” says Cleveland, who recommends seeking help from a program like Signing Time to help make the transition to a new means of communication easy and fun for the whole family. She also notes that since ASL is a multisensory form of communication (mouthing the word, signing the word, etc.), it helps children with special needs to acquire vocabulary more quickly and efficiently, enabling them to overcome barriers to spoken language and learn to communicate successfully.
