The idea of our 20 month old son being able to communicate really excited us, as the only words he could say were “mama” and “dada”. Nathan had no real need to talk especially since his older brothers spoke for him. Within 2 weeks of Mark and I attending a course and emphasising only 3 signs, Nathan started to sign back. It was very special to see how excited he got when we understood that he wanted “more to eat” or “more to drink”. The crying and frustration reduced drastically.
Cheryl Turner, Durban
I have found the signing a fanatastic bonding experience with Nicholas as I can understand what he is wanting and also he often makes signs when he is wanting to 'chat' about something like seeing a cat in the road, or seeing trains, for example. You can see by his facial expression that he is very proud of his ability to sign and make himself understood, and he always has a big grin when I praise him for his signing. He is a very confident and outgoing child, and as my husband and I are quite quiet, I think that signing may have something to do with it!
Phillipa Newell, Cape Town
When we first heard about signing for babies, we were excited – imagine having a glimpse into your baby’s mind! And we were not disappointed – by 7 months our son was signing “milk”, soon followed by “more”, “eat”, “bath”, etc. Not only was our baby empowered to communicate clearly with us, we were able to fulfill his very specific needs, thereby eliminating frustration on both parts. By 14 months he was signing two word sentences, like “more” + “milk”. His verbal vocabulary was not left behind, in fact, it far exceeds the norm for his age. Now, at 17 months, he is using both signs and words to communicate with us.
Retha van der Watt
Having started signing, my 13 month old has picked up 4 signs in about 10 ten days! She is a completely erratic eater and we never seemed to know when she was hungry. Now at least she is able to sign to communicate and cries far less. Our nanny who stays with her on a daily basis is convinced that this is the best thing that could possibly happen to her as the frustration levels have gone all the way down.
Mi-Chelle Neumann
I am a childbirth educator and have been in private practice for 20 years! One of the most frustrating things for new parents is trying to understand and deal with infant crying and feeding! Time and time again I deal with these two problems as I help guide new parents through the minefield of babyhood. When I first heard about signing for hearing babies I was mystified. On sitting in on a SIGNsational KIDS Workshop I quickly realized how valuable this tool was and what an absolute blessing it could be for new families. We all know that babies can understand a lot more than we think – they just can’t communicate back to us in a way that WE could understand. Signing takes care of that. I think signing is fantastic and recommend it to all the families that move through my centre!
Tina Otte R.N. R.M. ICCE. CIMI.
(Childbirth educator, editor of "Your Pregnancy" Magazine & author)
Although I signed with my first son Anthony, I did not anticipate how important signing would be for us in the future until our son Adrian was born with Down syndrome. His lack of expression made it difficult to tell whether he enjoyed an activity or not, but I decided to introduce signs to him anyway. I started at 7 months and at 10 months was amazed to find that he understood the sign for "MILK", which he responded to by opening his mouth wide and sucking. It was an awesome moment which has given us such hope for the future. I now know that there are cognitive developments which could not be seen through facial expression but were revealed through the signing. What a fabulous blessing - and its only the start!
Meredith Bonte, Johannesburg
