Beginning Signs

I plan to cover a little bit of everything with this blog, so I thought a good place to start would be some beginning signs. Signs are a great way for kids who are autistic or have general speech delays to start communicating. The nice thing about signs is most of the beginning ones are pretty obvious and self explanatory. Kids as young as 1 can start picking them up.

Some kids who have expressive language delays will just use signs for a short time, as kind of a "place holder" until they start talking more. Kids with hearing loss or who are very delayed may continue to use them and add more and more as they go. Kids who aren't able to express themselves by talking tend to get frustrated and have temper tantrums. Imagine being hungry but unable to tell anyone! Teaching them some basic signs can help ease their frustration.

In the case of some children on the autism spectrum, you need to start by teaching them WHY they should want to communicate with you. They may seem uninterested. You have to show them that saying something, whether by talking or using a sign, gets them what they want. Look for opportunities where they are really motivated- if you know they really want a ball, show them the sign for ball. If they really, REALLY want a cookie, do the sign for cookie. After they do the sign, even if you have to use hand over hand, IMMEDIATELY give them what they asked for.

How To Teach A Sign:
I'm going to use the sign for "more" as the example

1. Look for an opportunity. If your child is eating goldfish crackers, give him one cracker at a time. Then say, "Want more?" several times while doing the sign for more.
2. Hold your child's hands and do the sign (hand over hand)
3. "YAY! YOU WANT MORE!" and give him a cracker
4. Keep repeating the process (maybe over days or weeks) until your child gets the hang of it
5. Eventually, ask your child if they want "more" and do the sign yourself. Try this several times if needed, waiting to give the kid the opportunity to do it himself
6. If your child does the sign independently, great! If not, give him a little hand over hand assistance

Depending on the child, it can take days or weeks for them to get the hang of a new sign. Kids who already know several signs will pick new ones more quickly.

Tips:

• Use signs CONSTANTLY. Use them at every opportunity.
• Give your child tons of praise! Keep it simple though- "Good job! You said MORE!"
• Food can be a great motivator. Create opportunities to sign by giving your child one goldfish or piece of dry cereal at a time. Break a cookie into several pieces and give one at a time. This is a good way to work on "more", "eat", "please", or specific food signs.
• Siblings love to use signs as well. Teach the whole family. The more your child sees the sign, the quicker they will learn it and be more likely to use it