Signs of the Week

I thought it would be a good idea to start a weekly "signing" series on our blog to help keep everyone up to pace with Aaron's progress and the signs we are using as we communicate with him. We are meeting with a wonderful Audiologist from the School for the Deaf and Blind every other week. She offers a lot of moral support and advises us on the best ways to help Aaron develop properly.
First, a basic update on Aaron. I get a lot of questions from friends, family and strangers, and I love them! Honestly, I would much prefer people ask than just look and wonder, so feel free to ask questions. :) First of all, Aaron's hearing aids are really helping him! His hearing threshold is around 50-60 db (volume level), which means that he is probably hearing the tones and pauses of normal conversation. A normal hearing individual's hearing threshold is about 20 db, so that can give you an idea of how to compare. Deaf babies without amplification will talk in monotone and they won't start and stop to mimic speech. Aaron's baby babbling is great--he is mimicking conversation with his tones and pauses. Many people are surprised that he "talks" as much as he does, and his baby talk really is great. Of course he isn't hearing perfectly, but it's a great improvement and is enabling him to begin associating sound with meaning.By the time hearing children are one year old they have a vocabulary of about 100 words, meaning that they can usually understand 100 words even if they are only unable to speak most of them. Teaching Aaron basic sign language right now will help him develop a good vocabulary foundation of 100 or more words so that when he receives a cochlear implant he will be able to associate the signs with the new world of sounds he enters. It will hopefully help him ease into the transition to auditory speech and listening as his primary method of communication. When we sign with him now we use a technique called "sandwiching" where we speak the word twice without signing it, then the third time you say it you use the sign as well. We are very expressive when speaking with him, using a lot of intonation. Also, we try to use consistent intonation patterns for certain phrases (like "Hello" or "let's change your diaper") so he recognizes the different tones and can associate those with their meaning as well.
We are learning more than we could have imagined when we began this journey with Aaron, and of course the more we learn the more we realize how much there is to know. A cousin of mine asked me the other day if I ever had a break down when we discovered the degree of Aaron's hearing loss. I hope that our blog readers don't get the idea that we never struggled with the news, because when I look back on these four months most of my memories are filled with innumerable high highs and low lows. But, the journey life is taking us on is certainly helping us be stronger, more patient, closer to God and to each other. Like any trial, it's expanding our capacity to feel and appreciate both sorrow and joy. We love him more than we thought possible and it will be difficult to watch him experience these highs and lows for himself, but I guess that's what being a parent is all about. Aaron is such a strong person; he makes us stronger every day.

So, now it's time to sign. We'll start with a few "baby routine" words. There are signs we use a lot each day.

Come:Make the sign for "come" by pointing both index fingers toward each other. Rotate both fingers around one another. Move both hands toward your body.

Go:
Make the sign for "go" by pointing both index fingers toward each other. Rotate both fingers around one another. Move both hands away from your body.

Eat:
Hungry:
Play:
Good/Thank You:The only difference between "good" and "thank you" signs is that when you are thanking someone you motion the entire sign in the direction of that person. Good simply goes down into your hand.

Bad:The sign for "bad" is similar to good, but your hand is turned over with the palm down in the process of going down.

Sleep:

Car:

Time (sorry, no graphic):
Tap the right index finger on the left wrist, as if tapping a watch. Use this for "it's time to...(eat, sleep, etc)."

Diaper:
The thumbs and index and middle fingers of each hand point down and rest on each hip, as the signer mimes the closing of clips to fasten the diaper.

Hear/Listen: (sorry, no graphic)
To sign "listen" the right hand is placed, slightly cupped, behind the right ear.

Love:

Thanks for learning with us. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.