 |
|
|
|
|
|
Comments on "Welcome Addition, Indeed"
shelby: hea i want in work baby sit wait work much
(Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 10:58 pm)
Samantha: Hi Trudy. I couldn't agree more about the importance of using ASL as the basis for your baby sign program. The Sign2Me program is dedicated to promoting the use of sign language in baby development and learning, and follows ASL for a number of reasons: consistency, easy to learn and understand, widely known, easily accessible, etc. There is interesting information on the Sign2Me site (www.sign2me.com/asl.php) about the importance of following ASL and the benefits it will bring to babies and parents alike. Thank you for your insight!
(Thursday, September 27, 2007 at 8:16 pm)
Dawn M: I, too, teach parents and caregivers of pre-verbal and hearing infants and toddlers and disabled children (cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome and other) ASL and I live in a city where we have the state residential school for the Deaf and Blind. These children are mainstreamed into our children's classes starting in kindergarten and one thing I reinforce to my parents is how their children will be able to break down a wall of discrimination when they teach their child ASL! Their children will be able to communicate with these deaf children IN THE SIGNS THEY HAVE BEEN TAUGHT! We are VERY fortunate Baby Signs isn't taking big hold here, but we do have parents who don't know and are not teaching their children "real" signs.
In telling these parents they will be stopping one area of discrimination against deaf children, they are then thinking about how they can help their children to help OTHER children communicate in ASL. Their word-of-mouth awareness is helping to build bridges of communication where there may NOT be bridges!
I will ALWAYS encourage proper, ASL in my classes - even if I need to work with parents and children to correct a sign improperly taught or learned.
Dawn M
(Monday, September 24, 2007 at 6:41 pm)
Trudy (author):
I typically get a lot of e-mail after each column, but this one took the cake! Thanks to the group of teachers and deaf people who contacted Similac about the pictures/signs. I was just notified - and I confirmed this by looking at the website itself - that Similac has removed the file from its website!
It's my hopes that this will lead to more work for deaf ASL teachers who are truly fluent in the language and the techniques of teaching babies (regardless of if they're deaf or hearing) ASL. And of course, it's my hopes that this will lead to increased ASL awareness. But I didn't expect this outstanding response rate, so I must thank each and every one of you who contacted Similac or e-mailed me.
I'll post again with updates as I get them.
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 8:30 pm)
Melissa: Hi Trudy!
My name is echo and I am the Presenters’ Network Coordinator at Sign2Me®. I am also Deaf and a member of the Seattle Deaf Community. Before I was staff at Sign2Me® I was an Independent Presenter teaching sign language to hearing families using the SIGN with your BABY® program, whose parent company is Sign2Me®. I have been with this company for 5 years and really admire their authenticity and respect for the Deaf community as well as American Sign Language as a true language.
Like you, the idea of hearing families using made-up sign language when ASL already exists, saddens me. Sometimes I can’t help but remember back to when I was a young child and while being mainstreamed I had little opportunities to socialize among my peers due to the language barrier. It breaks my heart to know that there are many families out there who are advocating the use of made-up signs when their children could be using true American Sign Language and communicating with our Deaf youth! The purpose of any language is to facilitate effective communication. If everyone made up their own spoken words, no verbal communication could take place. The same analogy holds for sign language; if everyone makes up their own signs, the system simply breaks down and is of value only to those few with whom the “secret code” has been directly shared (and learned)!
This is why we work so hard every day to educate families on the benefits of using true American Sign Language as apposed to made up signs. At Sign2Me® we have over 600 Presenters who teach our program and all of them will advocate the use of ASL as apposed to made-up signs. We are a strong network of ASL Interpreters, CODA’s, Deaf individuals, Speech-Language Pathologists, Professional Teachers including those with Masters in Deaf Education and many more.
Just today, I taught a class of hearing families with hearing babies and when I asked a mother what she thought the sign for “pear” was, she made a sign that was equivalent to “vagina” in ASL stating that the hand shape she was making was a similar shape to the fruit. It was a prime example of the confusion that can take place when teaching children made up signs.
I would like to invite you and others to continue writing on this topic. We need all the help we can get in educating the public about the benefits of using American Sign Language as apposed to made-up signs. I encourage you to check out our website: www.sign2me.com and get involved by contacting me egreenlee@sign2me.com
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 7:59 pm)
Trudy (author):
I typically get a lot of e-mail after each column, but this one took the cake! Thanks to the group of teachers and deaf people who contacted Similac about the pictures/signs. I was just notified - and I confirmed this by looking at the website itself - that Similac has removed the file from its website!
It's my hopes that this will lead to more work for deaf ASL teachers who are truly fluent in the language and the techniques of teaching babies (regardless of if they're deaf or hearing) ASL. And of course, it's my hopes that this will lead to increased ASL awareness. But I didn't expect this outstanding response rate, so I must thank each and every one of you who contacted Similac or e-mailed me.
I'll post again with updates as I get them.
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 6:55 pm)
Manny: Kudos on an insightful article on the "new revolution" of providing visual language to babies. Unfortunately, euphoria almost always trumps accuracy.
Again, their argument could be that it is titled, "baby sign language (bsl)". We could fight for a disclaimer that states that BSL is not derived from ASL, et al. Will anyone pay attention or bother to care? Perhaps a few will.
Look forward to more of your insights.
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 5:12 pm)
Ryan: Right on! Why re-invent the wheel? Recommendation: hire a Deaf ASL master to serve as a consultant...
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 4:07 pm)
Kimberly: I did some research on this issue, and if you click on the baby signs on Similac's website, on the first card, you will see, at the bottom, a link. Click on that link and it takes you to a website using British Sign Language.
I then browsed that site, and I was able to find some Basic Sign Language video clips to view. One of them shows "DOG" in the panting mode -- which is NOT ASL.
Is it possible that Similac is using BSL signs and not ASL? I would like to know WHERE Similac is getting their signs from first, before I send them a letter.
Also, on Similac's flash cards - the sign for "milk" is more like "bye-bye" than "milk". If a baby is able to form the proper hand signals for all of these other signs, surely they can put their hand in an upright position to do the "milk" sign. Again, where is Similac getting their source from?
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 2:57 pm)
Anna: Seeing companies advertise made up signs is very frustrating, but can be amusing when it fires back for instance a few years ago Baby Signs was on Good Morning America and at the end of the show Diane Sawyer signed "fellatio" on national television because that was Baby Signs made up sign for "cup". How embarrassing for them, and Diane for having them on the show. Karma bites.
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 2:08 pm)
libby: I am a hearing teacher of sign with babies. i tell my students (parents/caregivers) to use the correct sign. i explain that when a baby signs they might not use the correct sign completely but a close version. this is due to their personal learning process and dexterity.
what i tell my students (parents/caregivers) is to continue using the correct sign. but be positive when a child makes his own sign. encourage the sign the child makes for communication purposes, however the parent should still use the correct sign themselves. the child's sign will eventually evolve into the correct sign.
another thing i tell my students is that they should not learn from books or verbal descriptions. the sole purpose is that they (or like in this article, the pictures) might be mis-interpreted. they should take a class or learn from an established video.
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 11:49 am)
Cherilyn: I sent them a letter explaining that it was a great idea to teach sign language. i also expressed concerns about some of the signs and encouraged them to get a deaf person to help out with the correction of sign. Etc Etc..
Let me extend my congrats to your upcoming new bundle of joy. :) Welcome to motherhood!
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 9:25 am)
Cathy: I think that saying the word would benefit both deaf and hearing babies as they could also learn to lipread at the same time. I hope you follow up on this, maybe call the customer support number or something, and get others to do the same. Companies may not listen to one person, but if several call in or email them, they might. Just my 2 cents worth.
(Friday, September 21, 2007 at 3:11 am)
Tom: You have to wonder why all the companies that produce materials on baby sign language are owned by hearing people. Why does the deaf community allow the hearing world to co-opt our language to make money for themselves? Are there any deaf businesses or organizations producing and selling baby sign language materials? You would think a company like DawnSignPress would have cornered the market on something like this.
(Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 10:07 pm)
Alicia: Benefits of babies being taught correct ASL are indeed plentiful -- for deaf people. How can we better frame the benefits for hearing people? Change won't happen until people see how it benefits them.
Some possibilities:
* Cognitive benefits. ASL is a bona-fide language with bona-fide linguistic roots, which means that it's been time-tested to best complement the cognitive workings of the brain. There's a reason talking gobbledygook to babies is often frowned upon by those who want Einstein babies. Same goes for ASL.
* Reusability. Why waste your baby's cognitive resources on throwaway signs when you could be teaching her something that might come in handy later?
* Preventing disillusionment. Your hearing, baby-signing child one day meets a deaf child. Excitedly, he tries to sign to the deaf child. But alas, he's been taught wrong. Your child soon realizes he's made a fool of himself and sadly walks away, his self-esteem as flat as a pancake. (ok, admittedly that one was a bit over the top. :)
* Other??
(Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 6:50 pm)