DS5's first sign!!! proud mummy moment!

[misscutandstick]

last night watching the TV intently (hardly ever does) as it was on 'pause', the scene was of a motorcyclist passing some cars...

He watched intently for about a minute then raised both hands to a fist and oposing movements up and down. maybe it was a 'car' sign, or maybe it was a 'bike' sign (handlebars maybe?) who knows? anyhoo, he repeated the action 2 or 3 times (didnt look around for the 'shared attention' thing tho, not seeming to want to communicate something (hes non-verbal) but more of something copied and remembered, I hadnt just shown him.

I was just really pleased - he did it all on his own, pity i didnt understand, and he didnt actually do it to me. but hey ho! brill!!!

[bubblagirl]

oh bless him well done him my ds who has ASD with speech delay comes out with random signs have found he has learnt them off something special

that is a great feeling though when they achieve something new

[BriocheDoree]

Well done your DS5 (you have 5 boys! that's impressive...)
Wish we got cbeebies over here. Something Special would be great!

[edam]

well done ds!

[WumphreyCushion]

That's fab!

[pagwatch]

yay !
well done..

[moondog]

Brilliant!
Remeber, signs won't be perfect at first, just like first words are perfect.
Keep signing to him as much as possible!!!
(Am a speech and lang. therapist andhave signing business.)

[moondog]

Sorry, I mean just like first words aren't perfect of course.

[bubblagirl]

brioche ceebeebies website has something special page with signs and stuff

[misscutandstick]

thanks all!

yes, both DS4 and DS5 love something special!

Bubblagirl: DS4 used to come out with varying random signs, but a month later most are correctly signed and in context.

moondog: was wondering, (if you are still reading) wether or not it is likely that he will sign to someone sooner or later - at the moment he doesnt do joint attention stuff like reading books or playing together (he tends to get frustrated if I 'muscle' in on him, or just wanders off and leaves me with it!) I know that you dont know my child, just wondered in your experience wether a child would sign to himself (like babbling) before testing it out on someone else (like chatting).

[Nat1H]

BriocheDoree, you can buy the Something Special DVD's from the Makaton website. Or I could copy mine and send it to you!

[jimjamshaslefttheyurt]

Well done. Clever boy! DS1 started signing about a year ago when he was 8- he's suddenly going through a burst and seeking signs for everything.

[2shoes]

well done to your ds

[FanjolinaJolly]

Aaah,well done to ds.(DD kept flapping her hands when we were out and about and it took me ages to realise it coincided with a bus passing us )(I had been signing it a lot to her as she loves vehicles and we use buses a lot)

[Arabica]

Well done your DS. It's fantastic when the first sign comes. DD has 2: hello/goodbye, and thumbs up (ie 'good' or 'ok'); she doesn't do them without prompting though.

[moondog]

Miss,form my experience, it depends. What you needto do is keep an eye out for any approximations and get in there straight away, reinforcing his attempts.

eg Hesort of vaguely signs 'car' to himself as he looks at toy one.
Youcome over straight away, saying and signing 'Yes, a car! Brm brm! Look, the car is going. Byeeeeeeee car!'or something similar.

Then he learns that signing brings lots of exciting attention and interaction.

Make sense??

[misscutandstick]

Thanks girls!

moondog: will try and jump in when hes doing it, unfortunately he gets really frustrated when I butt in to his games/rituals and doesnt like to share much , but will give it a go and try to encourage - it is brill to see him just do it tho, we've been signing for ages and it looked like nothing was going in (had almost given up!) that it was a waste of time. YAYY tho! enthusiasm all renewed!!!

[Davros]

That's great, being able to sign has made a big diffrence to my DS, e.g. asking quickly and spontaneously for toilet. We taught signs in the boring old ABA way, if he wants something YOU do the sign and hand-over-hand prompt him to do it and give him whatever he wants asap. Then hold back a bit bu model the sign for him. I would say model signs all the time but try to stick to the ones that are really useful/functional.

[moondog]

Fio, yes, fnatastic to make up one's own signs. Shows imagination which is key to language ability.
Miss,if he can't bear you 'butting in' try and reinforce in other ways. For example hand him a favoured toy or sometihng he likes to eat/
In thisway, he will learn that signing wortn doing.

[misscutandstick]

Davros: We usually sign common words, eg: going to the car , "wheres your shoes ?", " juice ?", favourite animals that he sees like fish , bird , when he wants to get down from his highchair. Nothing that you wouldnt use at least daily - and usually at least 5times daily if not more.

Moondog: sounds very good advice, suppose ANY rewards (that he sees as a reward) would do? (Biscuits are out as hes on a GF/CF diet)

AND today whilst (GET THIS>>>) reading a book together (well for a minute or so, but its more than he can usually put up with)!!! he copied a very serviceable 'fish' sign YAYYYY, hoping that things will go from strength to strength!!!

thanks for all your words of encouragement its much appreciated - tried talking with friends and TBH they dont really see what all the fuss is about - "oh really" with a look of 'so what' written all over their face. So, thanks girls!

[moondog]

Yes,any reward. Build in some verbal praise too then he will associate verbal praise with more tangible reward.
Brilliant about fish sign. it is abig deal!! Really encouraging.

[disneystar]

sorry for the hijack here but didnt know who else to ask i have a 2 mth ds whos totally deaf in one ear and has small hearing other side
when is the best time to learn to sign as we have been advised to by hospital
he doesnt respond to any noise at the moment no loud bangs nothin
he wants to see us visually all the time or he cries this is a new sitation for me i know hes young but is there a thread anywhere for this
once again sorry for hijack

[misscutandstick]

on the signing front (sorry really dont know anything about hearing loss/deafness), its perfectly ok to start signing REALLY early - but with just basic stuff, like 'milk' and 'nappy' or even 'hello'. but not too many to start with, just very basics and show what you are signing at the same time. I think i started with DS4 (NT hearing) at about 6mths (but you can start earlier) and he signed by about 10mths. (i think!) Good luck!

PS im sure that you will be put in touch with relevant people as time goes on (IE teachers for the deaf, etc) but im certain your son will benefit from having his mum on the ball so early!