Would this be a stupid idea to help ds2 communicate?

[SummerRain]

ds2 is 18 months and for various reasons can't talk or make many noises and might not be able to for a while. He's very bright though and wants to communicate.

I was thinking of making him a little photo album with pictures of things he might want ie: bottle, juice, dummy, banana, apple, bread, yogurt, etc (no need to include boob as he asks for that easily enough by lunging at me with his mouth open [grin).

Do you think it would just confuse him? Would he equate wanting something with finding a picture of it and showing it to me? DP thinks it might just encourage him not to speak but surely as long as we're still talking to him about the picture it can't be any worse than him grunting and pointing and getting cross.

If it's not a daft idea what else should i include?

BTW, i know it sounds young for all this concern aboout speech but he's very bright and willing to communicate and the speech issues are physical as opposed to developmental

Have you tried signing?

No, we're out in the middle of nowhere so no classes and i wouldn't have a clue where to start myself.

Also dp isn't the best at remembering things unless he's been told 100 000 000 times so realistically i'd be the only one doing it with him as dp would never remember the sign for anything (older dc's are 4 & 5 so probably wouldn't join in much... or worse get it wrong and confuse him!)

It's a great idea. A bit like the PECS system. You may find doing a makaton course useful too.

Just googled that PECS system, that's exactly what i wanted to achieve! googling images of the picture boards they use now for ideas, thanks

Can you get books on makaton/signing?

Am I right in thinking that makaton is the system used on Something Special?

posted without proof reading, meant to say:

Can you get books on makaton/signing? Any recommendations would be appreciated, don't want to waste money buying 10 to find the one useful one!

I think signing would be easier, but you can just make up your own.

Piprabbit, yes Makaton is used on Something Special.
SummerRain have you seen that program? It's on every day on cbeebies and has signing in it. DS loves it although has yet to pick up any signs!

For some reason we no longer get cbeebies with Sky... i'll have a look and see when it's on bbc1 or 2 though and sky+ it for him.

Have to admit though my older two watched Something Special loads and loved it yet never picked up a single sign

Makaton website

Sounds like you are approaching this very sensibly. I think your son is likely to latch on to this very quickly and to really enjoy it. Just like you say, if you name the picture when he brings it to you, and then put the word into 2 to 3 word phrases, that should help him. So he brings you the banana picture, you say 'Banana! More banana?', he looks excited and you say 'Banana later' etc etc, that could work really well. Then you could start adding more words; now, soon, later, and verbs like drink, eat, wave, jump, dance etc etc.

Hey, if it doesn't work, stop using it!

Thanks shufflebum - wasn't sure if I was getting confused.

I think the point of something special is to teach the parents to sign, personally - that's what I used it for

See i can't stand Justin so usually vacated the room when it was on rather than watching to learn signs

Thanks for that link, off to browse now

Hey love. We sign, you can get membership to things like Sing ans Sign website which shows you the signs.

Personally, I think that BSL is much better than Makaton, as it is more usable in the future (if A's issue is going to effect him into adulthood, I would go with BSL). Plus, Mr whatsisname and Justin bug the hell out of me!

You can get some good flashcards with signs on them (just make sure they are British not American).

We used PECS style stuff at nursary with some of the lo who had problems with communication. Think it goes down well when there are other children in the house who might not 'get' sign language very easily (or your DP!).

Also, don't forget MOS does sign language classes on her compound. I'm sure she could send you some of the ppw she's done.

Did I hear my name mentioned

Yes I do indeed teach baby and toddler signing and can recommend a few books SR. Will FB you.
Totally agree with MrsY about being careful which books you buy. I got caught out like that once buying a book that was ASL not BSL which is completely different.

My first qualification was BSL but I've done a few other little courses which are Makaton (based on BSL) and had to learn totally new signs for my classes with kids. Although my BSL qualification was far more advanced than Makaton it didn't cover some of the signs I needed for with the kids. Signs such as elephant and hippo don't tend to come up in normal conversation with my deaf friends

Thanks MOS. I think signing could get complicated though as apparently ISL is a totally differant language to BSL. The Irish Deaf website has a few books which i might pick up but for the time being i think PECS is probably our best way forward... especially as dd and ds1 will catch on quickly and enjoy him showing them pictures to talk.

I'm thinking of DIYing a PECS folder myself as the starter kits are really expensive and i have no idea if he'll take to it. I can buy some sticky velcro and a folder and print off pictures from the internet and see how we get on.

I taught my kids baby signing without going to classes. Some of the signs we made up, others I got from websites, these are the three most useful I found:

Born2Sign - american, so based on ASL, but if you are only worried about communicating with immediate family then not a problem (I prefer some of these to Makaton)

Signstation BSL resource with an excellent dictionary of signs (see the BSL dictionary link on the left)

BritishSignLanguage Bit fiddly sometimes to find specific words, but excellent nonetheless

My DD had about 50 signs by the time she was talking fluently. My DS is only 10.5 months, but already has about 10 recognisable signs, and tries to sign for other things we do not yet have signs for with really cute and very definite waggling hands and fingers!! It feels amazing to have a 'conversation' with a 10 month old where he can have an very real contribution

lionstar... my older two could say a good few words by a year and were forming sentances by the time they were ds2's age so this is a whole new experiance for me not being able to understand my baby... funny how differant thay all are. Thanks for all the links