Baby signing & BSL?

[AngelDog]

Can anyone tell me which 'system' of baby signing is most compatible with 'proper' sign language? I'm planning to start signing with DS (6 months) but I'd prefer to use a method where as much of the vocab as possible is compatible with BSL.

I belive that BSL grammar is different from spoken grammar, so I appreciate that there probably won't be one which is an exact match.

TIA.

If you need your baby to understand sign language you might as well start as you mean to go on with BSL. After all they pick up English by hearing the real McCoy... we don't start with 'baby English'.

You know, I'd never thought of that.

I don't have any particular reason for needing him to learn BSL, but learning BSL is one of those things I'd like to have done but never had the time, or a real need to do. I thought that if I'm learning baby sign so I can teach it to DS, I might as well learn 'proper' signing vocab.

Thanks!

My local baby signing class uses BSL signs - I think most do. I think Makaton is the other one. I'd get in touch with your local class and ask which one they use...

AFAIK Sign and sign use BSL signs, but a regional variation ( south east england) which they teach all over the Uk.
I took boy to sing and sign class for a term or two as I wanted to brush up my sign and use it with him. I explained/ apologised to teacher that I would continue to use my northern BSL signs where they differed from her southern.

Sing and sign don't use BSL grammar at all, closer to signs supporting English or no grammar, just signs with speech.

For hearing child, signs supporting english is probably fine. If you in Deaf family they will pick up Deaf Grammar.

Thanks for the advice. I looked at the Sing & Sign website and they did indeed say that their signs were largely based on BSL. I managed to get a library book / CD about it so I may well try that route.

I had no idea there were regional dialects in BSL - there's always something new to learn on Mumsnet!

Using sing and sign or Makaton on anything like that will not be teaching BSL. You can't really talk and teach BSL at the same time because the word order is completely different - and unless you are bilingual you are not going to be good enough at BSL to teach it.

If you want to use a signing system to support speech/use keywords then sing and sign or Makaton will be fine. Personally I always used Makaton because I felt that if my kids had any speech problems (very likely in our family) they may as well have learned the signs that specialist teachers would be using.

Makaton is based on BSL btw- just some of the signs are easier to produce. They've introduced baby signing packs etc fairly recently so updated the vocab to be more relevant to babies.

Although my son has ended up making up his own signs anyway!

Just don't teach 'more' as a first sign (because then your child doesn't need to learn any other sign).

I think you?ve made a profoundly positive decision to learn to sign. Since your little one is hard of hearing/deaf, attending classes or studying books is not the approach I would recommend.

I?ve never taken a sign language class in my life. Over the years I?ve come to realise that no one can 'teach' ASL (or BSL in your case). All a teacher can do is present concepts and model success. The only way language is truly transmitted between people is through 'LEARNING'. In other words, don?t go to a teacher ? go to Deaf people, and try to understand what they?re saying.

At first it will be terribly frustrating, and you?ll feel like you don?t belong. But don?t give up! Never, ever give up! Keep with it, and soon you will begin to understand some of the concepts being discussed. At some point you will want to join in the conversation, and feel very frustrated that you don?t know the grammar, even if you do know the signs. Keep struggling. Try your best to THINK in BSL, rather than relying on English.

After a period of time you will find yourself participating in discourse, and understanding everything people are saying. And don?t be frightened at being corrected by Deaf people. Deaf people are blunt and honest ? just like the Tutors at Cambridge, they expect proper usage of the language. If a Deaf person is willing to take the time to correct your usage, you?ve been accepted!

Most Hearing people who take the language are simply acknowledged and ignored by most Deaf people. But because you?re unique, because you?re ?one of us? they will embrace your efforts and encourage your language improvement.

3 Cheers for Deaf people who learn their ?native? language!!!

saintly, that's a helpful clarification in terms of Makaton / BSL and systems like sing & sign being based on them. If I'd known all that from the outset, I might have got myself in less of a muddle! Supporting speech is indeed what I'm after, rather than going for all-out BSL.

Hang on just read john's post. I'm confused - is your child deaf? If so I'd give different advice than I just did makaton etc isn't really developed for use with people who are deaf.

No, saintly, DS isn't deaf (nor is anyone else in my family); john must have misunderstood.

Thanks for being so helpful, though!

Good luck with it Angel.

AngelDog, I went on a Makaton course last week, and they discussed this very thing

So, BSL is 'sign language' - literally it's own language.

Then there are 'signing systems', in which every word, punctuation mark, EVERYTHING is signed.

Makaton (and sing and sign) uses the BSL signs, but only signs the key words.

What I love about it, is that you can develop it in stages. DD3 is 14 months, and I did the course for DD1, because she has SN. But DD3 now signs 'more', is attempting 'sorry', occasionally tries 'please'.

But you don't have to sign all the key words. So if you only know the first 100 signs, those are the ones you sign, and you just say the rest as normal. You are saying everything anyway. As you build your vocab, you add in more signs.

I think the signs are really intuitive in the main, so easy to learn.

The Makaton course is good. It will teach you to sign well in 2 days (we ended up having to sign hugely long long sentences such as 'I went for a walk and I saw a dog and a pig and a rabbit eating some cheese and a big elephant and then I had some sweets and went home'.

can I pop in and say I love the ideas on baby signing, especially if you keep it up, then your dc's will be able to talk to dc's with sn.