When my family saw how happy my son was to be able to communicate, and how excited he was to be able to let them know what he was thinking and feeling, they got the message. My parents learned sign from me, but my brother and his boys all took some classes to get started, and then allowed my son to teach them more advanced things. It really made my son feel great to be able to help his uncle and his cousin learn to communicate with him.
The thing is, some family members and friends will do whatever it takes, and will go out of their way to learn, and some will refuse to learn at all. Sad, but true. I see the ones that refuse to learn as loosing out on all the special moments they could have with a deaf person, so it is their loss, not yours.
Those precious moments are precious, no matter what language is used.
