Please Help

E

erin6109

New Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
My name is Erin and I am a hearing person. I'm learning sign language for my son Jesse. Jesse is three years old and is a hearing person also, but he cannot speak, which is why we need sign language. In his school district, there is only one interpreter and I've been told I have to learn this on my own, though she will help him. I don't know where to go, or what to do. Right now, she has him spelling his name, but I am told we can give him a namesign, but I don't know how to do that. If anyone can help me, I'd very much appreciate it.
 
erin6109 said:
My name is Erin and I am a hearing person. I'm learning sign language for my son Jesse. Jesse is three years old and is a hearing person also, but he cannot speak, which is why we need sign language. In his school district, there is only one interpreter and I've been told I have to learn this on my own, though she will help him. I don't know where to go, or what to do. Right now, she has him spelling his name, but I am told we can give him a namesign, but I don't know how to do that. If anyone can help me, I'd very much appreciate it.
Click to expand...

It would help to know at least what state you're located in as others may be able to point you to resources.

Here in DE, our School for the Deaf offer community ASL classes (for a fee, of course). They also offer classes to parents/siblings/etc of their students (for free or a lower fee, don't know since I take the community class).
 
I'm sorry. I didn't know exactly how to go about this. We live in Missouri. I've been using the ASL lessons online, and I think I'm doing alright, but it's hard to tell for sure without someone who knows the language to tell me if I'm doing it right. We live in a small town, and there aren't many resources available here. The interpreter at the school is very helpful with Jesse, but she teaches speech therapy too, so she doesn't have the time to help me and his siblings. I understand that with teaching the children at the school including my son, it's time consuming. I just don't know where to go for help, and everything I've found online that could help me aside from the ASL lessons, is out of my price range. If you have any suggestions at all, I'm more than willing to take them into consideration. I'd do anything to be able to understand him.
 
Wirelessly posted (Blackberry Bold )

Also, many schools for the Deaf allow hearing student to attend who use ASL as their main language or "would benefit from an ASL language environment".

If you have a school for the Deaf in your area, see if they have a pre-K class your son can get involved with, as well as Family ASL classes for yourself and your family.
 
If your child has physical or cognitive challenges that make it impossible (or difficult) for him to speak, the school district should be providing him with sign language instruction, as well as an interpreter/or translator for him at school. How does he communicate with his classmates?

The recconendation about contacting the school for the deaf is a good idea as they may have resources for you. I'd also recommend you sign up for a formal
ASL class so that you can continue to support (and understand) his expressive language development.

How is his receptive language?
 
Thank you for your input, all of you. CSign, he has something called apraxia of speech, also called AOS. He fully understands language. He can comprehend nearly everything I say, but the way his brain is wired, he can't make himself form the words to respond vocally. He can make sounds, but he can't form anything past a handful of basic one syllable words, such as mom and dad.

The school's interpreter does help him, but she doesn't sit in his classroom to communicate everything he says to the other children or his teacher. He mainly communicates in class by way of hand gesture, or physically showing them what he is talking about. She's also trying to help him learn to speak, as AOS is often something that a child can overcome when they are born with it, as my son was.

As for myself, I have not signed up for a formal ASL class myself because I have yet to find one that I can afford, and I do not know anyone who knows the language aside from my son's teacher at school, who doesn't have the time to teach me the language.

The school of the deaf in missouri is four hours north of our home, so I haven't called them yet. I read your comment about them possibly having suggestions though, and I will definitely call them now.
 
You mentioned that asl lessons is out of your price range... what about tutors. maybe a college student need to make extra money... you can pay them like $20 or even less for an hour. I charge clients $20 an hour. I probably would do less if they asked me kindly.
 
erin6109 said:
Thank you for your input, all of you. CSign, he has something called apraxia of speech, also called AOS. He fully understands language. He can comprehend nearly everything I say, but the way his brain is wired, he can't make himself form the words to respond vocally. He can make sounds, but he can't form anything past a handful of basic one syllable words, such as mom and dad.

The school's interpreter does help him, but she doesn't sit in his classroom to communicate everything he says to the other children or his teacher. He mainly communicates in class by way of hand gesture, or physically showing them what he is talking about. She's also trying to help him learn to speak, as AOS is often something that a child can overcome when they are born with it, as m

The school of the deaf in missouri is four hours north of our home, so I haven't called them yet. I read your comment about them possibly having suggestions though, and I will definitely call them now.
Click to expand...

So he's normal IQ but has apraxia? That's very low incidence. Speech failure/apraxia is very common with my syndrome, even with the hearing kids.
I would definitely contact the School for the Deaf. They may be able to help you. There ARE programs at Deaf Schools for hearing kids who use Sign to whatever......(trachs, apraxia, CP) Here are a couple of programs: http://www.apraxiaeducation.org/whois.aspxdue and Children's Center for Communication (CCC) Programs
 
Hi Erin,

I have a dear friend who began a nanny job for a three year old boy who did not talk at all. That was a few years ago. She began using the Signingtime dvds (which I personally can't stand) and the little boy picked up a huge signing vocabulary quicker than she did. Everyone was amazed and once he was signing all day long on his own he began to speak. I know that our small local library has many Signingtime DVDs to borrow. I bet your little boy and his siblings would have a blast. Even the baby brother picked up word signs from those videos. The little boy continues to sign often, along with his new ability to speak.
 
Back
Top