Speak to the Hand by Rosemary Hayes

27 May 2009

We all know how cute babies and toddlers are when they wave bye bye, but did you know very young children are capable of using sign language to communicate even before they can speak?

Ian Creaser     and Lisa Baade have developed, written and self published ‘Toddler Interpreter’, a valuable tool in communicating with children from four months to 30 months. Although Baby Sign Language has been around for 30 years, Ian and Lisa have taken what already existed and made it better.

“We wanted to start signing with our daughter Scarlette but realized most existing books used the same signs as you would use for adults. A lot were too difficult to use and were based on finger spelling which means the child needs to know the alphabet. That’s not possible for a very young child.” Lisa said.

With Ian’s work as a disability carer he already used sign language for hearing adults based on symbols and gestures.

“Kids don’t have the dexterity to do adult sign language so we created signs that we decided were the most obvious and best gesture orientated way to communicate,” Ian said.

Since children usually get frustrated because they can’t verbalize their needs, sing language gives them a way to communicate until their verbal skills catch up. Other benefits are increased hand / eye co-ordination, parents gaining a better understanding of their babies needs, communication between siblings increases, and its great for bonding.

“It’s a wonderful way for fathers to interact with their young children. I spend heaps of time with Scarlette and its awesome to have that communication and bond,” Ian said.

The book is broken into stages of learning so the easiest and most relevant signs are taught first, such as Mum, Dad, Milk, Eat and Drink. Each chapter slowly builds on their vocabulary. The book also has explanations, tips and a troubleshooting guide.

If you would like more information or would like to purchase a copy, visit http://www.toddlerinterpreter.com Copies are also on the shelves at Beerwah Library and Maleny Library.

Toddler Interpreter teach Baby Signs and they offer the best Free Baby Sign Language Chart  available online and their Baby Sign Language Book is used by parents and childcare centres in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to Teach Baby Sign Language. Sign Language for Babies is easy using Toddler Interpreter’s comprehensive Baby Sign Language Dictionary. Sign Language for Toddlers can help reduce frustration and Baby Sign Language has proved very beneficial for Premature Babies, children with Velo Cardio Facial Syndrome and other babies at risk of developing a speech delay.