It amazes me that there would ever be a need to justify teaching your kid your own language. Not only is it useful/necessary for communicating in your own home, it’s also just a great skill to pass on! Who doesn’t want to know more languages and communicate with more people?? I’m very happy for you that it seems to be going well. And I’m happy for your baby that he’ll know such a beautiful language.
While both me and my wife are fluent in English and we live in Scotland now we will definitely teach our bairn Dutch so she can more easily communicate with her grandparents. Plus indeed learning extra languages has a LOT of cognitive and developmental advantages. Unfortunately I don't learn new things that easily any more due to my own impairments but already being able to speak multiple languages makes it easier for me to pick up new ones as well. I hope to add sign language to my repertoire to be more inclusive. And after Dutch sign language will definitely be the third language we teach our bairn, before any of the other ones we already know. ps. I'm hoping to add my view here from an perspective of being inclusive. As I'm not D/deaf myself my voice isn't the one that deserves to be amplified though. Feel free to ignore this comment.
I live in a city with a lot of people from all over the world. Some of the kids that live in extended family groups grow up with English and also their grandparents' home language so by the time they get to infant school they are already bilingual. It seems to put them ahead in terms of learning more new languages on top, as well as other skills. Plus, my kids used to come home with some songs and games in other languages (and swear words!) So more power to your elbow!
That is often Said by people who never Had to learn another language. I live in scotland and would definetely teach my children German because its frigging useful. But a Lot of people dont want immigrants to do that and instead "learn proper english". Those people then try to say that If you learn two languages, you will fail at both, which is such Bs. My charitable Interpretation is that people who never honestly had to be bilingual cannot Imagine actually succeeding in language learning. It's funny because it Just Shows that they never bothered learning a language properly, despite french and German being taught frequently
@@annabeinglazy5580 Yeah anyone who says if you try to learn two languages at once you'll fail at both probably isn't bilingual. As someone who grew up in a bilingual household, it's very much possible and I'm forever grateful to both be able to communicate with my extended family and carry on such an important part of my culture.
Rupert babbling to himself in sign is such a cute image Also why wouldn't a Deaf/deaf parent teach their child sign? It's like asking a parent why they want to be able to communicate with their child.
I think that part was hearing parents of deaf children. Instead of learning sign and teaching it to their child, they force the kid to learn to lip-read. Which is hard enough if you already know the language, but makes learning a language very hard because you only have mouth shapes to go on, and a lot of sounds make the same shape.
i don't understand why people would find deaf babies/children signing sad??? let me tell you when i found out deaf babies babble in sign language it was the cutest thing ever. i cry just thinking about it tbh.
I feel like it comes down to a lack of education about Deaf Culture and how different people who are Deaf/deaf it. People don't understand, and I (as a hearing person) have had to learn that (as part of learning ASL)
People who are able bodied and don't have any real contact with disabled people often develop a form of misguided and misplaced empathy and sympathy and so they think it's sad that a child can't hear just like they think a child who can't walk is a sad situation. "Having to be disabled", in this mindset, is something to be pitied.
IIRC, is one of the 'early bits' of supporting evidence that the brain completely accepts sign languages as a full on valid language. Audio/verbal not necessary. I'd love to share one of my favorite examples of baby sign language babbling: in American Sign Language, the sign for ducks is using the index and middle fingers together with the thumb on one hand to make the 'quacking' motion by the cheek close to mouth. This toddler was familiar with this sign via books etc. Always used one hand. Visiting a pond with many ducks, he was in awe.. then looking over the masses of ducks, he started using the sign for duck with both hands(one hand on each cheek).. that was his babbling way of using ducks in the plural. It was the cutest thing ever!
I think it’s good that Rupert is a CODA. Not only is he able to speak another language, but he can connect with Jessica. A child deserves to be able to connect and relate to his mother.
8:28 when I was a little kid, my best friend was deaf (he had a hearing aid and i didn't even realize he was deaf until i was way older lmao, i wasn't a very smart child) and his parents didn't know sign language and they didn't bother teaching him :c i didn't think about it at the time but now it makes me sad to think they could've made his life a lot easier and chose not to
This. There are deaf and HOH individuals on TikTok who are children of hearing parents, and literally no one in the household does sign language with them. I think it's because at one point, it was thought to be "harmful" to not force a deaf/hard of hearing kid into pretending like they can hear. Such utter bullshit, no difference than forcing left-handed individuals to write with their right hands (as if that fucking matters).
Rupert trying his best to make signs for Mamma and Mummy made me laugh! He's trying his best, his little baby fingers just aren't quite there yet! I love it
It's so cool to me that the "only parents understand their children's made up words"-phenomenon applies to sign language as well. The moment where they suddenly use the word right will probably also come sooner than later and be a bit bittersweet.
my mum signed up for a sign language class when I was a kid because she had a new co-worker who was deaf and my sister and i wanted to learn a bit because to us it felt like the coolest thing to be able to communicate without words. Made us feel like super spies or something, so we learned it a bit, and it's such a valuable skill even tho I totally fell off the bandwagon of keeping it up. Also, why is it even a question that it's an amazing opportunity for a young child to learn both parents languages that they are fluid in? like?? We know that about bilingual kids who don't learn sign language, but somehow people don't think the same about sign language? That's wild to me. I think it's so cool that he has this opportunity that other children don't have, and I honestly appreciate you telling us the process of teaching him. Baby babble is the cutest thing in the world, and sign baby babble is soooo cute. I can't even. Wishing you all the best xx
I actually have a friend who used sign language to teach his nephew how to let him know hungry, diaper, yes, and no in ASL. My friend is just ecstatic and has wondered if hearing people can hear him making sounds when he signs, he's so happy he has someone who can sign with him, it's just adorable and marvelous! I would love to hear more updates as you go along, and also agree on keeping his photos off the internet until he can at least give knowledgeable consent that he knows what's going on? Thank you so much for sharing and I got that mushy love feeling deep in my heart while watching this video 💗🥰😊 Thank you for brightening my day!
This video filled me with the most joy!!! I am hearing. But watching your channel for years, I've always wanted to teach my children sign language as another language to add to their repertoire. My grandmother taught deaf children and I always wanted her to teach me sign language.
Talking about Rupert saying “Mama” and “Mommy” with sign language is so beautiful, I actually became teary-eyed. Also, since you spoke of your struggle with funding literature to teach babies sign language from the place of a dead parent (or vice versus) do you think you’d ever write that book yourself?
You're brilliant. Claudia's brilliant. Rupert is brilliant. I love this! Our child was stillborn, and I couldn't have kids after a wreck, so I never got to experience how baby's learn. However, when getting ready for our baby, I was obsessed with, "what if this makes the child uncomfortable and they can't tell me?" when it came to clothing and blankets. I think our culture has done kids wrong by assuming the only way they can communicate (until they can speak) is by crying, accept crying as communication until they can speak, therefore making it their first, ingrained language then getting mad at the kid when they slip into it when they're older because they're too upset to figure out their words. I imagine your children will seem mature at a much younger age, as they will be use to communicating with words instead of actions. You may not escape the "terrible twos", full of tantrums and wailing, but I imagine it will be much easier for you! The fact Rupert is communicating so young is amazing
My mom taught me basic sign language as a kid (mainly the ABC's, yes/no), but I still remember occasions when it became useful like I could answer questions if I was coughing or otherwise couldn't speak loudly (like if I was sick), and could also ask my mom for stuff without my little brother knowing ;) I still remember most of the ABC's and still have to teach friends what I'm doing when I sign 'no' if I'm yawning or something, cause it's just instinctual for me.
I took my Son to Baby Sign in 2008! OMG I am so pleased you mentioned the appropriation aspect. I am hearing as is my Son, but my mother was loosing her hearing and had always wanted to to learn sign language. So we 3 went to the class. It was surreal. Mum n I were taking BSL 1 at the time from a lifetime member of the deaf community and adult Ed teacher. Explaining to her what I encountered at the Baby Sign class, she was offended. And provided for us video's and flash cards to use with my Son. When I didn't want to sign up with Baby Sign the class leader wanted to know why and was quick to say it wasn't meant as a long term communication skill. So we went to a Deaf Parent n Baby group once a week. It was sad the amount of toddlers and young children who had implants or hearing aids and the parents stopped going to the group. We all need community. My Son now still uses occasional signs when in public, instead of shouting. My Mum has dementia and forgotten a lot of it and once the we grew out of the parent n Baby group, I felt like a tourist in Deaf Spaces. So stopped going. Apart from my old BSL teacher whom I used to visit with, until the pandemonium, I haven't had much opportunity to use my basic bi*ch signing skills. Bah. Cool that this channel has such an international audience ! 🇬🇧🇧🇧
i have always thought it unfair that schools, especially primary schools, dont teach sign. i started learning spanish in year 6 which is fine but what about sign language? something that is probably just as much used, if not more, in england. im really glad to see rupert is learning and understanding you two in sign, its truly wonderful and the fact you both considered how he would possibly communicate with a deaf cousin/sibling in future is brilliant too 💛
Around age 11 I became best friends with a wonderful classmate who's hard of hearing (her preferred terminology). Through spending lots of time around her and family members, I learned plenty of ASL and it came in very handy when we were at the swimming pool or riding bikes, or in a noisy classroom. When her dad gave me a signed name it was such an honour! Thanks for bringing back these wonderful memories, and for providing so much useful information. 🤟🍍
Your challenges with baby sign really resonated with me because though I don’t hang out with kids, not being able to do group signing to songs made me think of how I can’t caption my own content reliably and often couldn’t easily participate in ASL classes because they’d all be taught through… speaking… out loud. I don’t think people really think about things like this.
I'm in an ASL class right now, and I hope to become fluent in the language. I will definitely be teaching my children sign language, so thank you for the video! Edit: Also, I am hearing, just for the record.
You talking about your son slowly learning how to use sign makes me so unbelievably happy. It is both so cute and just incredible. I'm not hard of hearing, and I'm pretty sure I don't want kids, but on the off-chance I did, I would definitely teach them sign. I need to start learning it first though, haha. Loved this video.
Awww Rupert signing Mummy & Mama is so precious! It’s great he’s learning two languages . Can you blur Ru’s face if you want to share a video of him? Obviously dont do anything you’re not comfortable with but it might be an alternative.
I've always believed that teaching babies/ small children BSL etc is so important, if only so when you're old and starting to go deaf you can still comfortably communicate with the world around you. This could help combat elderly loneliness. Obviously this is just an extra bonus to the points made in the video. 🥰
I really needed this video. Multiple people in my family have profound hearing loss that started in their late teens and early twenties. My dad lost most of his hearing in his twenties, but never learned sign language. My sister and I have talked about learning sign and how we plan to teach our kids sign if and when we have children. This cleared up some misconceptions I had about what 'baby sign' is. I am an avid supporter of sign being taught rigorously in every pre-k and k-12 school in the country. There is no reason the deaf community is unaccommodated.
Wow! What a great video! (I don't have experience with babies' behaviour and learning progresses but) I think it is astonishing for me how good he can sign already! That's so cool! I teared up a little when you told us how happy this connection makes you. :-) I'm so happy for you! :-D
Thanks, Jessica! Really informative. Once I have kids I'll definitely be using BSL (and carrying it on) rather than baby sign. Love hearing about your parenting journey.
You're inspiring me to teach my future kids sign language! Mostly because I want to learn sign (age related deafness runs in the family) and because I agree! Sign is soooo useful and a good skill to have.
My brother's wife is hearing but fluent in sign language (she used to want to be an interpreter) and is planning on teaching their baby how to sign so they can communicate nonverbally, which is just great!
I have friends with a high functioning autistic son and they have been able to use ASL with him when he is having moments of frustration and a hard time communicating verbally. ASL is something the two of them have used long before they had kids so it just seemed natural for them use it with him. It is a great tool for them because he can calm down easier and faster when he can communicate in that way.
This video was adorable and amazing to watch. It's great to hear you talk about connecting with your baby after hearing with you talk about your fears with motherhood. Thank you for sharing Jessica
F-facial morphemes?! As a Linguist I had heard about sign languages being full fledged languages with their own syntax etc. But I had never heard of facial expressions playing a part in that! Off I go down a rabbit hole of the morphosyntax of sign language!
Another linguist(ish) here.... sign languages also use space and direction in really interesting ways. Some signs like 'give' or 'help' are directional dependant on who is receiving the object of the sign. Sign languages are great, and I wish I knew more actual sign
This video is so helpful and such a great idea! I was so excited to take my son to "sing and sign" classes and have him watch Mr Tumble to learn Makaton - but the more I learned about it, the less helpful it seems to be in the long run, when you could be teaching them full sign language?! I know it is largely aimed at people with speech delay or those who have special needs to supplement their speech. I gave up pretty soon as it didn't seem super helpful when he was able to talk, as it wasn't transferable to speaking to deaf people. But he is 2.5 now and I am pregnant with our second so I hope to try and learn proper BSL and bring up baby with it, while teaching it to our 2 year old!
That's so wild that he's already got some signs! You've definitely encouraged me to learn more signs for our next child! Probably ASL rather than British, though, lol.
My public elementary school actually taught us all ASL in kindergarten to 3rd grade (age 5 to 8). I don’t remember it all but just knowing basic signs and being able to finger spell have come in so handy over the years. I still count in sign because it’s easier and you can go further with one hand. I still haven’t found a use for knowing all of “This Land is My Land” in ASL yet.
My partner and I have been signing with our 9 month old son (who is hearing) as a communication aid. He has some extra needs and developmental delays due to a rare neurological condition, but it was always part of our parenting plan to use baby sign with our kids. We don't follow any particular sign language specifically, but instead are using elements of BSL, Makaton and even American sign language (we are UK based), choosing signs that are easiest for our little one to pick up and use, and also easiest for us to remember! He already has signs for Mommy, Daddy, milk, nappy (change me! 🤣) and cat.
Something I find so frustrating as a teacher is the way American teachers have normalized “signs” for asking for things in the classroom that are completely random or unrelated to asl. Why not just teach them the real sign and develop their communication skills with the deaf community who they are surely going to interact with in their life? 🤦🏼♀️
I work at a flying start nursery and we use makaton with the children as we have some with additional learning needs who struggle to verbally communicate. Fantastic video x
My middle kiddo was hard of hearing as an infant and got better over time due to some funky genetic stuff, and we used Signing Time because she was at huge risk for language issues. It's ASL vocab, mostly, but it sort of opened a door for her, and completely accidentally taught her to read at the same time. At 16, she's still struggling with language, but we were told she would likely have "little to none" and between signs and speech she has thousands of words. She uses sign, still, to clarify her spoken words because both her signing and her speaking are very hard to understand, but together, they become quite obvious. The resources here are dire, there just weren't many options, and the SLPs were of the sort who think that you pick sign or you pick speech and you don't do the other so kids won't get "confused", meanwhile I can't process fluent ASL at speed, no matter how much vocab I get--probably something to do with I'm autistic myself and I miss most of the facial cues even when I'm trying. I spent a good six years trying to learn, and ultimately had to go with what let me communicate with my own kid, who still adapts signs to what she can make her hands do (CP causes motor issues, the hand shapes are hard to control with her motor issues). If she says "Heh" it could mean a lot of things, and if she claps her hands together it means a lot of things, but if she claps her hands together and then jerks them up and down while saying "heh!" it means help, for example. I told the SLPs I'd learn semaphore if I needed to for my kid, but ultimately between AAC, ASL and spoken English, she's gotten to the point where we can find out her needs and get them met, where she can talk about things she likes... And yeah, when she starting connecting with signs, it was a miracle.
As a person who wears a hearing aid. I wish I did know sign language. It would help me out so much because a lot of the deaf people I interact with assume that I can sign but when I'm unable to I feel like an imposter
My parents taught me some baby signs. I can definitely see how it is harmful. It also helped me because i'm autistic and go mute sometimes. I still use my baby signs sometimes and I'm a teenager. I also went to school near Gallaudet so there were always sign interpreters at school. This is really interesting to learn, thank you for sharing!
ahhhh this is such a cool video, ive learnt so much and will def take these points in mind when learning sign language! so happy to see a happy coupl :)))
This was an incredibly interesting and informative topic! I really enjoyed it and love it when you share your experiences with us. Looking forward to an update ❤️
my daughters like you when it comes to an understanding certain situations sometimes she gets overwhelmed and so yeah that little thing with signing everything away that she has a habit of doing that, well whole family of handicapped people various disabilities.
This so much, I worked as a camp counselor in high school and had a deaf camper that had not been taught to sign (her hearing parents didn't sign either). The hearing aids were decent until it was time to go swimming or boating. At which point she couldn't communicate with us and we couldn't communicate with her. We (camp counselors) frantically learned to finger spell and taught her to finger spell but that wasn't ideal. Yeah we hearing people need to learn sign language.
My family has used baby sign or ASL as children for all of us and now my sisters' children. We - all hearing folk - all still use the sign for "I Love You" even now that all the kids are grade school age. Most of the other words, sadly, have been dropped. Interestingly, the times I use sign language the most is in my job as a live performance stagehand. When we're trying to be quiet backstage in a theatre (or if at a rock concert and the music is just too darn loud) it's really useful to have signs like "Thank you," "Sorry" or "All done." I've found that most people understand "Thank you," possibly because of the mouth movement and intent is easy to read, but "All done" goes beyond most hearing people's knowledge, which is mildly frustrating for me, even as a hearing person. I can't imagine the level of frustration a Deaf person might have when so few people can understand even their use of basic words and phrases that WE TEACH TO LITERAL BABIES. I tried taking ASL in college. Failed miserably, partially because I'm shy about using languages other than English. (I'm the same way about Spanish, which I know considerably more of, but still never use.) I really should try again.
My mom was a sign language interpreter, so she taught me and my brother ASL first, but she has told me that watching Signing Time actually helped my brother learn English too haha
on a slightly different note, my 32yo autistic brother does the same thing - learn something, then it lies buries in his head for years and years and then he comes out with it again.
My brother is Autism Spectrum, and largely nonverbal, and he modifies signs (part dexterity issues, part laziness, lol), but I've also come in on himself talking to himself in sign. And I dunno, it always makes me happy that he has that.
I think it’s really cool that you were able to teach him ways of communicating at such a young age. Do you ever use handover hand signing because you only have vision in one eye.
Sign language is so useful for everybody! See your friend on the other side of a window - no problem, you can still have a conversation! I'm curious though - I don't know any BSL beyond the alphabet, but I thought the sign you use for I Love You is based on the ASL alphabet, which is different? I mean, spoken English is well known for borrowing a lot of words, so I wouldn't be surprised for sign to do the same, but also curious if it's got a different origin.
Do babies pick up sign language more easily? Just thinking that 5 months is super early to consciously be using signs, it’s incredible that he’s babbling in sign and making sense of his world, so beautiful! I wish I was able to use it for my future children but I’m worried I’d teach them wrong things as I only know the basics :/
The problem with inclusivity in terms of learning sign language is that when you learn it there is no one to talk to. I actually did take two years of ASL in highschool. I really enjoyed it. Later on in my life I wanted to pick it up again…but I ran into the same problem I ran into the first time - you can’t turn what you learn into a language without someone to actually talk to. Even after practicing some of the signs again & learning to sign a few songs, I quickly forgot. I can’t seem to hold on to the information in my brain, and I don’t use my face to emote because I’m not actually communicating…it’s more like doing a hand dance.
I love this whole video. Sign babble is honestly the cutest, it's showing that he wants to be joining in on the very polite British convo with his cool mums
In my opinion sign language should be taught in schools. And I'm not saying every child should know absolutely every sign ever, but just the basics. I, even though I don't know anyone who uses sign language as their first language, would have much preferred to learn sign over German or Spanish. As I was already taught Dutch and English both at home and in school. I also feel like sign language, although it is very much a language of its own, is directly related to our speaking language. I feel children would learn a spoken language much quicker even if they would have a direct reference to a movement and why not just use sign language for those movements. To me it makes so much sense for people to learn sign language, or at least the basics.
This reminds me of a super nanny USA episode. Two deaf parents with I think 3 hearing daughters and from what I remember the resolution was to teach the children signing rather then the parent using it with each other so the parents and children could actually communicate. I wish I knew sign language, I struggle picking up languages, I don't know if it's to do with dyslexia or just that I never learnt as a kid, but I wonder if signing would be easier to learn because it visual/physical not audible?
Scientists have found that hearing babies of deaf parents ( the study was about *exclusively* deaf parents, though) "babble" with their hands - their hand movements were very distinct from those of hearing babies with one or both hearing parent(s).
I have friends that are CODA (children of deaf adults) Both parents were born deaf, and have all full hearing children. It’s amazing to see how much learning sign language first has moved them to the front! They have signed for the police department, legal proceedings, they have taught at Gaudette University, and now are advocates for standard criteria for public signers. They have always urged myself and other hearing friends to learn for inclusivity. I think you’re absolutely right that hearing people should learn sign. The joy on the patrons faces when I was a server, and positively tripped through my rudimentary sign language was definitely enough to keep me going.
I started learning a few basic signs to communicate in extremely loud environments without having to yell into people's ears, but was really surprised how intuitive it was compared to learning a spoken language, which I am terrible at. Definitely can't hold a conversation in sign, but I retain the information so much easier than trying to learn Spanish. Had a deaf customer years ago at my sandwich job and he was stoked I could at least make an attempt
Look up 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You' by Ed Sheeran. The main focus of the video is an actor by the name of Matthew Jacobs Morgan - his parents are both deaf and he is hearing, but he signs the entire song and does an AMAZING job. He is also fluent in French and German. Start them young in multiple languages, and I do consider signing whole other language. It'll be nothing but helpful in school.
My mom is hoh and I had to call so many places growing up because phones really weren't accessible back in the day and my mom doesn't use or know sign language because she really doesn't quite need it with how much hearing she still has in every day life. I had to learn how to sound professional and relay information at a very young age and honestly that was a good thing because I later never struggled to do that kind of stuff for myself. Some people were and still are weird about my mom's disability though and that also made me quickly sus out people and learn who I want around me and who isn't good to have as friends.
I honestly don't understand why it's not a subject in primary school at this point. Deaf children shouldnhave the same access to other citizen. Teaching kids sign laguages would work into that (as well as being super useful in situation when yelling from one side of the room to the other isn't possible)
Oh my god ... him signing Mama and Mommy to you and Claudia respectively is just the cutest thing ever!! And I agree that teaching your child sign language wether its a deaf or hearing baby is only benificial. Cant find a single downside to having this as a base skillset from esely childhood on.
Yes! My babysitter’s daughter was losing her hearing and my sitter taught us kids the alphabet and a few basic signs just in case. I was under 10 at the time and now at 31 I still remember almost all of it! Vs the four years of Spanish I took in high school that I only recall bits and pieces of 😅 I wish they offered languages for school children!
@@peterfireflylund yes learning a language is hard but from my experience of working in schools for 20+ years, if you are enthusiastic and make it interesting they want to learn more, teaching yr 10/11 some sign has been fun and them stopping me in the corridor to sign something they learnt in their lesson makes my heart sing. Also some students who struggle with the curriculum could find this a better way and style of learning. I personally think there is a place for any language, sign, French Spanish Mandarin ect and I think it shows respect for a person/ culture if you try to communicate in their native tongue, I know when I go to a different country I try to say some basics in the language of the country- not always successfully!
I was born deaf (too much fluid in my ears) and my family learned basic real ASL (Open, more, done, etc)...until the surgeries to drain them worked, and it all switched to verbal communication when I was around 2. I didn't even know this until I was a decade into my life! I grieve that sometimes but have taught myself some of it again. Your signing with Rupert means so much, thank you. And especially encouraging others to pick it up, even if it's not "necessary."
I recently had major surgery and was on a ventilator and very heavily medicated...BUT I kept talking in basic letter sign because, even though I was out of it, I was able to tap into the basic ABC's. Unfortunately no one could understand, thankfully a student nurse came in and told them I was saying DAVID (my husband) over and over. I think all hospitals should have at least one sign proficient person, because non-hearing/unable to vocalize people need to be understood too. I may be hearing and understand minimal sign language, but I have never been more glad that I learned the basics or wished I'd been taught/learned more. I'm so glad you are teaching Rupert regular signs, it will serve him well as he grows.
Bless you! That must have been distressing :( Someone should have offered you a letter board at least. Good on the student nurse, what a perfect timing for her to be there on that placement. I imagine others in hospital would have also been able to help esp with simple finger spell - but again someone needs to think to go find out who or have a list. I'm a doctor can sign BSL & use w Deaf patients. Although trying to get back to better fluency & learn more med words too. In mean time obvs still want them to have proper comm vis interpretor.
In the US at least, every hospital that gets federal funding must have access to and offer interpreters for languages common in that community, as well as ASL. Larger hospitals or medical groups have more languages, especially in areas with a lot of immigrants because it can be hard to define what languages are "common" if they're always fluctuating. For patients who speak languages outside of what that hospital has, they have to get an interpreter on the phone. Tons of places have rolling monitors that can use to video chat an interpreter now! The interpreter should be trained as a MEDICAL interpreter, not just someone who can translate the language. They're specially trained to communicate all of the complicated medical jargon properly between languages. That's part of why they have to offer an interpreter even if a patient comes in with a family member who can translate.
I do that when I dissociate and/or meltdown (PTDS, CPTSD, DID, which aren't helped by autism) and can't talk in any spoken language I know anymore For some reason, I can almost always still communicate in sign language even though mine is a bit rusty now (removing the rust by teaching my partner useful signs, like medicine, pain, nightmare, water, etc.) and it actually helps me to come back myself faster too, as I feel it overrides the flashes/emotions
At a school I taught at 2 years ago there were a few deaf students. The whole school learnt some basic signs like hello, thank you etc but the best part was that the class that these kids were in became trilingual! English, Māori and NZSL. The class had times when they only spoke in sign but most of the time they used NZSL and either spoken language together. These kids were about 7
Wow that's so so awesome to hear! I'm in nz too, and I love hearing about that natural flow between the languages and it sounds like the kids got really into it? They are great like that supporting each other when a class builds momentum
okay maybe a weird question but... how do you monitor cheating when you know that a lot/all students of a class can speak (?) /sign sign language ? :D I was just wondering. I mean of course a lot of movement would also make sound but when one student asks a question and the teacher goes there to help, couldn't others behind them sign answers to each other. (not saying that I judge them for that, just wondering if this is something you then need to think about :D)
@@Renesmechen they’re 7. I don’t know how it works in other countries but in NZ at that age there isn’t much large scale testing. It’s mostly done on a person to person basis
@@Renesmechen so I also follow the DOTS project which provides braille dice for blind/visually impaired tabletop-game players. they also had to deal with some bad-faith criticism along the lines of "What if the player cheats with the braille dice?", because hearing children who don't know sign language never cheat on tests and seeing players never cheat at games.
@@scarylion1roar I don't mind if people cheat on exams 'cause I honestly don't think they are the best way to test people about knowledge. I myself cheated a lot. I was just wondering if there are extra measurements teachers would think of. Teachers at my school tried different ways to stop us from cheating but they only made us more creative. Honestly it was just a new challenge. So I just wonder if the kids in those classes could use their knowledge and if the teachers tried to do something about it. However if they were around the age of 7 I doubt they would do that. I just hope you don't think I wanted to say that I think they are more likely to cheat cause of something. It's just something I would totally use for myself, that's why my mind went there.
I taught my now 4 year old basic Auslan signs when she was a baby as a way to help her communicate her needs, and yes it did reduce her frustration when she was "pre-verbal." We continue using sign language with her and she is also learning it at preschool. Everyone in my family are hearing, but having a family member who worked in the disability sector meant we always had a basic level of sign of sign language in the household (such as please/thank you), but we had more comprehension to understand if someone was signing to us. I decided to learn more Auslan as I was a tour guide at Parliament House in Australia and would often interact with people needing directions around the building, again generally answers to a small range of questions such as where is the toilet/cafe/security desk. The look of relief when someone would come in and start writing a question on their phone and I would answer them in Auslan (even if my grammar was sometimes terrible) was heart warming (and at the same time depressing that my small efforts to communicate was such a rarity) and I would have people who visited regularly only want to deal with me as they didn't have to change their behaviour to be understood. And everyone was more than happy to help me to improve my signing to make it less formal and more conversational. Where I work now I have a profoundly deaf colleague and everyone in the section (about 50 people) all have a basic level of sign language (basic signs and finger spelling) because we have an incredibly inclusive work culture and don't exclude anyone and we all have a healthy knowledge of sign swear words 😀 I am now teaching my 6 week old son sign as well and I've noticed his big sister signing to him as well. Yes he can't sign yet, but I've noticed he will move his arms up out of the way when I sign that I am going to pick him up. And one of the biggest advantage to teaching your children sign language (apart from all the benefits of learning another language as a child and being able to communicate with the deaf community and other groups who use sign as their only method of communication) is you can tell them, in no uncertain terms, to stop what they are doing, put something down and get back to you across a noisy crowded children's play area much to the awe and amazement of other parents who are yelling themselves hoarse trying to control their "little darlings."
I taught my son sign language because he was under the spectrum and did not speak at all by age 3. He only repeated one word over and over (echolalia). He eventually dropped the signs and spoke, but our intention was never to have him not have tantrums, but rather to communicate with him. I owe the deaf community the ability to communicate with my son. The greatest gift I could have ever been given. He's now 19 years old and about to graduate high school and go to college.
That's so lovely to read! I have a similar story with my now 9yo kid, sign was such a game changer for the communication to exist at all ♡ makes me happy to hear your son is doing well growing up!
Autism? It’s interesting how autism can affect everyone differently. I have autism and I started speaking at a regular age and learnt how to read earlier than other kids.
@@rachelcookie321 i was the same way, in fact i think i potentially started speaking, reading and writing earlier than a lot of kids too. however once i hit 14yrs old most of my traits showed up a lot more often and more debilitating, like my sensory issues. by the age of 16 i was having nonverbal shutdowns and couldnt communicate at all, not even through texting or writing. i personally wish i could sign to help with that but due to my other disabilities (chronic pain in my wrists) it is not really possible to make most of the movements for auslan
@@kaelin8775 yea, for me I started showing symptoms of autism when I started puberty at age 10. It went down hill real fast. When I’m upset I can’t communicate at all, I don’t know how show what I feel. My mum got me these cards that say different things that you can show when you’re upset but that just made me angry because it’s not just that I struggle to say what I want, I can’t communicate it in any way. Then I got angry and I couldn’t say why I didn’t like them so I just squealed and threw them where I will never see them.
Finger spelling at a minimum is a very important skill to have. My dad was in the hospital after a heart attack and had intubation preventing him from speaking. Writing out words or typing them was physically taxing on him but finger spelling was a way to spell out what he wanted to say.
When I was a kid I learned about ASL and finger spelling and while I did learn some signs that stick with me today, the thing I made myself learn was to finger spell because absolute worst case, if I needed to communicate with someone we'd have that. It's slow and you're relying on spelling skills but at the same time it is better than nothing and you'd be shocked how many times I have actually used it in my life to communicate to others.
This video brought me a great deal of happiness. Just seeing the joy on Jessica's face as she talked about Rupert and about his progress in learning sign language was wonderful. Thank you Jessica for sharing this with us.
I think sign language should be taught in schools as well as other languages because it would really help everyone understand each other better. While i worked in retail i often had deaf customers and i felt awful not being able to communicate with them like i could anyone else, all i knew was thankyou which isnt really enough to help
Agreed! I had a deaf mother and child come in and I couldn't communicate and I felt awful. As well as families who spoke other languages I didn't know.
@@danone2414 I live in the Netherlands in a province called Friesland. Friesland has its own language separate from the language used in the rest of the country. We were taught Frisian in school but not dutch sign language. And I can tell you that there are more deaf people in my country than Frisians. (400.000 people speaking Frisian while there are 1.5 million hard hearing to deaf people.) We are sadly not taught sign language in school and can actually only officially learn it from universities or expensive courses. Also even though sign language differs per country, there are a lot of contextual clues and similarities. You can get by in another country, more than any spoken language. I don't know if you intended to agree or disagree with the main comment and I apologize if it sounds a bit on the mean side. It is mainly frustration that I would have loved to learn sign language instead of Frisian.
Jessica, this was a fascinating video. The story about Rupert trying to sign "Mummy", and progressing from the closed fist to the O-Shape with his hand was so heart warming, also hilarious. Thank you for sharing about how Claudia and You are teaching him and the way his little brain is getting it!
A baby signing what they need is really convenient , most parents don't recognize what each cry means. What is really sad is that the default reaction to everything that relates to a disability is something negative.
I was taught Baby Sign when I was, well, a baby! Both my parents and I are hearing, which I should note. From what my parents have told me, it helped a LOT with communication since I didn't start verbally communicating for longer than most children, and I got far less upset than if I couldn't communicate my needs and wants to them. I still use sign (at least the very basic things in ASL - as I'm from Canada - which I still know) in my everyday life, though it unfortunately isn't enough of a vocabulary to have even a basic conversation. I should also note that I tend to have issues with auditory processing, but not with visual/sign processing, so the few signs I know are much easier to understand than spoken words a lot of the time!
My sister also learned baby sign because she had a hard time learning to speak. As she got older, she could speak and wanted to, but she had trouble getting the words out and would stutter. Baby sign (while obviously not a real sign language) helped her a lot as a small baby. She would get really frustrated and cry when she couldn’t get the words out, so it helped a lot. Eventually she went to a speech therapist in school who helped her learn how to essentially get the words out and she didn’t need baby sign anymore. While I understand that it can be disrespectful to deaf people to use a “fake” form of sign language, it really does help some people who are hearing but need a little assistance early on
My niece and nephews were taught basic signs, and I can confirm that it helps significantly! Even just being able to communicate "I'm done" alone, has a huge impact on meltdowns. Almost like kids benifit from being understood, just like adults do, lol
@@jadziajan My daughter's speech therapist explained that the modified signs (or just plain made up ones) for baby sign language are for resolving issues like Jessica described with Rupert and signing "mama." There are some signs that are more difficult for babies/ toddlers to do, and so they've modified them for ease of learning. However, they aren't very beneficial for kids if the only people who understand them are the baby and the caregiver, so in speech therapy settings, the signs taught are predominantly ASL The majority of signs my daughter knows (more, milk, sleep, thank you, all done, help, so on and so forth) are ASL signs. She has modified signs for a few words (like using one hand to sign for jacket instead of two) but predominantly she is using and learning ASL.
I have autism (and audio processing disorder) and I have a few friends who go non verbal at least some of the time. They use sign and I don't know any, but now I'm thinking it would be a good idea to. Reading sign means I wouldn't necessarily have to mask as much which is always a plus.
"But mama, the people must know how adorable I am!!" One day when you're old enough you can amaze everyone with your cheeky grins and adorable sign, Rupert! But the world is way big and scary for that right now.
My mother attempted to teach me sign when I was little , but it turns out I'm on the autism spectrum and have ADHD , which when didn't learn untill i was nearly in middle school, so unfortunately she never made much progress. I find your channel very uplifting. I have a now 13 month old daughter , and sometimes I find myself really scared and stressed over being a parent with disability. Worrying that my issues could negatively impact my child. Your vidios about Rupert and your journey help me to feel less isolated and more confident in my ability to be a mom.
I wonder if trying out sign language with your daughter could help, because you would be using facial expressions & eye contact? Also, though, I wouldn’t worry. Your daughter is going to have a whole world of people to connect with. The idea that your neurodivergence could “mess her up” somehow seems very unlikely to me. In the beginning kids tend to mimic their parents, but they grow out of that pretty quickly. You probably know plenty of people who are very, very different from their parents. Sometimes deliberately so. (Ie: my mom used to always be late so I get to places ahead of time so I’m never late) That’s not to suggest your daughter is going to look down on you or anything. I’m just saying that kids don’t just learn how to behave from one person. They take everything into account and figure out what works best for them and their personality. I have ADHD too, by the way! Someone suggested I might be on the spectrum, but I doubt that’s the case. Even so, I get along really well with people who are. Thanks for sharing your feelings with us!
@@AK-jt7kh thank you for the encouragement. It's not been easy at times ( money issues on top of everything). I just found out I'm pregnant again so you've definitely made my day.
i’m on the spectrum too (not diagnosed until adolescence!) and i was good at learning signs and really gravitated towards communicating with it when i was a baby/toddler. didn’t know it was the ‘tism back then but probably really helped my parents with communication even though i was never quite nonverbal. really cool to see how diverse the spectrum is!
Oddly enough watching this video it hit me why I was never successful at learning sign language. I have aphantasia so when someone signs to me I only see the sign in that instance and then it’s gone. On the other hand, honestly if I had a child who was deaf I would make sure they learned sign. Unfortunately we’d have to figure out a way to communicate as trying to remember signs actually gives me a headache like everything else I try to picture, but enabling a child to communicate is the most important.
@@elizaRose8900 No biggie - you’ve got this! I know you’ll find a way. It’s rough….but you don’t need a ton of money to raise happy kids. Some of the happiest kids I’ve ever met came from families that had financial stress. I do feel for you - that’s rough. But at the same time, probably keep your mind on the bigger picture. Some financial struggles now don’t define the future. One day, your kids will be grown up and successful, and helping you out, and I bet they’ll respect their mom for the trials she had to go through to be the person she was for her family. For the record…my mom was really “unconventional”. I don’t think shes on the spectrum but I would not be surprised at all if people thought she was. Not only was she not very emotionally forthcoming, but she butted heads with a lot of her peers. She also didn’t keep a neat household - the place was trashed when I was growing up! Lol! But you know…none of that registers in my kid brain as “wrong” or “abnormal” because I didn’t know what was typical. She was just mom and I adored her. She used to wrap me up in a towel after a bath and sing out of tune songs to me. She was never a great mom in the “conventional” sense, but she’s been the greatest mom ever for me. She went to bat for me repeatedly when the teachers were picking on me in gradeschool. She always understood how it felt to be different and alienated. She gave me hope, confidence, and challenged my mind. Without her I definitely wouldn’t be all that I am today, and in the “typical”’ sense, she would have been considered a “terrible mom” - because she didn’t force me to do a bunch of homework, didn’t keep a routine, didn’t have a tidy house, and so on and so forth… But the skills she had were the ones I really needed. She loved me, spent time with me, paid attention to me, and gave me wise advice and life lessons. She used to drive me to school in the morning (which no other moms did so the other kids were kind of jealous about it), and we used to play games like “the price of ducks” where she would give me simple word problems with farmers and ducks and ask me to figure out how much the feed costs and stuff. She had her own unique style of parenting and it was her uniqueness that made me grow into a unique person - which made me uniquely valuable to other people later in life, because I had a way of thinking and solving problems that most people didn’t have. Motherhood is so complex, I think. You cannot predict how your children will turn out. I think the most important thing is simply that you love them genuinely in your own way, and you figure out ways to enjoy their company so you can spend time with them in a way that makes you both happy. My mom never pandered to me. We did the things she liked to do, pretty much, but seeing her happy made me happy. I can’t remember ever seriously having an issue with how frugal my parents were. Weirdly, it turned out that we had a pretty well off family - but they were very tight with cash and were careful not to spoil us or ever show us how much we actually had. In fact, my dad routinely threatened to cancel our cable or turn down our heat in the winter because finances were tight 😂 But honestly - that didn’t make me think less of them. I didn’t have much to compare it to. That was just my definition of life. Then later on, I ended up respecting them for it. I’m so glad they didn’t raise me to be pampered and spoiled. The best thing I got from them was their time. That was worth far more to me as a kid than their money. I know I’m rambling, but I did it in the hopes that you won’t worry so much about your finances. You seem resourceful - I think you’ll make due, and I absolutely believe that your kids will notice or care. Not having money doesn’t make you any less awesome as a mom. Having neurodivergence just makes you unique and cool. If you’re worried about what your kids will think of you for the things you think are issues…maybe dial back on that a bit, as kids simply don’t view the world through the comparative judgement of an adult. I think what kids notice most is the amount, and quality, of the personal time you give them. Even if you’re not a very emotional person. (My mom definitely isn’t. Lol) Funny side note on that. I just had to wake her up at nearly 12am to ask where dad was bc he’s been missing all night, and she said he was in the hospital and went back to bed. Not once did it occur to her that I might like to know that information 😂…and she was so casual about it, it made me think…and I going to one day be like “hey, mom, dads been missing, any idea where he’s at?” And she’ll be like “Oh, your dads dead! Here, have a pork chop. They’re still hot.” That’s just mom for you! My cousin and I laugh sometimes at how emotionally detached she can be! It’s just cute and funny. Just my mom being her unique mom self! I love it! You seem so cool - I think your kids will love you the way I love my mom. Just try to take care of yourself and manage the stress however you can. And when you get bogged down with the things that are depressing you…it might help you to try to look at the bigger picture and imagine your life (and kids) 5 or 10 years from now. That always helps me! Having ADHD is a hardship I can relate to…but don’t worry. I think you’ll do just fine! 💕
I've wanted to learn sign language for years, but there has never been a direct need for it (i.e. nobody I know speaks sign language). But I've seen some people use baby sign, and thought that was really cool, so I had this plan to do that with my future children. Thank you for explaining this clearly. I am now fully committed to learning actual sign language and using the correct signs with future babies 👶 (and continue as they grow up)
The only direct need I have for learning sign language is that I occasionally become non-speaking, and unfortunately it wouldn’t be much help unless at least some of those closest to me were to learn sign language as well. If only I could sign rather than having to type on my phone.
@@ragnkja That would be really useful indeed. I've been thinking about just having a few signs that I can easily teach people close to me. I'm not non-verbal, but I do get overwhelmed easily (autistic), so sometimes I want to be able to respond to easy questions with signs instead of words. Just being able to sign "I'm fine, just need to sit for a bit" would already make a difference. Maybe something like that is possible? Where the people close to you know some basics?
I wish I knew asl fully because a kid my hearing would get really bad for some unknown reason. I ended up learning some like yes, no, hello, and the alphabet, but I pretty much taught myself from looking it up online. And I just learned that my grandma speaks asl almost fluently because she was a special ed teacher. I am currently learning more, but I wish someone taught me when I was little. (Something cool is that some signs are second nature to me, so when I speak I'll sign certain words and not realize :))
Seeing how happy Jessica was that she could understand Rupert was a joy. It’s not 100% the same but I am always very sad when I think I can’t communicate with parts of my family bc they only speak Spanish and I only speak English.
Sign language is so useful even for hearing babies and parents! Babies are able to sign before they're able to verbally communicate their needs, and it speeds up understanding and helps to keep the little guys from getting frustrated when they can't tell you what's up. It's also much easier to sign when you're crying and upset because your emotions are bigger than you are, which is huge for toddlers.
I learnt so much in this video! I have mental health stuff that sometimes makes communicating verbally difficult, so my partner and I are planning to learn some sign to like, give us an alternative form of communication. I will make sure we learn from a deaf teacher, and I'm excited to do research into the community as well ☺️
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It amazes me that there would ever be a need to justify teaching your kid your own language. Not only is it useful/necessary for communicating in your own home, it’s also just a great skill to pass on! Who doesn’t want to know more languages and communicate with more people?? I’m very happy for you that it seems to be going well. And I’m happy for your baby that he’ll know such a beautiful language.
While both me and my wife are fluent in English and we live in Scotland now we will definitely teach our bairn Dutch so she can more easily communicate with her grandparents. Plus indeed learning extra languages has a LOT of cognitive and developmental advantages.
Unfortunately I don't learn new things that easily any more due to my own impairments but already being able to speak multiple languages makes it easier for me to pick up new ones as well. I hope to add sign language to my repertoire to be more inclusive. And after Dutch sign language will definitely be the third language we teach our bairn, before any of the other ones we already know.
ps. I'm hoping to add my view here from an perspective of being inclusive. As I'm not D/deaf myself my voice isn't the one that deserves to be amplified though. Feel free to ignore this comment.
I live in a city with a lot of people from all over the world. Some of the kids that live in extended family groups grow up with English and also their grandparents' home language so by the time they get to infant school they are already bilingual. It seems to put them ahead in terms of learning more new languages on top, as well as other skills. Plus, my kids used to come home with some songs and games in other languages (and swear words!) So more power to your elbow!
That is often Said by people who never Had to learn another language. I live in scotland and would definetely teach my children German because its frigging useful. But a Lot of people dont want immigrants to do that and instead "learn proper english". Those people then try to say that If you learn two languages, you will fail at both, which is such Bs. My charitable Interpretation is that people who never honestly had to be bilingual cannot Imagine actually succeeding in language learning. It's funny because it Just Shows that they never bothered learning a language properly, despite french and German being taught frequently
@@annabeinglazy5580 Yeah anyone who says if you try to learn two languages at once you'll fail at both probably isn't bilingual. As someone who grew up in a bilingual household, it's very much possible and I'm forever grateful to both be able to communicate with my extended family and carry on such an important part of my culture.
Rupert babbling to himself in sign is such a cute image
Also why wouldn't a Deaf/deaf parent teach their child sign? It's like asking a parent why they want to be able to communicate with their child.
I think that part was hearing parents of deaf children. Instead of learning sign and teaching it to their child, they force the kid to learn to lip-read. Which is hard enough if you already know the language, but makes learning a language very hard because you only have mouth shapes to go on, and a lot of sounds make the same shape.
i don't understand why people would find deaf babies/children signing sad??? let me tell you when i found out deaf babies babble in sign language it was the cutest thing ever. i cry just thinking about it tbh.
OMG, I just pictured that and it made me smile. Thanks!
I feel like it comes down to a lack of education about Deaf Culture and how different people who are Deaf/deaf it. People don't understand, and I (as a hearing person) have had to learn that (as part of learning ASL)
People who are able bodied and don't have any real contact with disabled people often develop a form of misguided and misplaced empathy and sympathy and so they think it's sad that a child can't hear just like they think a child who can't walk is a sad situation. "Having to be disabled", in this mindset, is something to be pitied.
I mean it's not only adorable but it will definitely come in handy as they grow older!
IIRC, is one of the 'early bits' of supporting evidence that the brain completely accepts sign languages as a full on valid language. Audio/verbal not necessary.
I'd love to share one of my favorite examples of baby sign language babbling: in American Sign Language, the sign for ducks is using the index and middle fingers together with the thumb on one hand to make the 'quacking' motion by the cheek close to mouth. This toddler was familiar with this sign via books etc. Always used one hand. Visiting a pond with many ducks, he was in awe.. then looking over the masses of ducks, he started using the sign for duck with both hands(one hand on each cheek).. that was his babbling way of using ducks in the plural. It was the cutest thing ever!
I think it’s good that Rupert is a CODA. Not only is he able to speak another language, but he can connect with Jessica. A child deserves to be able to connect and relate to his mother.
8:28 when I was a little kid, my best friend was deaf (he had a hearing aid and i didn't even realize he was deaf until i was way older lmao, i wasn't a very smart child) and his parents didn't know sign language and they didn't bother teaching him :c i didn't think about it at the time but now it makes me sad to think they could've made his life a lot easier and chose not to
Yes it happens so much. Abelism is so interwoven in our society we do not realise until it is pointed out to us.
This. There are deaf and HOH individuals on TikTok who are children of hearing parents, and literally no one in the household does sign language with them. I think it's because at one point, it was thought to be "harmful" to not force a deaf/hard of hearing kid into pretending like they can hear. Such utter bullshit, no difference than forcing left-handed individuals to write with their right hands (as if that fucking matters).
Rupert trying his best to make signs for Mamma and Mummy made me laugh! He's trying his best, his little baby fingers just aren't quite there yet! I love it
It's so cool to me that the "only parents understand their children's made up words"-phenomenon applies to sign language as well. The moment where they suddenly use the word right will probably also come sooner than later and be a bit bittersweet.
my mum signed up for a sign language class when I was a kid because she had a new co-worker who was deaf and my sister and i wanted to learn a bit because to us it felt like the coolest thing to be able to communicate without words. Made us feel like super spies or something, so we learned it a bit, and it's such a valuable skill even tho I totally fell off the bandwagon of keeping it up.
Also, why is it even a question that it's an amazing opportunity for a young child to learn both parents languages that they are fluid in? like?? We know that about bilingual kids who don't learn sign language, but somehow people don't think the same about sign language? That's wild to me.
I think it's so cool that he has this opportunity that other children don't have, and I honestly appreciate you telling us the process of teaching him.
Baby babble is the cutest thing in the world, and sign baby babble is soooo cute. I can't even.
Wishing you all the best xx
I actually have a friend who used sign language to teach his nephew how to let him know hungry, diaper, yes, and no in ASL. My friend is just ecstatic and has wondered if hearing people can hear him making sounds when he signs, he's so happy he has someone who can sign with him, it's just adorable and marvelous!
I would love to hear more updates as you go along, and also agree on keeping his photos off the internet until he can at least give knowledgeable consent that he knows what's going on?
Thank you so much for sharing and I got that mushy love feeling deep in my heart while watching this video 💗🥰😊 Thank you for brightening my day!
When you said "I can connect with him" my heart burst with just pure AWWWW
This video filled me with the most joy!!! I am hearing. But watching your channel for years, I've always wanted to teach my children sign language as another language to add to their repertoire. My grandmother taught deaf children and I always wanted her to teach me sign language.
Talking about Rupert saying “Mama” and “Mommy” with sign language is so beautiful, I actually became teary-eyed.
Also, since you spoke of your struggle with funding literature to teach babies sign language from the place of a dead parent (or vice versus) do you think you’d ever write that book yourself?
You're brilliant. Claudia's brilliant. Rupert is brilliant. I love this! Our child was stillborn, and I couldn't have kids after a wreck, so I never got to experience how baby's learn. However, when getting ready for our baby, I was obsessed with, "what if this makes the child uncomfortable and they can't tell me?" when it came to clothing and blankets. I think our culture has done kids wrong by assuming the only way they can communicate (until they can speak) is by crying, accept crying as communication until they can speak, therefore making it their first, ingrained language then getting mad at the kid when they slip into it when they're older because they're too upset to figure out their words. I imagine your children will seem mature at a much younger age, as they will be use to communicating with words instead of actions. You may not escape the "terrible twos", full of tantrums and wailing, but I imagine it will be much easier for you! The fact Rupert is communicating so young is amazing
My mom taught me basic sign language as a kid (mainly the ABC's, yes/no), but I still remember occasions when it became useful like I could answer questions if I was coughing or otherwise couldn't speak loudly (like if I was sick), and could also ask my mom for stuff without my little brother knowing ;) I still remember most of the ABC's and still have to teach friends what I'm doing when I sign 'no' if I'm yawning or something, cause it's just instinctual for me.
I took my Son to Baby Sign in 2008! OMG I am so pleased you mentioned the appropriation aspect. I am hearing as is my Son, but my mother was loosing her hearing and had always wanted to to learn sign language. So we 3 went to the class.
It was surreal. Mum n I were taking BSL 1 at the time from a lifetime member of the deaf community and adult Ed teacher. Explaining to her what I encountered at the Baby Sign class, she was offended. And provided for us video's and flash cards to use with my Son.
When I didn't want to sign up with Baby Sign the class leader wanted to know why and was quick to say it wasn't meant as a long term communication skill.
So we went to a Deaf Parent n Baby group once a week. It was sad the amount of toddlers and young children who had implants or hearing aids and the parents stopped going to the group. We all need community.
My Son now still uses occasional signs when in public, instead of shouting. My Mum has dementia and forgotten a lot of it and once the we grew out of the parent n Baby group, I felt like a tourist in Deaf Spaces. So stopped going.
Apart from my old BSL teacher whom I used to visit with, until the pandemonium, I haven't had much opportunity to use my basic bi*ch signing skills.
Bah.
Cool that this channel has such an international audience ! 🇬🇧🇧🇧
i have always thought it unfair that schools, especially primary schools, dont teach sign. i started learning spanish in year 6 which is fine but what about sign language? something that is probably just as much used, if not more, in england. im really glad to see rupert is learning and understanding you two in sign, its truly wonderful and the fact you both considered how he would possibly communicate with a deaf cousin/sibling in future is brilliant too 💛
Around age 11 I became best friends with a wonderful classmate who's hard of hearing (her preferred terminology). Through spending lots of time around her and family members, I learned plenty of ASL and it came in very handy when we were at the swimming pool or riding bikes, or in a noisy classroom. When her dad gave me a signed name it was such an honour! Thanks for bringing back these wonderful memories, and for providing so much useful information. 🤟🍍
There’s a heartbreaking short film called the Silent Child on here that is about the issue of deaf children in hearing families. Really worth a watch.
Your challenges with baby sign really resonated with me because though I don’t hang out with kids, not being able to do group signing to songs made me think of how I can’t caption my own content reliably and often couldn’t easily participate in ASL classes because they’d all be taught through… speaking… out loud. I don’t think people really think about things like this.
I'm in an ASL class right now, and I hope to become fluent in the language. I will definitely be teaching my children sign language, so thank you for the video!
Edit: Also, I am hearing, just for the record.
You talking about your son slowly learning how to use sign makes me so unbelievably happy. It is both so cute and just incredible. I'm not hard of hearing, and I'm pretty sure I don't want kids, but on the off-chance I did, I would definitely teach them sign. I need to start learning it first though, haha. Loved this video.
Awww Rupert signing Mummy & Mama is so precious! It’s great he’s learning two languages . Can you blur Ru’s face if you want to share a video of him? Obviously dont do anything you’re not comfortable with but it might be an alternative.
I've always believed that teaching babies/ small children BSL etc is so important, if only so when you're old and starting to go deaf you can still comfortably communicate with the world around you. This could help combat elderly loneliness.
Obviously this is just an extra bonus to the points made in the video. 🥰
I really needed this video. Multiple people in my family have profound hearing loss that started in their late teens and early twenties. My dad lost most of his hearing in his twenties, but never learned sign language. My sister and I have talked about learning sign and how we plan to teach our kids sign if and when we have children. This cleared up some misconceptions I had about what 'baby sign' is. I am an avid supporter of sign being taught rigorously in every pre-k and k-12 school in the country. There is no reason the deaf community is unaccommodated.
Wow! What a great video! (I don't have experience with babies' behaviour and learning progresses but) I think it is astonishing for me how good he can sign already! That's so cool! I teared up a little when you told us how happy this connection makes you. :-) I'm so happy for you! :-D
Thanks, Jessica! Really informative. Once I have kids I'll definitely be using BSL (and carrying it on) rather than baby sign. Love hearing about your parenting journey.
You're inspiring me to teach my future kids sign language! Mostly because I want to learn sign (age related deafness runs in the family) and because I agree! Sign is soooo useful and a good skill to have.
My brother's wife is hearing but fluent in sign language (she used to want to be an interpreter) and is planning on teaching their baby how to sign so they can communicate nonverbally, which is just great!
I have friends with a high functioning autistic son and they have been able to use ASL with him when he is having moments of frustration and a hard time communicating verbally. ASL is something the two of them have used long before they had kids so it just seemed natural for them use it with him. It is a great tool for them because he can calm down easier and faster when he can communicate in that way.
"babbling in sign language" omg heart melted right away
This video was adorable and amazing to watch. It's great to hear you talk about connecting with your baby after hearing with you talk about your fears with motherhood. Thank you for sharing Jessica
Ahhhh that sounds so adorable!! I'm so happy he's picking sign up!
F-facial morphemes?! As a Linguist I had heard about sign languages being full fledged languages with their own syntax etc. But I had never heard of facial expressions playing a part in that! Off I go down a rabbit hole of the morphosyntax of sign language!
Another linguist(ish) here.... sign languages also use space and direction in really interesting ways. Some signs like 'give' or 'help' are directional dependant on who is receiving the object of the sign. Sign languages are great, and I wish I knew more actual sign
This video is so helpful and such a great idea! I was so excited to take my son to "sing and sign" classes and have him watch Mr Tumble to learn Makaton - but the more I learned about it, the less helpful it seems to be in the long run, when you could be teaching them full sign language?! I know it is largely aimed at people with speech delay or those who have special needs to supplement their speech. I gave up pretty soon as it didn't seem super helpful when he was able to talk, as it wasn't transferable to speaking to deaf people. But he is 2.5 now and I am pregnant with our second so I hope to try and learn proper BSL and bring up baby with it, while teaching it to our 2 year old!
That's so wild that he's already got some signs! You've definitely encouraged me to learn more signs for our next child! Probably ASL rather than British, though, lol.
Oh Jessie you seem so happy
My public elementary school actually taught us all ASL in kindergarten to 3rd grade (age 5 to 8). I don’t remember it all but just knowing basic signs and being able to finger spell have come in so handy over the years. I still count in sign because it’s easier and you can go further with one hand. I still haven’t found a use for knowing all of “This Land is My Land” in ASL yet.
You make me so happy - this was fantastic to get to know about! Love and good wishes to you and your family!
This is so cute! I'm so happy he's already communicating and signing his first words already!
My partner and I have been signing with our 9 month old son (who is hearing) as a communication aid. He has some extra needs and developmental delays due to a rare neurological condition, but it was always part of our parenting plan to use baby sign with our kids. We don't follow any particular sign language specifically, but instead are using elements of BSL, Makaton and even American sign language (we are UK based), choosing signs that are easiest for our little one to pick up and use, and also easiest for us to remember! He already has signs for Mommy, Daddy, milk, nappy (change me! 🤣) and cat.
Something I find so frustrating as a teacher is the way American teachers have normalized “signs” for asking for things in the classroom that are completely random or unrelated to asl. Why not just teach them the real sign and develop their communication skills with the deaf community who they are surely going to interact with in their life? 🤦🏼♀️
I work at a flying start nursery and we use makaton with the children as we have some with additional learning needs who struggle to verbally communicate. Fantastic video x
My middle kiddo was hard of hearing as an infant and got better over time due to some funky genetic stuff, and we used Signing Time because she was at huge risk for language issues. It's ASL vocab, mostly, but it sort of opened a door for her, and completely accidentally taught her to read at the same time. At 16, she's still struggling with language, but we were told she would likely have "little to none" and between signs and speech she has thousands of words. She uses sign, still, to clarify her spoken words because both her signing and her speaking are very hard to understand, but together, they become quite obvious.
The resources here are dire, there just weren't many options, and the SLPs were of the sort who think that you pick sign or you pick speech and you don't do the other so kids won't get "confused", meanwhile I can't process fluent ASL at speed, no matter how much vocab I get--probably something to do with I'm autistic myself and I miss most of the facial cues even when I'm trying. I spent a good six years trying to learn, and ultimately had to go with what let me communicate with my own kid, who still adapts signs to what she can make her hands do (CP causes motor issues, the hand shapes are hard to control with her motor issues). If she says "Heh" it could mean a lot of things, and if she claps her hands together it means a lot of things, but if she claps her hands together and then jerks them up and down while saying "heh!" it means help, for example.
I told the SLPs I'd learn semaphore if I needed to for my kid, but ultimately between AAC, ASL and spoken English, she's gotten to the point where we can find out her needs and get them met, where she can talk about things she likes...
And yeah, when she starting connecting with signs, it was a miracle.
I’m not a parent and don’t intend to become; but if that changes, I will definitely teach any child I have ASL-whether they are deaf or not.
Monthly to 3 Monthly. They learn so much so fast. Also please take video of him. If he's anything like my son, he'll love to watch himself
As a person who wears a hearing aid. I wish I did know sign language. It would help me out so much because a lot of the deaf people I interact with assume that I can sign but when I'm unable to I feel like an imposter
My parents taught me some baby signs. I can definitely see how it is harmful. It also helped me because i'm autistic and go mute sometimes. I still use my baby signs sometimes and I'm a teenager. I also went to school near Gallaudet so there were always sign interpreters at school. This is really interesting to learn, thank you for sharing!
The fact that Rupert seems like he's catching on it just making my heart swell!
ahhhh this is such a cool video, ive learnt so much and will def take these points in mind when learning sign language! so happy to see a happy coupl :)))
This was an incredibly interesting and informative topic! I really enjoyed it and love it when you share your experiences with us. Looking forward to an update ❤️
my daughters like you when it comes to an understanding certain situations sometimes she gets overwhelmed and so yeah that little thing with signing everything away that she has a habit of doing that, well whole family of handicapped people various disabilities.
This so much, I worked as a camp counselor in high school and had a deaf camper that had not been taught to sign (her hearing parents didn't sign either). The hearing aids were decent until it was time to go swimming or boating. At which point she couldn't communicate with us and we couldn't communicate with her. We (camp counselors) frantically learned to finger spell and taught her to finger spell but that wasn't ideal. Yeah we hearing people need to learn sign language.
Please film an update video!!!!! So nice to see his progress
Thank you so much for this video! Was so interesting and I loved learning more about sign.
My family has used baby sign or ASL as children for all of us and now my sisters' children. We - all hearing folk - all still use the sign for "I Love You" even now that all the kids are grade school age. Most of the other words, sadly, have been dropped.
Interestingly, the times I use sign language the most is in my job as a live performance stagehand. When we're trying to be quiet backstage in a theatre (or if at a rock concert and the music is just too darn loud) it's really useful to have signs like "Thank you," "Sorry" or "All done."
I've found that most people understand "Thank you," possibly because of the mouth movement and intent is easy to read, but "All done" goes beyond most hearing people's knowledge, which is mildly frustrating for me, even as a hearing person. I can't imagine the level of frustration a Deaf person might have when so few people can understand even their use of basic words and phrases that WE TEACH TO LITERAL BABIES.
I tried taking ASL in college. Failed miserably, partially because I'm shy about using languages other than English. (I'm the same way about Spanish, which I know considerably more of, but still never use.) I really should try again.
My mom was a sign language interpreter, so she taught me and my brother ASL first, but she has told me that watching Signing Time actually helped my brother learn English too haha
this was so informative and interesting!! so glad you are able to share those wonderful moments with your family 🥰
This is so wholesome!
Rupert is one lucky little boy!
on a slightly different note, my 32yo autistic brother does the same thing - learn something, then it lies buries in his head for years and years and then he comes out with it again.
My brother is Autism Spectrum, and largely nonverbal, and he modifies signs (part dexterity issues, part laziness, lol), but I've also come in on himself talking to himself in sign. And I dunno, it always makes me happy that he has that.
I think it’s really cool that you were able to teach him ways of communicating at such a young age. Do you ever use handover hand signing because you only have vision in one eye.
This video was same parts interesting and thought provoking as it was sweet. :)
You look amazing!
awesome video, really interesting
Sign language is so useful for everybody! See your friend on the other side of a window - no problem, you can still have a conversation! I'm curious though - I don't know any BSL beyond the alphabet, but I thought the sign you use for I Love You is based on the ASL alphabet, which is different? I mean, spoken English is well known for borrowing a lot of words, so I wouldn't be surprised for sign to do the same, but also curious if it's got a different origin.
Do babies pick up sign language more easily? Just thinking that 5 months is super early to consciously be using signs, it’s incredible that he’s babbling in sign and making sense of his world, so beautiful! I wish I was able to use it for my future children but I’m worried I’d teach them wrong things as I only know the basics :/
The problem with inclusivity in terms of learning sign language is that when you learn it there is no one to talk to.
I actually did take two years of ASL in highschool. I really enjoyed it. Later on in my life I wanted to pick it up again…but I ran into the same problem I ran into the first time - you can’t turn what you learn into a language without someone to actually talk to.
Even after practicing some of the signs again & learning to sign a few songs, I quickly forgot. I can’t seem to hold on to the information in my brain, and I don’t use my face to emote because I’m not actually communicating…it’s more like doing a hand dance.
I think schools should teach sign language. I was trying to learn on RUclips, but it kinda got overwhelming without a teacher.
I love this whole video. Sign babble is honestly the cutest, it's showing that he wants to be joining in on the very polite British convo with his cool mums
I was gonna recommend our signed world but I noticed you already follow them on Instagram
In my opinion sign language should be taught in schools. And I'm not saying every child should know absolutely every sign ever, but just the basics. I, even though I don't know anyone who uses sign language as their first language, would have much preferred to learn sign over German or Spanish. As I was already taught Dutch and English both at home and in school. I also feel like sign language, although it is very much a language of its own, is directly related to our speaking language. I feel children would learn a spoken language much quicker even if they would have a direct reference to a movement and why not just use sign language for those movements. To me it makes so much sense for people to learn sign language, or at least the basics.
This reminds me of a super nanny USA episode. Two deaf parents with I think 3 hearing daughters and from what I remember the resolution was to teach the children signing rather then the parent using it with each other so the parents and children could actually communicate. I wish I knew sign language, I struggle picking up languages, I don't know if it's to do with dyslexia or just that I never learnt as a kid, but I wonder if signing would be easier to learn because it visual/physical not audible?
As an autistic person who's started going nonverbal as an adult. I wish I was taught sign as a child and that other did to
I mean, I would go for the Tolstoy novels....
Scientists have found that hearing babies of deaf parents ( the study was about *exclusively* deaf parents, though) "babble" with their hands - their hand movements were very distinct from those of hearing babies with one or both hearing parent(s).
THATS ADORABLE
Omg so cute!!!
I have friends that are CODA (children of deaf adults) Both parents were born deaf, and have all full hearing children. It’s amazing to see how much learning sign language first has moved them to the front! They have signed for the police department, legal proceedings, they have taught at Gaudette University, and now are advocates for standard criteria for public signers. They have always urged myself and other hearing friends to learn for inclusivity. I think you’re absolutely right that hearing people should learn sign. The joy on the patrons faces when I was a server, and positively tripped through my rudimentary sign language was definitely enough to keep me going.
I started learning a few basic signs to communicate in extremely loud environments without having to yell into people's ears, but was really surprised how intuitive it was compared to learning a spoken language, which I am terrible at. Definitely can't hold a conversation in sign, but I retain the information so much easier than trying to learn Spanish. Had a deaf customer years ago at my sandwich job and he was stoked I could at least make an attempt
Look up 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You' by Ed Sheeran. The main focus of the video is an actor by the name of Matthew Jacobs Morgan - his parents are both deaf and he is hearing, but he signs the entire song and does an AMAZING job. He is also fluent in French and German. Start them young in multiple languages, and I do consider signing whole other language. It'll be nothing but helpful in school.
My mom is hoh and I had to call so many places growing up because phones really weren't accessible back in the day and my mom doesn't use or know sign language because she really doesn't quite need it with how much hearing she still has in every day life.
I had to learn how to sound professional and relay information at a very young age and honestly that was a good thing because I later never struggled to do that kind of stuff for myself.
Some people were and still are weird about my mom's disability though and that also made me quickly sus out people and learn who I want around me and who isn't good to have as friends.
Gallaudet*
I honestly don't understand why it's not a subject in primary school at this point. Deaf children shouldnhave the same access to other citizen. Teaching kids sign laguages would work into that (as well as being super useful in situation when yelling from one side of the room to the other isn't possible)
Oh my god ... him signing Mama and Mommy to you and Claudia respectively is just the cutest thing ever!! And I agree that teaching your child sign language wether its a deaf or hearing baby is only benificial. Cant find a single downside to having this as a base skillset from esely childhood on.
This is so informative, sign language should be on the school curriculum, young children soak up new skills so easily and its a skill for life.
Agree with you. 🙂
Yes! My babysitter’s daughter was losing her hearing and my sitter taught us kids the alphabet and a few basic signs just in case. I was under 10 at the time and now at 31 I still remember almost all of it! Vs the four years of Spanish I took in high school that I only recall bits and pieces of 😅 I wish they offered languages for school children!
@@peterfireflylund yes learning a language is hard but from my experience of working in schools for 20+ years, if you are enthusiastic and make it interesting they want to learn more, teaching yr 10/11 some sign has been fun and them stopping me in the corridor to sign something they learnt in their lesson makes my heart sing. Also some students who struggle with the curriculum could find this a better way and style of learning.
I personally think there is a place for any language, sign, French Spanish Mandarin ect and I think it shows respect for a person/ culture if you try to communicate in their native tongue, I know when I go to a different country I try to say some basics in the language of the country- not always successfully!
@@peterfireflylund kids often learn new languages a lot faster than adults and there’s no harm in knowing two languages or more.
@@peterfireflylund fully learning a language is a lot of work, but learning at least basic vocabulary can be helpful.
So is he effectively calling Claudia "Ommy"? That's super cute! 🥰👶
to someone who doesn't know shit about sign language read this comment with the translation makes my heart warm... how cute it is pls I cannot
The stories of Rupert doing his best with his coordination in progress baby hands are ADORABLE.
I was born deaf (too much fluid in my ears) and my family learned basic real ASL (Open, more, done, etc)...until the surgeries to drain them worked, and it all switched to verbal communication when I was around 2. I didn't even know this until I was a decade into my life! I grieve that sometimes but have taught myself some of it again. Your signing with Rupert means so much, thank you. And especially encouraging others to pick it up, even if it's not "necessary."
You describing Rupert signing Mummy when he heard Claudia's voice made me tear up with happiness!
I recently had major surgery and was on a ventilator and very heavily medicated...BUT I kept talking in basic letter sign because, even though I was out of it, I was able to tap into the basic ABC's. Unfortunately no one could understand, thankfully a student nurse came in and told them I was saying DAVID (my husband) over and over. I think all hospitals should have at least one sign proficient person, because non-hearing/unable to vocalize people need to be understood too. I may be hearing and understand minimal sign language, but I have never been more glad that I learned the basics or wished I'd been taught/learned more. I'm so glad you are teaching Rupert regular signs, it will serve him well as he grows.
Bless you! That must have been distressing :( Someone should have offered you a letter board at least. Good on the student nurse, what a perfect timing for her to be there on that placement. I imagine others in hospital would have also been able to help esp with simple finger spell - but again someone needs to think to go find out who or have a list. I'm a doctor can sign BSL & use w Deaf patients. Although trying to get back to better fluency & learn more med words too. In mean time obvs still want them to have proper comm vis interpretor.
In the US at least, every hospital that gets federal funding must have access to and offer interpreters for languages common in that community, as well as ASL. Larger hospitals or medical groups have more languages, especially in areas with a lot of immigrants because it can be hard to define what languages are "common" if they're always fluctuating. For patients who speak languages outside of what that hospital has, they have to get an interpreter on the phone. Tons of places have rolling monitors that can use to video chat an interpreter now!
The interpreter should be trained as a MEDICAL interpreter, not just someone who can translate the language. They're specially trained to communicate all of the complicated medical jargon properly between languages. That's part of why they have to offer an interpreter even if a patient comes in with a family member who can translate.
I do that when I dissociate and/or meltdown (PTDS, CPTSD, DID, which aren't helped by autism) and can't talk in any spoken language I know anymore
For some reason, I can almost always still communicate in sign language even though mine is a bit rusty now (removing the rust by teaching my partner useful signs, like medicine, pain, nightmare, water, etc.) and it actually helps me to come back myself faster too, as I feel it overrides the flashes/emotions
At a school I taught at 2 years ago there were a few deaf students. The whole school learnt some basic signs like hello, thank you etc but the best part was that the class that these kids were in became trilingual! English, Māori and NZSL. The class had times when they only spoke in sign but most of the time they used NZSL and either spoken language together. These kids were about 7
Wow that's so so awesome to hear! I'm in nz too, and I love hearing about that natural flow between the languages and it sounds like the kids got really into it? They are great like that supporting each other when a class builds momentum
okay maybe a weird question but... how do you monitor cheating when you know that a lot/all students of a class can speak (?) /sign sign language ? :D I was just wondering. I mean of course a lot of movement would also make sound but when one student asks a question and the teacher goes there to help, couldn't others behind them sign answers to each other. (not saying that I judge them for that, just wondering if this is something you then need to think about :D)
@@Renesmechen they’re 7. I don’t know how it works in other countries but in NZ at that age there isn’t much large scale testing. It’s mostly done on a person to person basis
@@Renesmechen so I also follow the DOTS project which provides braille dice for blind/visually impaired tabletop-game players. they also had to deal with some bad-faith criticism along the lines of "What if the player cheats with the braille dice?", because hearing children who don't know sign language never cheat on tests and seeing players never cheat at games.
@@scarylion1roar I don't mind if people cheat on exams 'cause I honestly don't think they are the best way to test people about knowledge. I myself cheated a lot. I was just wondering if there are extra measurements teachers would think of. Teachers at my school tried different ways to stop us from cheating but they only made us more creative. Honestly it was just a new challenge. So I just wonder if the kids in those classes could use their knowledge and if the teachers tried to do something about it.
However if they were around the age of 7 I doubt they would do that.
I just hope you don't think I wanted to say that I think they are more likely to cheat cause of something. It's just something I would totally use for myself, that's why my mind went there.
I taught my now 4 year old basic Auslan signs when she was a baby as a way to help her communicate her needs, and yes it did reduce her frustration when she was "pre-verbal." We continue using sign language with her and she is also learning it at preschool.
Everyone in my family are hearing, but having a family member who worked in the disability sector meant we always had a basic level of sign of sign language in the household (such as please/thank you), but we had more comprehension to understand if someone was signing to us.
I decided to learn more Auslan as I was a tour guide at Parliament House in Australia and would often interact with people needing directions around the building, again generally answers to a small range of questions such as where is the toilet/cafe/security desk. The look of relief when someone would come in and start writing a question on their phone and I would answer them in Auslan (even if my grammar was sometimes terrible) was heart warming (and at the same time depressing that my small efforts to communicate was such a rarity) and I would have people who visited regularly only want to deal with me as they didn't have to change their behaviour to be understood. And everyone was more than happy to help me to improve my signing to make it less formal and more conversational. Where I work now I have a profoundly deaf colleague and everyone in the section (about 50 people) all have a basic level of sign language (basic signs and finger spelling) because we have an incredibly inclusive work culture and don't exclude anyone and we all have a healthy knowledge of sign swear words 😀
I am now teaching my 6 week old son sign as well and I've noticed his big sister signing to him as well. Yes he can't sign yet, but I've noticed he will move his arms up out of the way when I sign that I am going to pick him up.
And one of the biggest advantage to teaching your children sign language (apart from all the benefits of learning another language as a child and being able to communicate with the deaf community and other groups who use sign as their only method of communication) is you can tell them, in no uncertain terms, to stop what they are doing, put something down and get back to you across a noisy crowded children's play area much to the awe and amazement of other parents who are yelling themselves hoarse trying to control their "little darlings."
I want to individually 👍 every single point that you made!
agree with the above comment! all of this is lovely
I taught my son sign language because he was under the spectrum and did not speak at all by age 3. He only repeated one word over and over (echolalia).
He eventually dropped the signs and spoke, but our intention was never to have him not have tantrums, but rather to communicate with him. I owe the deaf community the ability to communicate with my son. The greatest gift I could have ever been given. He's now 19 years old and about to graduate high school and go to college.
That's so lovely to read! I have a similar story with my now 9yo kid, sign was such a game changer for the communication to exist at all ♡ makes me happy to hear your son is doing well growing up!
I know what echolalia is but I still thought you were saying that that was the word he’d repeat over and over lol
Autism? It’s interesting how autism can affect everyone differently. I have autism and I started speaking at a regular age and learnt how to read earlier than other kids.
@@rachelcookie321 i was the same way, in fact i think i potentially started speaking, reading and writing earlier than a lot of kids too. however once i hit 14yrs old most of my traits showed up a lot more often and more debilitating, like my sensory issues.
by the age of 16 i was having nonverbal shutdowns and couldnt communicate at all, not even through texting or writing.
i personally wish i could sign to help with that but due to my other disabilities (chronic pain in my wrists) it is not really possible to make most of the movements for auslan
@@kaelin8775 yea, for me I started showing symptoms of autism when I started puberty at age 10. It went down hill real fast. When I’m upset I can’t communicate at all, I don’t know how show what I feel. My mum got me these cards that say different things that you can show when you’re upset but that just made me angry because it’s not just that I struggle to say what I want, I can’t communicate it in any way. Then I got angry and I couldn’t say why I didn’t like them so I just squealed and threw them where I will never see them.
Finger spelling at a minimum is a very important skill to have. My dad was in the hospital after a heart attack and had intubation preventing him from speaking. Writing out words or typing them was physically taxing on him but finger spelling was a way to spell out what he wanted to say.
When I was a kid I learned about ASL and finger spelling and while I did learn some signs that stick with me today, the thing I made myself learn was to finger spell because absolute worst case, if I needed to communicate with someone we'd have that. It's slow and you're relying on spelling skills but at the same time it is better than nothing and you'd be shocked how many times I have actually used it in my life to communicate to others.
This video brought me a great deal of happiness. Just seeing the joy on Jessica's face as she talked about Rupert and about his progress in learning sign language was wonderful. Thank you Jessica for sharing this with us.
I think sign language should be taught in schools as well as other languages because it would really help everyone understand each other better. While i worked in retail i often had deaf customers and i felt awful not being able to communicate with them like i could anyone else, all i knew was thankyou which isnt really enough to help
Agreed! I had a deaf mother and child come in and I couldn't communicate and I felt awful. As well as families who spoke other languages I didn't know.
Even if you’d learned sign language, though, you’d have only learned one particular sort of sign language and there are dozens if not hundreds.
@@SamyTheBookWorm
Then learn the one that’s most prevalent where you live.
there are several sign languages by countries just like speaking languages.... therefore it's not universal either.
@@danone2414 I live in the Netherlands in a province called Friesland. Friesland has its own language separate from the language used in the rest of the country. We were taught Frisian in school but not dutch sign language. And I can tell you that there are more deaf people in my country than Frisians. (400.000 people speaking Frisian while there are 1.5 million hard hearing to deaf people.) We are sadly not taught sign language in school and can actually only officially learn it from universities or expensive courses. Also even though sign language differs per country, there are a lot of contextual clues and similarities. You can get by in another country, more than any spoken language. I don't know if you intended to agree or disagree with the main comment and I apologize if it sounds a bit on the mean side. It is mainly frustration that I would have loved to learn sign language instead of Frisian.
Jessica, this was a fascinating video. The story about Rupert trying to sign "Mummy", and progressing from the closed fist to the O-Shape with his hand was so heart warming, also hilarious. Thank you for sharing about how Claudia and You are teaching him and the way his little brain is getting it!
A baby signing what they need is really convenient , most parents don't recognize what each cry means.
What is really sad is that the default reaction to everything that relates to a disability is something negative.
I was taught Baby Sign when I was, well, a baby! Both my parents and I are hearing, which I should note. From what my parents have told me, it helped a LOT with communication since I didn't start verbally communicating for longer than most children, and I got far less upset than if I couldn't communicate my needs and wants to them. I still use sign (at least the very basic things in ASL - as I'm from Canada - which I still know) in my everyday life, though it unfortunately isn't enough of a vocabulary to have even a basic conversation. I should also note that I tend to have issues with auditory processing, but not with visual/sign processing, so the few signs I know are much easier to understand than spoken words a lot of the time!
My sister also learned baby sign because she had a hard time learning to speak. As she got older, she could speak and wanted to, but she had trouble getting the words out and would stutter. Baby sign (while obviously not a real sign language) helped her a lot as a small baby. She would get really frustrated and cry when she couldn’t get the words out, so it helped a lot. Eventually she went to a speech therapist in school who helped her learn how to essentially get the words out and she didn’t need baby sign anymore. While I understand that it can be disrespectful to deaf people to use a “fake” form of sign language, it really does help some people who are hearing but need a little assistance early on
My niece and nephews were taught basic signs, and I can confirm that it helps significantly! Even just being able to communicate "I'm done" alone, has a huge impact on meltdowns.
Almost like kids benifit from being understood, just like adults do, lol
@@battyboo3732 Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't teaching them sign language directly work just as well for the same purposes? /gen
@@jadziajan My daughter's speech therapist explained that the modified signs (or just plain made up ones) for baby sign language are for resolving issues like Jessica described with Rupert and signing "mama." There are some signs that are more difficult for babies/ toddlers to do, and so they've modified them for ease of learning. However, they aren't very beneficial for kids if the only people who understand them are the baby and the caregiver, so in speech therapy settings, the signs taught are predominantly ASL
The majority of signs my daughter knows (more, milk, sleep, thank you, all done, help, so on and so forth) are ASL signs. She has modified signs for a few words (like using one hand to sign for jacket instead of two) but predominantly she is using and learning ASL.
I have autism (and audio processing disorder) and I have a few friends who go non verbal at least some of the time.
They use sign and I don't know any, but now I'm thinking it would be a good idea to. Reading sign means I wouldn't necessarily have to mask as much which is always a plus.
"But mama, the people must know how adorable I am!!" One day when you're old enough you can amaze everyone with your cheeky grins and adorable sign, Rupert! But the world is way big and scary for that right now.
Just the picture in my mind of Jessica tying to film Rupert’s babbling only to be interrupted by him grinning at the camera is so adorable
My mother attempted to teach me sign when I was little , but it turns out I'm on the autism spectrum and have ADHD , which when didn't learn untill i was nearly in middle school, so unfortunately she never made much progress.
I find your channel very uplifting. I have a now 13 month old daughter , and sometimes I find myself really scared and stressed over being a parent with disability. Worrying that my issues could negatively impact my child. Your vidios about Rupert and your journey help me to feel less isolated and more confident in my ability to be a mom.
I wonder if trying out sign language with your daughter could help, because you would be using facial expressions & eye contact?
Also, though, I wouldn’t worry. Your daughter is going to have a whole world of people to connect with. The idea that your neurodivergence could “mess her up” somehow seems very unlikely to me.
In the beginning kids tend to mimic their parents, but they grow out of that pretty quickly.
You probably know plenty of people who are very, very different from their parents. Sometimes deliberately so. (Ie: my mom used to always be late so I get to places ahead of time so I’m never late)
That’s not to suggest your daughter is going to look down on you or anything. I’m just saying that kids don’t just learn how to behave from one person. They take everything into account and figure out what works best for them and their personality.
I have ADHD too, by the way! Someone suggested I might be on the spectrum, but I doubt that’s the case. Even so, I get along really well with people who are.
Thanks for sharing your feelings with us!
@@AK-jt7kh thank you for the encouragement. It's not been easy at times ( money issues on top of everything). I just found out I'm pregnant again so you've definitely made my day.
i’m on the spectrum too (not diagnosed until adolescence!) and i was good at learning signs and really gravitated towards communicating with it when i was a baby/toddler. didn’t know it was the ‘tism back then but probably really helped my parents with communication even though i was never quite nonverbal. really cool to see how diverse the spectrum is!
Oddly enough watching this video it hit me why I was never successful at learning sign language. I have aphantasia so when someone signs to me I only see the sign in that instance and then it’s gone. On the other hand, honestly if I had a child who was deaf I would make sure they learned sign. Unfortunately we’d have to figure out a way to communicate as trying to remember signs actually gives me a headache like everything else I try to picture, but enabling a child to communicate is the most important.
@@elizaRose8900 No biggie - you’ve got this! I know you’ll find a way. It’s rough….but you don’t need a ton of money to raise happy kids. Some of the happiest kids I’ve ever met came from families that had financial stress.
I do feel for you - that’s rough. But at the same time, probably keep your mind on the bigger picture. Some financial struggles now don’t define the future. One day, your kids will be grown up and successful, and helping you out, and I bet they’ll respect their mom for the trials she had to go through to be the person she was for her family.
For the record…my mom was really “unconventional”. I don’t think shes on the spectrum but I would not be surprised at all if people thought she was. Not only was she not very emotionally forthcoming, but she butted heads with a lot of her peers. She also didn’t keep a neat household - the place was trashed when I was growing up! Lol!
But you know…none of that registers in my kid brain as “wrong” or “abnormal” because I didn’t know what was typical. She was just mom and I adored her. She used to wrap me up in a towel after a bath and sing out of tune songs to me. She was never a great mom in the “conventional” sense, but she’s been the greatest mom ever for me.
She went to bat for me repeatedly when the teachers were picking on me in gradeschool. She always understood how it felt to be different and alienated. She gave me hope, confidence, and challenged my mind.
Without her I definitely wouldn’t be all that I am today, and in the “typical”’ sense, she would have been considered a “terrible mom” - because she didn’t force me to do a bunch of homework, didn’t keep a routine, didn’t have a tidy house, and so on and so forth…
But the skills she had were the ones I really needed. She loved me, spent time with me, paid attention to me, and gave me wise advice and life lessons. She used to drive me to school in the morning (which no other moms did so the other kids were kind of jealous about it), and we used to play games like “the price of ducks” where she would give me simple word problems with farmers and ducks and ask me to figure out how much the feed costs and stuff.
She had her own unique style of parenting and it was her uniqueness that made me grow into a unique person - which made me uniquely valuable to other people later in life, because I had a way of thinking and solving problems that most people didn’t have.
Motherhood is so complex, I think. You cannot predict how your children will turn out. I think the most important thing is simply that you love them genuinely in your own way, and you figure out ways to enjoy their company so you can spend time with them in a way that makes you both happy.
My mom never pandered to me. We did the things she liked to do, pretty much, but seeing her happy made me happy.
I can’t remember ever seriously having an issue with how frugal my parents were. Weirdly, it turned out that we had a pretty well off family - but they were very tight with cash and were careful not to spoil us or ever show us how much we actually had. In fact, my dad routinely threatened to cancel our cable or turn down our heat in the winter because finances were tight 😂
But honestly - that didn’t make me think less of them. I didn’t have much to compare it to. That was just my definition of life. Then later on, I ended up respecting them for it. I’m so glad they didn’t raise me to be pampered and spoiled.
The best thing I got from them was their time. That was worth far more to me as a kid than their money.
I know I’m rambling, but I did it in the hopes that you won’t worry so much about your finances. You seem resourceful - I think you’ll make due, and I absolutely believe that your kids will notice or care.
Not having money doesn’t make you any less awesome as a mom. Having neurodivergence just makes you unique and cool.
If you’re worried about what your kids will think of you for the things you think are issues…maybe dial back on that a bit, as kids simply don’t view the world through the comparative judgement of an adult.
I think what kids notice most is the amount, and quality, of the personal time you give them. Even if you’re not a very emotional person. (My mom definitely isn’t. Lol)
Funny side note on that. I just had to wake her up at nearly 12am to ask where dad was bc he’s been missing all night, and she said he was in the hospital and went back to bed. Not once did it occur to her that I might like to know that information 😂…and she was so casual about it, it made me think…and I going to one day be like “hey, mom, dads been missing, any idea where he’s at?” And she’ll be like “Oh, your dads dead! Here, have a pork chop. They’re still hot.”
That’s just mom for you! My cousin and I laugh sometimes at how emotionally detached she can be! It’s just cute and funny. Just my mom being her unique mom self! I love it!
You seem so cool - I think your kids will love you the way I love my mom.
Just try to take care of yourself and manage the stress however you can. And when you get bogged down with the things that are depressing you…it might help you to try to look at the bigger picture and imagine your life (and kids) 5 or 10 years from now. That always helps me!
Having ADHD is a hardship I can relate to…but don’t worry. I think you’ll do just fine! 💕
I've wanted to learn sign language for years, but there has never been a direct need for it (i.e. nobody I know speaks sign language). But I've seen some people use baby sign, and thought that was really cool, so I had this plan to do that with my future children. Thank you for explaining this clearly. I am now fully committed to learning actual sign language and using the correct signs with future babies 👶 (and continue as they grow up)
The only direct need I have for learning sign language is that I occasionally become non-speaking, and unfortunately it wouldn’t be much help unless at least some of those closest to me were to learn sign language as well. If only I could sign rather than having to type on my phone.
@@ragnkja That would be really useful indeed. I've been thinking about just having a few signs that I can easily teach people close to me. I'm not non-verbal, but I do get overwhelmed easily (autistic), so sometimes I want to be able to respond to easy questions with signs instead of words. Just being able to sign "I'm fine, just need to sit for a bit" would already make a difference.
Maybe something like that is possible? Where the people close to you know some basics?
@@AnanasAbanaan
We can at least try and see how it goes, right? :)
I wish I knew asl fully because a kid my hearing would get really bad for some unknown reason. I ended up learning some like yes, no, hello, and the alphabet, but I pretty much taught myself from looking it up online. And I just learned that my grandma speaks asl almost fluently because she was a special ed teacher. I am currently learning more, but I wish someone taught me when I was little. (Something cool is that some signs are second nature to me, so when I speak I'll sign certain words and not realize :))
@@connorfrost
Since languages are best learnt by using them, maybe you could try video chatting with your grandmother using ASL?
Seeing how happy Jessica was that she could understand Rupert was a joy. It’s not 100% the same but I am always very sad when I think I can’t communicate with parts of my family bc they only speak Spanish and I only speak English.
Sign language is so useful even for hearing babies and parents! Babies are able to sign before they're able to verbally communicate their needs, and it speeds up understanding and helps to keep the little guys from getting frustrated when they can't tell you what's up. It's also much easier to sign when you're crying and upset because your emotions are bigger than you are, which is huge for toddlers.
I love the phrasing “when your emotions are bigger than you are”, because that’s happened to me quite a lot as a petite autistic woman with ADHD.
I learnt so much in this video! I have mental health stuff that sometimes makes communicating verbally difficult, so my partner and I are planning to learn some sign to like, give us an alternative form of communication. I will make sure we learn from a deaf teacher, and I'm excited to do research into the community as well ☺️
I do too sometimes and it helps a ton, I highly recommend it!
Also, it is a beautiful language and I feel like everybody would profit learning it.
I also have this problem. You're making me want to try learning sign language.