Sunday, November 18, 2007
Signs
Evelyn will be 16 months on Tuesday and she doesn't say any words yet. It is too soon to seriously worry about her language development. But we are worried, because that's what being a parent is all about. So in order to give Evelyn more ways to communicate we ordered some DVDs that teach ASL to toddlers and their parents. Her being able to sign will be really great for all of us. Instead of wasting 15 minutes trying to figure out why she is crying she will be able to tell us what she wants (food, diaper, toy, whatever). I am really excited because I can tell that she has a lot of thoughts on stuff. She is trying to talk to us. She points at stuff and then jibber jabbers on about it. She points at leaves blowing on a tree and the cats and then she tries to tell us stuff. But we don't know what she's trying to say. It's a little sad and a little frustrating. I am really looking forward to her being able to communicate better with us. She understands (for the most part) what we are saying to her. If we ask her to point to Elmo's nose, she does. If we tell her to pick up something she does. She understands us quite well. But we don't understand her, yet. I have high hopes for these DVDs and for signing.
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2 comments:
I know its hard not to worry, but remember that Arabella didn't start talking until between 15 and 18 months. And even at 18 months she had only a half-dozen words. Although not a verbal genius, she has caught up to the average 4 year old, and improves every day.
I blame her late talking partly on her pacifier -- she had it all the time until I took it away for daytime at 2 1/2, and completely away at 3 1/2. Its the one thing I would have changed had I known, I would have limited its use early and taken it away much sooner, but it always seemed so mean. And yet we have been giving the Bean a paci, as much as I dread where this may lead...
When Brendan was 2, I had a conference with the director of the preschool where he attended mother's morning out. At 2, they're supposed to go into the preschool class for 2-year olds, but she wanted to keep him in the baby class. Her reason was that he wasn't speaking as much as the other 2-year olds. She had me scared to death. The thing was, he had words for things that his dad and I understood, but those who weren't around him as much as us didn't.
But, 6 months later he was talking up a storm, with no intervention, and almost instantly, had a much larger vocabulary than other kids his age.
All that said, I think sign language is a great idea and it can only enhance Evie's ability to communicate.
And it will be useful skill for you to have as an educator.
Good luck. Let us know how it's going.
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