Wondering if anyone has any good resources for teaching children ASL?
My son has a child who is deaf in his kindergarten class. I was hoping to teach him some basic signs so that they could communicate a bit. Then I figure if they become friends than then he could teach DS more, and if they don't then at least he would be able to do some basic communication which wouldn't hurt to know anyways. I just don't know of any good resources, epically ones geared towards kids, and was hoping someone here would have some suggestions.
Check your library for books. Get in touch with the school resource person or the teacher to see if they can point you and several other parents in the direction of learning materials. One book I have is "American Sign Language Dictionary" by Martin L.A. Sternberg.
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Hi Charlotte Don't know how far you want to go with this, but...... If there is a "Center for the Hearing Impaired" in the city where you live, a lot of times they will give free ASL classes. I've taken them twice. There are also some books that are very helpful. Check with your local library.
What is speech reading and voice? Is that like reading lips? I'm not sure if he does this to any degree or not.
I found out by my son telling me not that "they had a deaf kid in his class" but by him saying that "the wiring in one of my new friend's ears don't work" which I'm assuming was how his teacher explained it. My son has also told me that they have someone in class signing so that this boy knows what is being said. The signing persons is also teaching the class some signs, but so far it is the boy's name and I love you. I guess they also talked about numbers in sign, but DS hasn't learned any of the signs for them yet. I'm sure as the year progresses they will learn more, but I'd like to give DS a jump start so that it is easier for him to communicate with the other boy. DS us is one of those kids that tends to play well with everyone and really enjoys having a variety of kids to play with rather than always sticking to a just group of close friends. Because of that I'd like him to have some basic signing skills to make it easier for them to communicate while playing.
Thanks for your suggestions Ginger. I have already checked the online catalog of the library in a nearby town (ours is not on the internet and is a small library). They did have one book that looked interesting and was geared towards teaching children. I just need to schedule a trip over there to check it out. Hopefully if I talk to his teacher (thanks for the idea) she could point me to some other sources of help.
I did notice one dictionary on line that had videos of the signs which I thought was very nice and much easier to figure out the correct way than a drawing. On thing is works like abortion, divorce, wife, work, etc. aren't ones I see them using that much and spelling isn't an option at this point (needs to learn to spell before we worry about spelling in ASL). Anyway, I've bookmarked the sight for looking up things for DS if he has something specific he wants to learn and for my reference as well. May as well use this as an excuse to learn ASL myself.
Thanks for the suggestion Patti. Don't know if I want to go that far yet, but I'll file it away for later. If they end up becoming closer friends this would probably be a good idea.
If the child was born deaf, lip reading and voice are nothing to him. Lip reading may be picked up later on down the road as he gets for familiar with people talking but it's been my experience that deaf children at that age don't have enough language skills to pick up on lip reading just yet.
There is a software package called American Sign Language that you can pick up at Best Buy or online that is good for beginners.
It helped me with the classes I was taking in it. I am by NO means fluent, but probably only because I haven't lost all my hearing yet (almost, but not quite).
Your DS should ask the ASL interpreter for recommendations as well. S/he should be a good reference source for that.
Check out your local library as well.
There is a web site sponsered by Michigan State Univerity that show video of a whole slew of selectable words:
The basic alphabet is very easy to learn....I've seen even the "cheat" sheets that you can find at book stores and college book stores on various topics using them.
I was very fascinated by Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan when I was a child (hmmm, maybe that played a part in why I went into teaching special ed in a previous lifetime....) and learned the alphabet as a child and I still use it off and on -- I frequently find myself hand signing to spell the words to songs if one is on my mind -- and I also communicate with my husband that way at times, esp when to speak would be disturbing to someone else (a library, etc.)
The alphabet is slow to communicate with until you are able to "read" it quickly (I still cannot) and does require the ability to spell but it is a good basic thing for everyone to learn (in my opinion) as it allows you a back up way to communicate with most signing individuals even if you don't know the full vocabulary of signs (which is as hard to keep on top of as becoming fluent in a foreign language and using it at the drop of a hat).
As your son gets older, it might be a good way to help him learn to spell and keep his words in his mind -- using the signed letters as he says them outloud while practicing his words can help cement in his mind (it uses the kinestic/haptic learning style to involve motor movement like that). That said, you may wish to let his classroom teachers know over the years that he does alpha sign so they can watch to see if he does it during tests (subconsciously or otherwise) so he can be placed where he won't accidently give answers to anyone who understands =) (BTDT by mistake).
Also, talk to the special education department at your son's school and ask their recommendations on materials to help him be more comfortable (if that's an issue) and communicable with his classmate. Being so young, he is at a great age to be able to pick up this second language easier than at any other time in his life.
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