basic communication skills 41
Here are some suggestions to help you get started:
1. Try to make signs look
like the things or actions
you want to communicate:
This sign for ‘baby’
looks like
someone
holding
a baby.
baby
2. Watch for signs your child makes
up and use them. Many children,
for example, make up signs to
name people in the family.
Maria
One child made
this sign for her
sister, Maria,
who wears
glasses.
3. Use hand shape, position, and movement to make different signs. For
example, when making the sign for drinking from a cup you could...
Shape your hand like a cup. Then
move your hand as if you were
drinking from the cup.
Or, if you wanted to sign about
drinking from your hands, you could
change your hand shape like this:
drink (from a cup)
drink (from hands)
4. Try to create similar signs for actions or things that go together.
For example:
stand
lie down
jump
You can also create similar signs for opposites, like ‘push’ and ‘pull’.
5. Combine signs for objects, actions,
and ideas to create sentences.
A child who learns to put ideas
together will develop more
complete communication skills.
“Put the cup on the table.”
cup cup on table
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)