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Signing With Babies And Children: Effective Communication: Subtle Cues in Context

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Monday, June 28, 2010

Effective Communication: Subtle Cues in Context

One of the moms in my Baby Sign class shared with me that her little one had been signing ‘milk’ for days before they realized that she was signing ‘milk’. Her baby just turned one year old, and signs the words ‘nice’, ‘more’, ‘eat’, ‘bubbles’, ‘water’, ‘mommy’ and is rapidly acquiring many more words. During her meal time, she would reach her arms out as if to ask to be taken out of her highchair. When her mommy realized that she was not happy with being taken out of the highchair, she suddenly realized that her child was actually trying to let her know that she wanted ‘milk’.


When a baby is consistently using the same gestures in the same context or situation, chances are, they are using an approximation for a sign and are trying their best to communicate. It may not look exactly like the sign you have learned, but it is in fact your child trying his/her best to communicate! Watch for eye contact and facial expression, and we will all be better at effective communication.

1 comment:

My Baby Details said...

Approximation can be so cute and confusing at the same time. The confusing part like expressed above when you have not come to recognize their sign and cute when you realize no one else could quite come up with such a original sign and position their hands in the same manner time after time.

Our darling little ones!!! Just keep signing the sign correctly and they'll eventually get it. Until then, enjoy their approximations and see what other signs you may had been missing along the way^_^.

Thank you for your tips!... consistently and same context or situation.