Sign Language Great for ALL!

I wanted to share an email I received the other day from a mom who began using sign language with her son after seeing Fireese sign on You Tube (I’ve removed names for privacy sake):

“Laura, I wanted to let you know how much you've helped me with my son. He is almost 4 years old now. He is a high-functioning autistic child. He was also born tongue-tied, and has a hard time forming our everyday sounds. At age 2 1/2, he had not slept for six months more than 2-3 hours at a time. Neither was I, of course! You can imagine how that sleep deprivation, coupled with a child who couldn't speak intelligibly anyway, had my husband and I at our wit's end.

One day in September 2007, I was browsing the Internet, when I came across the video of Fireese at 12 months old, doing all these signs! I called my son over and together we watched the video several times. He LOVED it! Within 45 minutes, my son was able to start communicating with me like never before! I could understand him when he needed a drink, or a diaper change, or his favorite toy (a pink monkey!), or to be left alone.

I realize that you may not realize this, or believe you're just using your own talents, but you and your beautiful daughter are angels to me!

My son ended up getting a speech therapist who provided us tons of flash cards with signs on them to learn. He will be 4 years old in June, and I'm now looking to find ASL classes to keep up with him!

I don't know where we'd be today if we hadn't found your video online - I really
don't. Thank you so much for taking the time to put it up and share it. I will always appreciate it!”

This email made my career and it’s emails like this one that make me so happy that I began posting videos of Fireese showing what children are capable. I hope this email encourages all parents to sign with their children; it can be such a useful tool to ALL!

by Laura Berg; Founder of My Smart Hands, 'educating young minds'