A customer contacted me today with the following question:

‘I have a profoundly Deaf granddaughter who is 1 years old. Her Mum and Dad are Deaf too. I would like to buy some children books and DVDs so they can sign along to. Would the Mr tumble DVDs be suitable?’

Mr Tumble uses Makaton signs and symbols.  These  tend to be used by people who have communication and learning difficulties rather than Deaf people. Makaton was developed in the 1970s to help people with learning disability to communicate. It is now widely used with a variety of children with communication difficulties. Deaf people use Bristish Sign Language.

The Tinytalk and BabySigners (Joseph Garcia) DVDs use British Sign Language. I’ve not watched either DVD so I can’t comment on which is best.

The Child’s Play books are lovely, my own children have several. They are thick board books so nice and strong for babies to handle.

The Cath Smith Let’s Sign products are ideal too. I’d say these are more reference books for adults rather than for young children. The flashcards are handy as you can then stick the cards round the house in relevant places to remind you of the signs.

If you require information about any products then feel free to contact us by email.

A Chelltune customer recently asked me if there is a sign for yes. She said she had three different signing books yet she’d still not found a sign for ‘yes’.

In Sign Language there is a sign for yes but it often isn’t used. As far as I am aware, the Deaf community see it as being quite patronising for someone to sign yes or no.

There is simply no need to sign with your hands as you can nod or shake your head.

In British Sign Language we use what we call classifier signs, this is when a handshape represents another object, for example we use two fingers to represent legs. These two fingers can walk, jump, lie down, sit, etc, just as legs do. Another classifier is to use your closed fist handshape to represent a head. The head can nod to sign yes or shake to sign no. As I mentioned above, Deaf people tend not to use these signs.

I used to work with someone who is Deaf and also has learning disabilities/some visual impairment. He would not accept a nod/shake of the head, he insisted that I used the sign for yes/no. I got into a bad habit of signing it all the time and used to get told off by my BSL tutor!

I asked Helen, TinyTalk teacher in Northamptonshire if she uses yes/no signs in her classes. She doesn’t, she just shakes or nods her head. Heather, TinyTalk teacher for Leicester told me the same thing. Heather went on to say that when she signs ‘no more’ she uses the sign for more and shakes her head. This isn’t something I have ever signed with my children, my way so signing ‘no more’ is to sign ‘gone/finished’ while saying no more or finished. With baby signing, in my opinion there really isn’t a right or wrong way to sign, the important thing is that the child’s main caregivers can understand his/her signs and are consistent with their use. I sound like a broken record and have repeated myself many times but you must always say the word as well as sign it.

Last week the Health Visitor gave my youngest daughter a Bookstart pack. Bookstart is a national programme that encourages all parents and carers to enjoy books with their children from as early an age as possible. Bookstart aims to provide a free pack of books to every baby in the UK, to inspire, stimulate and create a love of reading that will give children a flying start in life. My children have received several Bookstart packs, they’ve been over the moon with the contents of each one.

Bookstart recognises the importance of encouraging all parents and carers to enjoy books with children from as early an age as possible. They’ve produced a new pack called Bookshine which offers free books and information specifically designed to suit deaf children’s needs.

The pack is aimed at parents of deaf children aged 0-5 years. It includes a touch and feel book and a book featuring simple British Sign Language (BSL) signs and an image of a child with a hearing aid as it is important that deaf children see themselves in books.

The Bookshine books and accompanying materials have been chosen in partnership with the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) and parents of deaf children.

Alex Strick, Bookstart Consultant explains:

“Bookstart is for every child. We are very proud to be expanding its existing Bookstart range by offering parents of deaf children a selection of specially chosen books and advice. Thanks to our partnerships with specialists such as the National Deaf Children’s Society, we are confident that the new Bookshine pack will provide many more families with the impetus and advice they need to help their children enjoy books from an early age.”

Lorna Simpson, NDCS Development Manager, from NDCS explains:

“All babies and children should be given the opportunity to learn about the joys of reading. Bookshine, the Bookstart range specifically selected with the needs of deaf babies and children in mind is a wonderful collection. The books all have colourful illustrations and some have different textures to touch and feel. Deaf children often learn in a very visual way, so encouraging an interest in reading at an early age can be crucial in development.”

Bookshine (for deaf children)

Teddy Bear Teddy Bear – Child’s Play from their Sign and Sing Along series
Dorling Kindersley’s Touch and Feel Playtime
Bookshine Guide to Sharing Books with your deaf child
Bookshine Book Guide
A nursery rhyme place mat
By summer 2008, an older picture book will also be available as an alternative to one of the board books.

There is also the Booktouch pack for blind and partially sighted children.

Sign for Easter egg

This time next week it will be Easter Sunday so I thought I would post some relevant signs.

Sign for Easter

With a week till Easter we already have a house full of chocolate eggs. Our son and eldest daughter have five eggs each. Our youngest daughter who is nearly eight months old has three. She is a little young for so much chocolate so I might need to help her eat them!

If you are looking for non chocolate Easter gifts then our bunny and chick finger puppets are ideal.

Please note that the graphics are from Let´s Sign & Write © Copyright Cath Smith 2009.

Children with disabilities and their families are invited to a London Zoo fun day with reduced admission costs on Saturday 13th June.

The day is an annual event put on by London Zoo, enabling families with disabled children to enjoy all the zoo has to offer and more at a discount price.

Highlights include a major new exhibit for 2009, the Animal Adventure, which includes Aardvarks and Red Pandas. The Gorilla Kingdom, Rainforest Lookout and Reptile House & Aquarium continue to be popular, as well as the flying bird display.

Also available on the day will be British Sign Language interpretation for all talks and displays, face painting, live band and a separate entrance and welcome near the main car park.

Families with disabled children need to pre-book and prepay before 6th June to get the reduced rates.

For more details and a booking form, please contact Steve, Tel: 020 7449 6551 or email: steve.marriott@zsl.org

I’ve just come across this petition.  Islington Deaf Campaign are petitioning for all television channels to provide Sign Language on programmes in the same way subtitles are available at present.

What do you think?  Do you ever watch programmes with a Sign Language presenter/interpreter?  I’ve heard hearing people complain about having an Signer on the screen but is this fair, shouldn’t we be promoting equality for all?  Add your comments below.

We’ve been stuck indoors for a few days. As you can see from the picture my son has chicken pox, his sister is covered in spots too.  We spent the morning baking cakes as we are struggling to know what to do since we can’t go out. The picture shows Finn signing cake with a rather cheesy grin .

I haven’t really taught the children many signs for food, they know the important ones like cake, chocolate and biscuit! The Child’s Play Sign About Meal Times is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn food type signs.