Hi Kristen,
I started learning it last year when Bella was very ill with pneumonia. We have
tried teaching her sign since she was 4-6 mos old but Bella had a very difficult
time at midline so many of the signs still are hard. Now that she is wearing
hearing aides it is helping her try to communicate more.
She just got her 3rd set of tubes too. We are hoping that has opened her ears a
little more. She has stenosis like ear drums. They narrow at the end, she is
still only able to get the smallest set of tubes.
Belle is 7 and just knows about 15-20 signs. Eat, more, drink, please and thank
you. Sometimes she amazes me with a sign I didnt think she picked up but with
the school working with me it really helps.
Bella's breaking point is one of the worst Dr Paul has said there aree just a
couple of these kids this severe. I hope Ayah's is not as bad. I try to focus on
Bella's strength each month. It is usually between feeding and speech.
Make sure you get all the possible services for Ayah as you can. They do a lot
more for kids now. At least here in Phx they do. We are getting most of ours
through school now but speech will always be at home too.
I just found a website called meetup.com. You can go on there and search for
sign language groups and learn together or other parenting groups to special
needs children. I was worried at first but a friend has joined and does scrap
booking with a group in her area. You might want to check it out. Most groups
are free. I find learning from a friend or video so much easier then a book. I
tried that first...
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions or just want to talk.
Thanks,
Andi

--- In 11q_disorders@yahoogroups.com, Kristen Haley <kristenhaley@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Andi,
>
> Ayah is just over 7 months old now. After her diagnosis of epilepsy this
> past week, I decided for sure that I want us all to learn sign language. Her
> seizures are quite mild, but she's so tired afterwards. We just started
> Keppra Thursday night, but she's had 2 to 3 seizures a day since her
> appointment the day before. (Before that, we had only seen two seizures)
>
> We have a speech pathologist coming to visit her on Tuesday from Birth to 3.
> These kids seem so social from what everyone else has been saying. It makes
> sense that they would get so frustrated if they can't communicate.
>
> When did you start Baby Signs? I know a few, and Ayah understands the one
> for milk, but that's all we've done so far.
>
> -Kristen
>
> On Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 5:51 PM, Andrea <singhbella@...> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Hi Kristen.
> > My daughter Bella is 7 and she is finally picking up sign and language.
> > I got the baby signs and it helped me to learn and teach her. Bella has a
> > more severe breaking point so cognitively she is much more delayed. She now
> > has hearing aides so she is picking up more verbal ques now too. How old is
> > Ayah? It will help a lot if she can communicate when it comes to behavior.
> > The more Bella learns to communicate the less frustrated she is. Good luck!
> > Andi
> >
> > --- In 11q_disorders@yahoogroups.com <11q_disorders%40yahoogroups.com>,
> > Kristen Haley <kristenhaley@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Has anyone done baby signs with their kids? I only know a few signs so
> > far,
> > > but Ayah seems to be picking them up fairly well. I was even considering
> > > full ASL for her. How well are the older kids able to communicate with
> > > spoken language?
> > > -Kristen
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>