Opportunity

Create an environment that increases the frequency your child will have to practise signing.  When you are working on a sign for a particular item, do not allow him to have open-access to that item.  For example, if you are teaching the sign for "book" make sure that your child's favourite books are within sight but out of reach so that he will need to interact with you in order to obtain the book.  Although this takes more time, this method will increase the frequency that you can teach the sign for "book", increases the number of times your child can practise the sign for "book", and therefore increases the liklihood that he will be signing "book" independently in a shorter period of time.

New Book!

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2079841

Getting the Word Out

On Friday, I presented a workshop on signed-communication to some very enthusiastic parents.  I have to say that this may be my favourite thing about my job.  Talking!!  It's still hard to believe that I was raised by a Deaf parent because I can talk like nobody's business!  The parents who attended my presentation were there for various reasons....some had children with communication difficulties, some had typically-developing infants, and some were child care professionals who wanted to be more effective at supporting children with different communication needs.  Whatever the reason for attending, this was a group of very eager participants from beginning to end.  I can't wait to do it again!

It's never ok to use the "R" word.

Look-a-Likes

Some signs can resemble each other quite closely. This
is especially true when significant modifications are being made to your child’s signs. I have noticed when modifying signs, many instructors will use a child’s non-dominant hand as a base for most of the child’s signs. This limits the ability to make each sign distinguishable. Try creating a base with other parts of the body such as the trunk, shoulders, and chest.

"Please and Thank You"

Most parents and educators want children to have good manners when requesting items. However, words like "Please" and "Thank You" are very abstract and difficult for all children, and especially children with autism, to understand when they are they are first learning to talk. As well, when first starting out with signed-communication, you will only be introducing single words. All children learn to speak using single words before they can put two words together. Asking a child who has limited expressive language with verbal or signed words to jump from using single words to two is an unreasonable expectation.
Learn more about this topic by ordering Signed-Communication for Children with Autism.