Hello there!

You have caught me in the middle of preparing the twins
for lunch! Why not stay and see how these kiddo's and I
communicate? They are very verbal, but say few words.
They are not deaf, just had some hearing loss due to fluid
in their ears. That has since been corrected and they are
beginning to speak more. Wait, I am getting ahead of myself!

At 6 months of age, they sat in high chairs for cereal, at this
point they did not communicate except through crying.
A friend of mine told me about teaching hearing children
sign language. It's purpose was mearly to provide the
toddlers a means to convey their needs. We decided to try it.

That way I would know if they wanted more to eat. At first it
was frustrating, we would sign the word, say it and manipulate
their hands. Soon we gave up and tried again a month or so
later. Guess what? They had remembered it and could now do
it on their own! What a wonderful surprise! (Hint: they may not
sign the word exactly as you teach them, but you decide if the
invented sign is acceptable.) Nick's invented sign was to tap one
palm with the other hands forefinger. Coley's was just a clap. But,
eventually they did learn the proper technique. The next step
was teaching them more "words".

Once we had those two down pat, we wanted to get more specific.
So we introduced these signs:

"eat"

"cup*"

Soon after this we realized they needed words that didn't
necessarily have to do with eating. So we taught them two
more to tell us when they were finished eating.

"all done*"

"out"

There were more invented signs for "out", (Nick still uses his.)
Coley would just wave her arm and Nick would put his hands
in the same positions for "more", but then twist them down and
around in something reminiscent of "The Karate Kid." We used
"out" for when they wanted out of the high chair, aqua saucer or
playpen. And "all done" for them to tell us when they were
finished, or for us to tell them when they were finished. We also
use it to say "all gone." For an example, we taught them that
"stinky" is a pinch of the nose. And when they were all cleaned
up, we would pinch our noses and sign "all done" and say "stinky,
all gone!" This way they may eventually be able to tell us when
they need a changing, and may even speed the potty training!
(One can always hope!)

About the time they were 14 months old, they were learning a
sign a day! Next came toys such as "book," (shown below) and
"ball" (touch your finger tips together as if you were holding a
softball.)

"book"

Now we have started working on manners. "Thank you" was very
easy to learn because they already knew how to blow a kiss.
"Sorry" was also simple, it is alot like "please."

"thankyou"

"sorry"

*These are signs we made up, to fit our needs. "Cup" is the letter 'c' against your mouth, as if you were drinking from a cup. "All done" is brushing your hands together like you would when finished with a project.

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