Reply to Seeking advice on sign language for mostly non-verbal ASD son

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "Seeking advice on sign language for mostly non-verbal ASD son"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DS is six years old, on the spectrum, with major issues in expressive communication.  We've tried speech therapy for over two years now, and there has not been much progress.  He can say some words -- "I don't know" is his default response to any question --  and can speak more easily with prompts, but often seems to have problems getting a word out on his own.  We are coming to accept that he will likely be mostly non-verbal, and are considering whether to take up sign language to supplement his communication skills. [b]The alternative is to wait for him to learn to type and rely on assistive technology.   
[/b]
Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this?

And if we go forward with sign language, should I learn it first, so that I can help him learn it later?  Or should the family learn it at the same time, so we can determine in real time whether sign language is appropriate for him?  Also, are there affordable facilities near Bethesda that teach sign to people with hearing (parent or child)?  I don't think DVDs or apps will be that effective for me — given my old brain, new languages are hard to learn.

Also, any thoughts on learning ASL versus signed speech?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts![/quote]

I'm baffled by the bolded.  There are many assistive tech solutions that don't involve typing.  I would probably choose symbol based AAC over signing, and definitely over typing, in your situation.

Do you have a gage of his receptive language skills?  In my experience (special ed teacher) kids who have low receptive and expressive language skills often benefit from a keyword approach using either sign or high tech AAC.  So if we were playing a game, I might say "hey WAIT a minute!  It's MY TURN!" and sign or model on a device the words WAIT MY TURN.

[b]If I did choose sign, I'd use ASL signs, but not with ASL grammar.  I'd use a keyword approach, with English word order, but just the most important words signed or modeled.[/b]

[/quote]

That is actually how people who sign do things - it is very much an abbreviated language. You don't sign many of the words that you would speak or write.

You learn the[b] gestures and abbreviations[/b] from someone fluent in sign language.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sign_Language

http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=13107d

[/quote]

You have no idea what you are talking about and your ignorance is rude and insulting to the Deaf Cultural minority of ASL users.

American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete, complex language that employs signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body. It is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf and is one of several communication options used by people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
American Sign Language | NIDCD
National Institutes of Health (.gov) › nidcd ›

American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual-gestural language that is used as a primary means of communication by many deaf people in the United States and Canada. For a long time, it was thought to be either a crude collection of gestures, or to be an "inferior" form of English. However, linguistic research beginning in the 1960s has shown that ASL is a true, complete and rich language in its own right, unrelated to English. ASL is a major part of American Deaf culture, and is transmitted from one generation of signers to the next.

http://libguides.gallaudet.edu/content_mobile.php?pid=114804&sid=991858#box_991858[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics