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Testimonials         Signing Hands classes in Perth started in February 2007, so there have only been 2 complete terms. Out of the parents & babies who have attended so far all of the babies have shown recognition of the signs being used by parents and 95% have signed back within the first term. The majority of these comments have been taken from the questionnaire given to all parents at the end of each course. Some parents have also chosen to write independently to express their enjoyment and appreciation. Natalie – Signing Mum – Kalamunda (02/10/07) (Beginners Course May/Jun 07 & Advanced Course Aug/Sept 07) Thank you for introducing baby sign language to our family. It has been such a great tool to be able to communicate to our toddler. We began Signing Classes when Felicity was 7mths old and her first sign was “Toilet”(holding of her nose) followed by “Mum”( patting of her head). We have been signing now for 4 months and her signing repertoire is increasing. She consistently signs when she is tired and wants to go to bed, when she wants food, a drink from a cup and to be breast fed “milk”. She signs “Daddy”, “dog” “cat”, “nappy” change and now recently “bug/lady beetle”. One thing that needs to be emphasized with signing is you need patience and an eye for what your child is trying to tell you because being little people, their co-ordination somewhat distorts the signals. Look at the context of when your child gives you the sign and you can work out what they are trying to tell you. While the sign for Mum is 3 fingers patted on the head, Felicity uses her whole hand. So why not give it a go. You have nothing to lose but a whole lot to gain. Frankly I love talking to my baby and signing makes it all the more rewarding, not to mention relationship building. Keep up the great classes Deb and thanks heaps for providing a great service. Suzanne – Signing Mum – Swan View (02/10/2007) (Beginners Course May/Jun 07 & Advanced Course Aug/Sept 07) My son (currently 18 months) has enjoyed these classes enormously. They have been great fun for both of us with lots of singing, stories and laughter. I enrolled him with the idea that signing would reduce shouting across the playground, down supermarket aisles and so on, and it certainly has. The major benefit. however, has been lower frustration levels for both of us in the pre-talking and early-talking stages. Now, when he needs something (e.g. food, drink or a clean nappy) or just wants to tell me something (e.g. he’s seen a dog or he wants to call Grandma) he can clearly communicate this. An additional benefit has been that when he learns the sign he starts to learn the word (even though his pronunciation is not yet perfect). He signs and speaks simultaneously and enjoys it so much he’s been seen signing in his sleep while dreaming. Natalie – Signing Mum – Dianella (24/9/07) (Beginners Course May/Jun 07 & Advanced course Aug/Sept 07) “My daughter started Signing Hands classes at 6 months of age – she was the second youngest student in her class. The first week we learnt the sign for drink so I started showing her this sign every time I fed her in her highchair. She started signing for ‘drink’ very quickly – I am sure she started in the first week – and she continued to fine tune it over the next five months. This sign became invaluable for reminding her exhausted mother that she was thirsty. Despite this early success she didn’t pick up any other signs (or so I thought). She did become very expressive with her hands though, much to everyone’s amusement. When she was 11 months old I started to recognise that she knew how to sign for bird, dog (her favourite) and pig. Since then she has been picking up the signs so fast that she learns a new one almost every day. She has even surprised me with some signs that I thought were too difficult for her to execute. A lot of people have commented that her speech will be slow to develop because she is using sign language. This has not been the case at all. She is very vocal and has begun saying ‘again’ and ‘dog’ along with the sign) as well as ‘dad’ and ‘Mama’ (signing for these as well of course).When teaching the signs we also teach our child to say the word along with it – therefore they learn both the sign and the word. I have found that signing has been fantastic as my daughter has been able to communicate with me in English (& Auslan) before she could even say one word. The classes are really enjoyable and are a great way to spend quality time with your baby reading stories and singing songs along with the signs. I highly recommend Debbie’s classes.” Vicki – Signing Mum – Swan View (02/10/2007) (Beginners Course May/Jun 07 & Advanced Course Aug/Sept 07) When I first started signing my daughter was very slow in signing and I did not know if she was learning anything. Because we both sign and speak the word at the same time I did not know if she was responding to me speaking or signing. So one night when it was time for her bath I signed the word and she got up and walked into the bathroom. So even though you think your child is not responding to signing persevere the rewards are worth it. Kathleen – Signing Mum – Carlisle (Beginners Course – May/Jun 07) “Thank you for enjoyable classes” Chelsea – Signing Mum – Carlisle (Beginners Course – May/Jun 07 Advanced course Oct/Nov 07) “It’s hard when they don’t sign back, but I will persevere and it will be great when he does.” Leonnie – Signing Grandma – Kalamunda (Beginners course Feb/Mar 07 & Advanced course May/Jun 07) “I think the course was well organised and very beneficial. I’m looking forward to the next course, thank you.” Leonnie – after the Advanced Course “The Advanced course was definitely a good idea. It really reinforced the signs.” Maria – signing Mum – Ballajura (Beginners course – Feb/Mar 07 & Advanced course May/Jun 07) “A great way to communicate with your baby on a level that they understand. The signs were clearly explained and repeated each week so that we could remember!” Katherine – Signing Mum – Ballajura (Beginners course – Feb/Mar 07 & Advanced course May/Jun 07) “I enjoyed the interaction and the signs.” Kim – Signing Mum – Upper Swan (Beginners course Feb/Mar 07 & Advanced course May/Jun 07) “I liked the way you taught us the signs – showing them when you read books and when we were singing songs.”