I love the way that Playette creates her own signs for people. Unlike typical names signs, given by someone who is deaf/hearing impaired and based on a characteristic of the person being "named", hers are almost rhymes instead.
Her former babysitter, Christy, became "Thirsty." Even though she can say something close to Christy, she'd also sign thirsty while saying it.
That was the first time I recall her doing that with names. She would substitute rhyming-word signs from time to time if she didn't know the appropriate word, and once she used a homophone (principal for principle), but the name thing really intrigued me.
These days, she consistently uses the sign for "pretend" when referring to our friend, Jen. I guess she figures it's close enough. It really has nothing to do with anything Jen has ever done to or around her.
One day, a few weeks ago, after a day spent out with BD, I asked Playette what they did. She signed pretend and baby. I then asked BD, "Did you go to Jen's and see the baby without me?!"
That they did.
Which is really cool, I think. (Not that I didn't want to see the baby.) She's communicating in a way she never has before.
Her new buddy, K, has been assigned the sign for pillow.
I'm actually thrilled to have figured this out, finally, because I could NOT, for the longest time, figure out why she was signing pillow so much.
Yesterday, while talking to BD, I asked Playette to tell her daddy what we did the night before. She signed pillow and ice cream.
Yup, we went with K and his mom to get frozen yogurt.
Now, she is babbling all through this (or is "using jargon" more appropriate?). She's not only using the signs, but also speaking. I just can't always understand her 100%. Some words are clearer than others.
Hopefully, one day, we'll get Speech Therapy again and maybe some help clearing this up some will follow.
But, in the meantime, she's getting her point across, and using her brain in creative ways, and it's awesome.
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Oh! And before I forget this one, too, I love how she signs cat for her great-grandparents' dog, Pepper. She'll say Pepper and knows for a fact that Pepper is a dog. She's not confused at all about that.
It's just that Pepper is a schnauzer with a hairy face that reminds her of whiskers.
Like cats.
BOOM!
That there is the sound of synaspes firing.
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2 comments:
First of all, Rhyming is a precursor to reading, so GO Playette!
Second, that is SO cute. She is a very smart little girl. Love it!
Whoa, that is cool stuff! I love the creativity in communication! I also love that she can tell you stuff that happened in the past--we're working on that with Maybelle. So far no success, but we're modeling it for her.
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