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Disability Network Hounslow is pleased to announce that after a successful application to Awards For All they will be starting Baby and Parent Signing classes here in Hounslow.
Emma Garner, Director, says ’we are very excited about this project as it brings together Deaf and hearing parents in a fun, interactive environment with their young children here in Hounslow.’ |
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The classes will be run be Bev Meier, who is an experienced TinyTalk teacher, currently running a number of successful classes in the Hillingdon area.
Laura, a Tiny Talk mum, says “I started to sign with Ruby when she was 5 months old and she did her first meaningful sign ‘duck’ at 8 months. By 11 months old, Ruby had a signing vocabulary of 30 – 40 signs with some of her favourites being milk, food, dog, duck, baby & where? By a year she was even stringing 4 word sentences together in sign for instance “Daddy’s given me toast, but it’s all gone and now I’d like some milk” = ‘Daddy’ ‘food’ ‘all gone’ ‘milk’. I really feel that signing helped us to avoid the frustration many babies feel when they try to communicate, but we adults are unable to understand them. Apart from being able to tell me when she was thirsty or hungry, she was also able to tell me if she wanted to go home, remind me I’d forgotten her hat and excitedly let me know when the lion was coming up in her favourite story!
The classes will be in the newly refurbished Sutton Lane Community Centre, 14-16 Moulton Avenue, Hounslow, TW3 4LR, on Tuesday afternoons, roughly following term times. Classes consist of ½ hour singing popular nursery rhymes, action songs with appropriate signs followed by ½ hour social time and talks will be arranged on baby and parenting issues, such as immunisations and safety in the sun. Disability Network Hounslow is pleased to be working with TinyTalk because they both believe that baby signing can play a significant role in helping early communication and language development. The importance of saying the word at the same time as making the sign is always emphasised. Lots of other language development tips are taught in the classes, such as remembering to face the child every time a sign is used, the importance of repetition and to always keep it relaxed and fun!
The class is aimed at all parents with a child between the ages of two months and two years. It will be supported by communication support workers and all refreshments will be provided.
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