different kinds of dinosaurs?

[dmmetler]

My autistic 5 yr old in sign and sing class is apparently very interested in dinosaurs, and has started bringing his models to his mother and signing "WHAT SIGN". He doesn't just want DINOSAUR, but apparently something more specific, and as she says, she doesn't want to even TRY fingerspelling since she's not sure she can spell them right.

Unless there's a palentological sign dictionary out there, the only thing I can think of is maybe adding a descriptor, like FLYING DINOSAUR or BIG TOOTH DINOSAUR, since that's what most of the names translate to anyway.

Any ideas?

[aligreat]

We were signing about this topic week before last in my sign class. The teacher said that if you are having a scientific discussion then you would have to fingerspell, but when you are working with children you use classifiers to describe the different kinds. Like for a brontosaurus (sp?) you would draw its long neck. (The way she signed that one looked like she signed "giraffe dinosaur.) If he has specific toys you might look at them to see what is the most prominent feature of each one. You might even let your little one help you in "naming" them if that would go over well.

-AG