amiller
11-16-2005, 05:04 PM
How dangerous is it to allow your child to use made-up or "home signs"? I mean, Anyka wants a sign for EVERYTHING and EVERYONE - and when we fingerspell hames to her, she picks up on the first letter and makes up a sign. She'll tell us "This is the sign for Lauren" and make some gesture with her L hand, or "This is Becca" "This is Brooke" with B handshapes - and they are always different. AND, she remembers them and uses them consistently. I worry that it is a bad habit for her to get into, but my DH says she's only 3 and not to worry about it.
Thoughts?
aligreat
11-16-2005, 05:19 PM
I don't know how the Deaf community would view this situation, but I do know that children often call things by their own special names. I remember my sister calling her blanket boogie and her bottle babwee. Even though we didn't sign at all in my parents' home, she also made up signs for things. One sign, which looked like an exaggerated form of the sign for alligator, meant "be quiet and eat your dinner." She did this sort of thing up until she was about 5 years old. You know that it is a home sign rather than an ASL concept, but you also know what your daughter means by it. Isn't the goal of all of this to be able to communicate more effectively with your child? ;)