new here....question

[Andrewsmom]

Hi everyone! My name is Trisha and I am new to this forum. :) I will post under the "welcome, let's get to know ..." shortly. But first, I have a quick question.
My son Andrew is 23 months old and has Down Syndrome. We started signing with him in Sept/Oct. He can now sign over 30 words and has even started to put 2 to 3 signs together. (thanks signing time DVD's!! ;) ). My question is this....he seems to be kind of "making up" his own signs for different things. For example, he was knocking on the floor earlier today, and I had NO IDEA what it was that he wanted. He was getting so fustrated, growling at me as if I should know what it was he wanted. Finally he crawled over and got a blanket off the couch and went back to the same spot and cuddled up under the blanket. He then gave me a look like you wouldn't believe and knocked on the floor again. I think he was trying to teach ME that knocking on the floor was cuddling up with a blanket. :D Hmmmm...

So I was wondering if any of your little ones ever "made up" their own signs for things and how did you correct them and have them sign the words for you? I am at a loss. This situation today is not the first time he has done this and he seems to get really stuck on his own "signs" and won't sign correctly. I'm just afraid he will go to pre-school and his teachers won't know what he wants...kwim? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks so much! :)
-Trisha

[Kei_as_in_K]

Hi Trisha, glad you joined us.
William also made up some signs at that age, and later~ now he looks to me for new ones.
The funniest one he made up was for 'blowing raspberries' which completely had us flustered until we figured it out and where he had gotten it from! He was making fists w/both hands with the thumb out and would jab at his belly with them. He was so mad when we didn't understand, until later when his sister was lying on the bed, lifted her shirt to expose her belly and did that same 'sign', saying, "c'mon, blow raspberries on my belly". Suddenly we realized that William thought that was 'the' sign for 'blowing raspberries'! :D I guess he figured since we had been teaching him signs, that any hand gesture was the sign for the activity!!

After that, when he made up or looked to me for signs, I would look them up. He didn't then and still doesn't always now, get them right straight away, but I continue to just model the correct sign. But the Signing Time DVDs make it so much easier for me, because William responds better to Rachel than me ;)

Where in MA are you? We're in the western part, right on the Mohawk Trail.

[Andrewsmom]

KEI.....That's funny, we live right off route 2! What a small world! :D We'll have to talk more and see how far apart we live. Thanks so much for your reply, at least I know that what he is doing (making up signs) is OK.
-Trisha

[aligreat]

When I understand a made-up sign, I treat it the same way I treat a made-up or mispronounced word. In your situation, when your son knocks on the floor I would go and get the blanket and then reinforce the proper sign and word while handing it to him.

[Roxanne Morris]

My daughter had a whole made up language. The AI teacher had to learn it first and then correct it. My daughter spent her formative years having other problems dealt with instead of signs. So by the time she started learning them she had her own language that i had not even noticed. I just kind of knew what she wanted and gave it to her. One day the AI visited my house and Amber was going a mile a minute and so was i while talking to her. Amber would grab my hand and push me towards the kitchen and i would go there and walk back with a juice and the teacher looked at me like i was crazy. She said how did you know that is what she wanted? I said i dont know she told me i guess. Come to find out i was the source of the problem. lol I was so worried about her surgeries and medicines and doctor follow ups and test and things i had created a language with her to keep her calm through it all. lol They told me it was natural. People who are isolated by circumstance or situation often develope their own way of communicating. Such as twins that spend all their time together, and moms and dads that spend alot of time with kids that have communication difficulties. I think its creative. If somone wanted me to make up a word in english i couldnt help them. lol anyways i eventually had to keep her most common object i sight on a shelf and when she told me that is what she wanted id hand over hand sign it with her. eventually she learned a very few signs for common objects.