Using Signing Time Helped Me Get to Know My Autistic Son
submitted by Angela T. , West Jordan, UT
April 2008
I am a mother of an Autistic 5-year-old boy named Weston. He is the light of my life and I feel so blessed to be his mother and learn from him. With the help of Signing Time DVDs and other therapies he is making huge progress in his communication but it wasn’t always so easy.
Weston was a normal developing baby; he hit all his milestones except for speech. We were concerned at age 16 months when he only had a few words. He would use gestures and sounds to communicate his needs and wants. He would get very frustrated when we had a hard time guessing what he wanted. He was diagnosed with high functioning Autism at age 3. Even with speech therapy he was still having a hard time with speech and would rather point than say the words. It was heart breaking to me not to be able to communicate well with my son.
We were introduced to the Signing Time videos shortly after he was diagnosed and began learning how to sign. He took to it very well and actually started saying the words as he was signing them. I was so happy that he could understand me and respond to my signs. We enjoyed watching the videos together. The songs are great and Weston liked watching the other kids sign. Weston loves music and responds very well to it. The songs are fun to sing. He would light up when they came on and he would start singing along.
Now at age 5 he is able to communicate his needs and wants by speech, he is still a few years behind his peers in communication, but has come a long way. We still watch the Signing Time DVDs and sing the songs. Sometimes when he is frustrated and just can’t get the words out he will sign again. I am so thankful that we found Signing Time when we did…it helped us so much through that difficult time.