{"id":29431,"date":"2014-12-06T14:37:27","date_gmt":"2014-12-06T20:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=29431"},"modified":"2014-12-06T14:37:27","modified_gmt":"2014-12-06T20:37:27","slug":"midland-family-makes-time-to-sign-mom-daughter-learn-sign-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/12\/06\/midland-family-makes-time-to-sign-mom-daughter-learn-sign-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Midland family makes time to sign: Mom, daughter learn sign language"},"content":{"rendered":"

Midland family makes time to sign: Mom, daughter learn<\/span> sign language<\/strong><\/p>\n

October 20, 2014<\/p>\n

Matthew Woods, mwoods@mdn.net<\/p>\n

Kaydee<\/span> Foerster of Midland is sharp as a tack, and very sure about her age.<\/p>\n

\u201cSix and half<\/span>,\u201d Kaydee said loudly and proudly when asked how old she was.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are that age, that extra half is very important,\u201d her mother Mary said.<\/p>\n

Mary and Kaydee have a special bond as all mothers and daughters do, but the two learned a new way to communicate when Kaydee was younger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how to sign \u2018K\u2019 and this is how to sign \u2018D,\u2019\u201d Kaydee said, making the letters with her hand. Kaydee<\/span> learned a good bit of American Sign Language when she was less than 2 years old.<\/p>\n

Mary and her family fell into sign language quite by accident. Mary said she was visiting her sister, and while sleeping on the couch, she learned her sister and nephew had become fans of a television program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was six in the morning and they came tip-toeing<\/span> in to watch \u2018Signing Time.\u2019 She said it was only on Saturday mornings,\u201d Mary said. The PBS show, starring Rachel Coleman, brings sign language into many homes around the country. Coleman created the show after she developed techniques to communicate with her own hearing impaired child.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy nephew Tommy is on the autism spectrum, and he has been mute since about a year and half or so when he was first diagnosed,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sister (Tommy\u2019s mother) discovered the show and they watched it together on Saturday mornings,\u201d she said. After returning home, Mary sought the show out on DVD so her sister and nephew could watch the show whenever they wanted. Mary learned the show also had content geared toward teaching babies to sign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen Kaydee came along and we started watching the baby signing,\u201d she said. \u201cI learned enough sign in about six months just watching it with Kaydee.\u201d Around the same time, nephew Tommy had been learning some sign at his school. At a family dinner, Mary recognized some of the signs Tommy was using. She replied with sign<\/span>, and the two talked for the first time ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn five years, Tommy has never been able to talk to me. I had tears in my eyes,\u201d Mary said. \u201cNow he can talk to his Aunt Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary said one of the reasons she introduced Kaydee to signing<\/span> was so the girl could communicate with her cousin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted her to be able to talk to Tommy,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

To say Kaydee learned quickly is an understatement.<\/p>\n

Mary said Kaydee\u2019s ability to sign has resulted in some humorous instances. Kaydee<\/span> began signing at 14 months old, and was able to use her new tool to communicate with her parents. One incident took place while the family was at an ice cream social before heading to see Kaydee\u2019s grandparents. Time slipped by as Mary spoke with a friend, and Kaydee began to get restless.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were at church and I was holding her.\u201d Mary said, laughing. \u201cShe started signing<\/span> and my friend asked me what she was doing. Kaydee<\/span> was signing<\/span>, \u2018It\u2019s time to go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was bored,\u201d Kaydee said, showing how she said the phrase through signing.<\/p>\n

Another phrase the family learned in sign language was the notice that it was time to change Kaydee\u2019s diaper.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes babies that sign can learn too much. When we would sign<\/span> to her that it was time to change her diapers,\u201d Mary said, laughing and showing the signing, \u201cKaydee would just turn around and run the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary became so interested in signing and the benefits for all children, she began taking classes offered by the producers of \u201cBaby Signing Time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now as<\/span> an advanced instructor with Signing Time Academy, Mary teaches seminars to children as well as adults.<\/p>\n

Mary stressed that her mission is to help families communicate, but she does not teach a complete American Sign Language curriculum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t teach ASL grammar. My goal is to give you enough vocabulary to communicate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mary said teaching sign language to a child who hasn\u2019t learned to speak or cannot speak involves repetition: signing the name of the item or action in which the baby is currently involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can sign \u2018milk\u2019 and \u2018more\u2019 and \u2018eat\u2019 and \u2018all done.\u2019 All of this stuff,\u201d Mary said. \u201cWhen they learn it, they learn to sign<\/span> it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Kaydee has no communication impairments, as she learned to talk, sign language was used less in her home.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce she learned to talk, the signing went away. But we are encouraging it so she can communicate with Tommy,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

And when someone forgets a bit of signing, Kaydee is quick to help them along.<\/p>\n

\u201cI translate for my dad,\u201d Kaydee said. Chuck, her father, is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Midland.<\/p>\n

Chuck said he thinks signing is something that benefits more than the hearing impaired.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is awesome, whether it is for the hearing community or the deaf community,\u201d Chuck said. \u201cIt crosses those boundaries. It\u2019s not just for people that are deaf. It\u2019s another language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary said Michigan has the seventh highest population of hearing impaired people in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 870,000 people (with hearing impairments) according to Michigan.<\/span>gov<\/span>,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

Many adults are finding applications for sign language as well. Mary told the story of a woman who suffered a stroke and could no longer speak, but because she and her husband stumbled onto \u201cSigning Time\u201d through their grandchildren, the couple learned enough sign language to be able to sign and understand each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fun little show,\u201d Mary said, \u201cbut they both picked up enough to learn how to communicate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s production company began producing a preschool DVD series, titled \u201cRachel and the TreeSchoolers.\u201d The company was looking for children who learned from the show, and Mary inquired about Kaydee appearing in one of the filmings<\/span>. Kaydee<\/span>, along with her niece Aubrey, traveled to just outside Washington D.C.<\/span>, to spend a little time in the limelight.<\/p>\n

While there, Kaydee got to meet the person who helped bring signing<\/span> in to<\/span> her life. Show host Coleman spent time with the children and their parents during the production.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow neat for Kaydee to meet her rock star,\u201d Mary said. \u201cShe\u2019s grown up with Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what she thought of meeting her favorite TV personality, Kaydee was quick with an answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like, awesome,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kaydee<\/span> made a quick appearance in The TreeSchoolers DVD\u00a0\u201cThe Amazing Body.\u201d Kaydee will return later this year to spend more time in other productions with host Coleman.<\/p>\n

For the Foerster family, sign language found a start that gave a voice to a loved one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish all parents could use this,\u201d Mary said of signing<\/span>. \u201cIt\u2019s just an added learning skill. But it can do so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about Signing Time, visit http:\/\/www.signingtime.com<\/a><\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ourmidland.com\/accent\/midland-family-makes-time-to-sign-mom-daughter-learn-sign\/article_8a2261fb-87f7-5846-8e92-a3b5018f042f.htm<\/a>l<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Midland family makes time to sign: Mom, daughter learn sign language October 20, 2014 Matthew Woods, mwoods@mdn.net Kaydee Foerster of Midland is sharp as a tack, and very sure about her age. \u201cSix and half,\u201d Kaydee said loudly and proudly…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1629,4621,23,22834,22835,94,35,190,22833,1257,22120,191,13956,22836,17,22831,22832,22837],"class_list":["post-29431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-american-sign-language","tag-article","tag-asl","tag-baby-signing","tag-baby-signing-time","tag-church","tag-community","tag-dvd","tag-kaydee-foerster","tag-midland","tag-rachel-coleman","tag-sign-language","tag-signing-time","tag-signing-time-academy","tag-texas","tag-the-amazing-body","tag-the-treeschoolers-dvd","tag-trinity-lutheran-church"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-7EH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37591,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2018\/04\/26\/tasbid-workshop-signing-christian-theological-vocabulary-and-concepts-4-28-18-midland\/","url_meta":{"origin":29431,"position":0},"title":"TASBID Workshop “Signing Christian Theological Vocabulary and Concepts” 4\/28\/18 – Midland","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"TASBID\u2019s spring workshop \"Signing Christian Theological Vocabulary and Concepts\" Presented by Dale Kesterson Date: April 28, 2018 Time: 9:00am \u2013 12:00pm Religious signs: their meanings, concepts, and theological implications. 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