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Home › Articles › Special Needs › Building Bridges to a Verbal World

Building Bridges to a Verbal World

Using Sign Language to Help Children With Impaired Language

By Maureen Bennie

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Collette Seders has taught preschool for 22 years in Canada. She has been signing with children in preschool classrooms for almost 20 years and has signed one-on-one in at-home therapy programs for disabled children. The only disadvantage she sees with signing is that a child who signs is noticed by society and can be pushed aside as different. "I would like to see sign taught to all students so this shunning would cease," she says.

Seders has noticed a difference between hearing and non-hearing children who sign. "The difference between the two groups is the amount learned and the support within the family," she says. "Deaf children are immersed into a signing culture while other special needs children may have many people in their lives who do not sign."

Seders feels the gains each child makes using sign language are as unique as the child. "For many, it speeds up the child's ability to communicate because their eagerness to continue communication increases as they see the results of their efforts," she says.

Seders has used sign language with children of many disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Goldenhar's syndrome, hearing impaired and pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). She has had success with most children at varying levels, but their physical situation and personal learning style can affect their ability to sign. "Some children who sign easily are visual learners, but I can't say I've had more success with one disability over another," she says. Seders feels hearing-impaired children with no other disabilities are the most successful at signing because of their amount of exposure to it.

Seders feels using ASL promotes verbal communication rather than hampers it. "It acts as a bridge to remind the child of a word," she says. "For example, when a child has asked for a toy but couldn't remember the word, I signed the word and then the child remembered it. Signing is a wonderful prompt."

Sign language can be an important bridge to communication for a child with disabilities. This tool can bring a child from the non-verbal world into a verbal one, opening new channels for interaction. The chance to communicate and be understood can be the greatest gift to a child.

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