The Signs She Knows

Last night we tried to come up with a list of signs that Ash has mastered and the ones she recognizes. Each day its getting tougher and tougher to keep up with her. Its amazing how just like a toddlers vocabulary increases each day that her signing vocabulary increases as well. Here is what I know she knows(like yesterday she hides some of her knowledge from us and then will just show us a new sign out of no where).

Words she signs for herself:
Walking
Signing Time
Time
Tree
Stars
Socks
Shoes
Cookie
Candy
Apple
Banana
Eat
Drink
More
Train
Yes
Clean
Wash Hands
Potty
Bath
Hurt
Cry
Go
Wait
Doll
Bike
Ice Cream
Car
Mom(when she feels like it)
Dad(same attitude as above)
Bear
Baby
Milk
Ball
Bird
Cold
Sun
Cheese
lettuce
and now Caterpillar!

Words she Recognizes and Wants me to Sign for her:
Strawberrries
Cracker
Moon
Flowers
Cereal
Bread
Dog
Cat
Fish
Airplane
Cloud
Water
No
Stop
Friend
Tiger
Elephant
Zebra
Giraffe
Outside
Butterfly
Rainbow
I know this list is much longer I just can't think of them all.

Then there are words that I KNOW she could sign, but CHOOSES not too because she's too stubborn. Word like: please, sorry, Thank you, etc. Honestly, how do you make a toddler be polite? I can't get her to understand that she needs to say please when she would like for me to do something for her. All she does is point, and point, and point and then if I still haven't done it for her she signs that I have hurt her and made her cry. No joke. Its just that dramatic!

I'm going to try and answer some of the question you asked. She uses the world of American Sign Language(ASL) and it has opened up Ash's world. She is able to communicate with us and does so all day long. She is constantly asking to know what different things are. One of our readers suggested a "dictionary" of sorts and I ordered it last week and it just came in. I keep it on the table in the family room for quick reference and plan on taking it in the diaper bag when we are out. Another reader asked about the flash cards. I ordered them directly from the Signing Time website. She loves to flip through them every single day. We love to drill each other to see which of us can sign the words the fastest. Where did we find the series? Well we didn't know anything about it. Ash's first DVD was sent to her when we were in Omaha. I have no idea who sent it. One of our blog readers. They didn't include their name, but she loved it instantly. She didn't start signing with it for a while, but once she did she just took off. Shortly after that a package arrived at our home, again with no name, that included 3 more DVD's and the 3 books, and the CD's to go along with them. Ashley again loved it all. The books are some of her favorites. They travel with us everywhere. Last Christmas Dave and I ordered her some more of the DVD's from the website, and then just last week one of our readers sent her 3 new DVD's and CD's(thank you Amy! What a surprise it was to find the package at the office! We are so blessed by them.) So to answer the question "How long has she been signing" Its been a little over a year. Had I known anything about the series or the possibilities I probably would have started earlier. "Has she ever said anything?" Yes. She was just beginning to talk before her transplant. It took her a few weeks after transplant to start saying momma again, but once she did she never stopped. Then Ash lost her voice after a cardiac arrest in January of 07. I begged the doctors to tell me if she would come back to us. The only answer they could give was, "Time will tell. We just don't know yet." Well, she did come back to us. Her mind is sharp and active, she just can't speak yet. I think she will at some point. "Do our speech therapists encourage her to sign?" Well, we currently don't have a therapist. When we did they discouraged it. Telling us they would rather us encourage her to use her voice. I understand that to a point, but she couldn't and so signing has given her a way to communicate with us. Actually today we are making calls to get a speech therapist to come out and evaluate her. She seems to be recovering from the pneumonia enough to have some people come back in. We've been home from Omaha for a total of one month this time. She's been pretty sick this whole time with clot issues, and then the cold, and the pneumonia. Today will be Ms. Sue's first time back with us(physical therapy) since Ash's rejection last October.

I think that was all of your questions. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video clip. She's not always so shakey. Like I said, its usually when she's taking Prednisone. It makes her crazy and a little uncontrollable. When she is holding something it is much better, but she couldn't hold on to a book and sign at the same time. When she's not on Prednisone she has no trouble with shaking or controlling her hands. Its a really crazy drug.

Well, its time to get her up, get her dressed, and get to work on this house. Hope you guys have a great day. Take care Trish