All Signs Point to Yes

We attended FMO's Annual IEP meeting in March and continued in April. We updated most of the goals, since he was meeting or exceeding most of the year old goals. This is wonderful, since it is the objective when writing them. His music therapist wrote a large section pertaining to his musical goals, a very valuable contribution. His school music teacher has been training to do video modeling, where students edit videos of themselves speaking or performing tasks, such as playing music. He is learning about the technology, and plans to share this process with FMO. FMO's speech therapist wrote a letter in support of FMO receiving more ASL training. The Director and Services Coordinator arranged for a consult with the county ASL teacher, as well as a behavioral specialist to help with social goals. I met the behavioral specialist, and was very impressed by her and her suggestions. It was not only a productive series of meetings, but we finally got every aspect of services we requested.

We will meet with the ASL teacher to discuss options and resources available to us before the school year comes to a close. Below is the letter I composed at her request.

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Current Levels – ASL

Pre-Diagnosis

[FMO] was exposed to ASL (American Sign Language) in the home at early infancy. His parents used a small selection of basic signs to teach [FMO] to communicate his wants and needs. Primarily, he signed an approximation of “please” as a request for food and drink. He could also sign “more,” “milk,” “momma,” and “daddy.” He enjoyed singing the alphabet song while his mother signed the letters. As a toddler, [FMO] frequently watched a video featuring beginning vocabulary paired with signs. He quickly recognized, and eventually mastered forming those signs. When [FMO] started school in 2008, his parents used signs to help him learn more functional vocabulary, such as, “Yes, please,” and “No, thank you.”

Post-Diagnosis

In 2009, at age four, [FMO] was diagnosed with a severe Auditory Processing Disorder at the Late Talkers Foundation at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. The recommendation of his evaluators, Dr. Stephen Camarata, PhD and Mary Camarata, CCC-SLP, was to use an approach of Milieu Language Teaching. They also strongly advised focusing on teaching literacy. Within the framework of those strategies, [FMO]’s parents increased their use of ASL with [FMO] to assist in his understanding of both spoken and written language.

[FMO]'s strengths for learning are largely visual and kinesthetic. When spoken language is paired with ASL, [FMO] is better able to comprehend verbal communication, acquire new vocabulary, and recall and use words consistently. [FMO]'s parents have often observed him signing before speaking to recall words when trying to communicate.

For years, [FMO] experienced great challenges to string together more than a few words at a time.  Since 2011, his parents have focused on modeling full sentences, pairing ASL with verbal. He has improved exponentially since that time, and is now able to express more complex ideas. [FMO] often makes requests using one word or a short phrase. When prompted to use a sentence, he signs to help himself piece together words to verbally convey the complete idea.

In teaching [FMO] to read, ASL has been an effective compliment to written language, such as when he is presented with a word in print for which he already knows the sign. New signs are often taught in conjunction with new written content, aiding in his learning.

As auditory discrimination is a perpetual challenge for [FMO], his parents utilize ASL as an effective tool to help him differentiate spoken words. It is often difficult to gain or hold [FMO]'s auditory attention, especially in environments with noise distractions, such as in the classroom. Signing has been invaluable to gain his attention visually at these times. Serving as his one-to-one aide at school, [FMO]'s mother utilizes ASL to relay lesson concepts, teacher directives, and assist in social interactions.

[FMO] shows enjoyment and motivation to learn new signs. As he acquires more knowledge and use of ASL, he exhibits less frustration in attempting to communicate his wants and needs. Increasingly, throughout [FMO]'s life, ASL has become an essential component of his language acquisition, his ability to connect socially, his capacity for independence,  and thereby, his overall quality of life.

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