WeeHands
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- Sara is the founder of WeeHands and is the author of The Baby Signing Book. Since 2001, across North America licensed WeeHands Instructors have... more
- Joined: Jun 5, 2008
- Teaches: 1 lesson
Bio
About Sara Bingham
Sara is the founder of WeeHands and is the author of The Baby Signing Book. Since 2001, across North America licensed WeeHands Instructors have taught thousands of families and caregivers to sign with their babies and toddlers. In a WeeHands baby sign language class, you and your family are taught by a qualified instructor to use American Sign Language signs, songs and language development strategies with your baby and toddler!
Sara Bingham completed a BA in Linguistics and a BA in Psychology as well as an honours post-graduate diploma as a Communicative Disorders Assistant. She is mom of two signing wee ones: Joshua, age 7 years, and Sabrina, age 5 years. She currently teaches at Durham College within the Communicative Disorders Assistant program and has been studying American Sign Language (ASL) since 1991 with the Canadian Hearing Society and at the Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf.
Like many parents who sign with their baby, my initial motivation for teaching my son American Sign Language (ASL) vocabulary was to give him a way to express his wants and needs before he was able to speak. Joshua started signing at 9 months of age, and by the time he was 18 months old, he could use at least 80 words, a combination of spoken words and signs. He was able to communicate his needs and wants. He could request a cookie by signing COOKIE. He could ask for more fruit cocktail by signing FRUIT. He could even ask to have the family minivan cooled down in the middle of a heat wave by pointing to the dashboard and signing COLD WIND -- a better phrase, really, than air conditioner! Joshua's ability to make clear requests using signs delighted my husband and me.
What truly impressed us, though, was Joshua's ability to comment on his world and share his experiences with us. I have a clear memory of one cloudy, chilly, windy, miserable spring day when I took Joshua for a walk and he was able to sign about the weather. We were walking along the streets in a new housing development -- no houses up, but the streets were paved with nothing to block the wind. It was cold! I just wanted to get our walk over with and go home. What brought me back to the moment was when Joshua pulled on my jacket and signed WIND. A few seconds later, he signed CLOUD. He was marveling at the weather -- not simply making a request, but sharing a moment with me. I could tell from his face that it was a remarkable experience for him as well.
I am often asked why I started signing with my children. Before having children, I worked with the Toronto Preschool Speech and Language Services. Alongside speech-language pathologists and other professionals, I worked with children with Down syndrome, autism, and other developmental delays. These children had difficulty communicating, and we used sign language and pictures to help facilitate their language development. Our therapy included helping parents learn to use sign language and pictures with their children.
Visit the WeeHands website for more information on baby sign language and please feel free to email me anytime with questions, I am always happy to answer them! http://www.weehands.com
