Here's a short video of all the signs that Max is using these days. By far, I think the two that help Max the most are "thirsty" and "hungry." Sometimes, the first thing he does in the morning, when he sits up in bed, is sign "hungry." It's really fun to watch a non-verbal toddler get his point across without having to use words. There have been a lot of times that I wouldn't think to give Max some juice, but out of the blue, he'll just point to his throat and say something that sounds like "dee-deeeee" to the unknowing bystander. But in our house, we know what he means. I'm trying to teach him signs that are close to the real ASL, but sometimes they're just too complicated for little hands. (Like the sign for "more" is hard for him to form, so it looks like he's clapping. In context, however, we know that he usually wants more food.) All in all, I think using signs are a great way to introduce a way to communicate for a little person that can't speak clearly yet.
