DESCRIBER: A title: ÒLiam: Communication.Ó Three-year-old Finn sits at a table. Sandy speaks offscreen.
SANDY: Is your brother Liam?
FINN: Yes.
SANDY: Yeah? Can you tell us how Liam talks?
FINN: With his hands.
SANDY: He talks with his hands. Can you talk to Liam?
FINN: With his hands.
SANDY: You hold onto his hands like that. Can you sign LiamÕs name? And can you sign your name sign? WhatÕs ÒFinnÓ? ThereÕs ÒFinn.Ó Very good.
Liam uses tactile American Sign Language when heÕs getting his information receptively, and expressively he uses American Sign Language. Tactile sign language is where, you know, IÕll be signing to him, and he will be trailing with his hands over what IÕm signing.
DESCRIBER: Liam sits on the couch facing Sandy with a homemade book in his lap. They read it together using sign language.
SANDY [signing]: Book titled ÒLiam Can Go.Ó Your turn.
LIAM [signing]: Liam can go!
SANDY [signing]: Yes.
LIAM [signing]: ItÕs broke.
SANDY [signing]: Liam, right here. You read.
LIAM [signing]: Liam can go with Mom.
SANDY [signing]: Yes, with Mom.
SANDY: Before Liam became deaf-blind, he spoke verbally, English, very well, and so when he became deaf-blind, we all had to learn a new way to communicate. Liam had to learn, we had to learn; we all were clueless about anything American Sign Language. After he became deaf-blind, he was still using his voice verbally, and so that helped a little bitÑus at least know what he was telling us. But it was very frustrating for him and heartbreakingÑlike he didnÕt know what we were saying back to him; he was very confused. So we started out simply using tactile objects, real-life objects, so object cues. For example, if it were getting close to time to eat for dinner, we would give him a spoon, and then we would, you know, pair that with the sign for Òeat.Ó He still didnÕt really know that his hands had power, that he could talk with them yet, so we would use the coactive sign and help him make the sign, we would sign, at the very beginning. Another thing that we didÑour next steps were using the coactive signing again where we were helping him to form the signs is we would just start pairing, if he was still voicing at the time, we would pair what he was voicing with the sign and acknowledge him. If we were trying to teach him oneÑI remember trying to teach him the word for Òorange.Ó Eating was a very motivating time for him, so a lot of his first signs had to do with food. So at lunch we would give him an orange and weÕd make him sign ÒorangeÓ before he could have one or, you know, when we were giving it to him. So thatÕs kind of how we started. The real turning point was when he realized that signing with his hands gave him power to communicate. Once he realized that, he just improved, improved, improved, improved.
DESCRIBER: Liam sits at a table with one of his teachers. He counts in sign language.
TEACHER [signing]: Yes.
SANDY: One other thing I just wanted to add about how he communicates and whatÕs important to him is Liam always likes to be touching the person heÕs talking to somehow, whether itÕs just his knee on you so he knows youÕre still there, whether if youÕre sitting at lunch heÕll put his little footÉlike I sit kitty-corner to him, so heÕll put his foot on me to make sure, you know, he can just feel that someoneÕs there next to him. Sometimes heÕll just have his hand on the person thatÕs next to him. So having that touch is really important to him. And also, with his vision, if he has two people that are sitting next to himÉif one person says, for example, ÒI threw a ball.Ó Well, he would quick turn to the other person and make sure that they knew that this person said that they threw a ball. So he likes to make sure everybody saw, or felt, what was being communicated with the other person.