Wednesday, July 18, 2007
CODA-Owned ASL
Garthicism. My son's ASL linguisticism.
Update: Upon reading comments, I wanted to insert something on the front page...My son STILL signs these signs. He is 15 and has signed the "dead" sign since he was 2 or 3. He never bothered to self-correct. He feels comfortable and right about signing them that way. My husband saw my vlog, walked into our son's bedroom and asked him to sign "dead" and you guessed it - he still signs the same sign. Dollar sign? He signs that everyday - he is a teenager and is always asking for money! Brother? Still signs that SEE sign almost everyday - after all, he does have a younger brother! Friends? Of course, same - he talks about them all the time.
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11 comments:
Awwww...how cute the KODAs think that way! Yeah, my hubby Ward and I notice the simliar thinking and signs that our 5 yrs old KODA son Davon utilzes so I will share a KODA story on very topic in our vlog!
Garthicism? Very logical -- perhaps, Davonicism will be fitting in our vlog! Thanks, Cy!
~PANY Lighthouse
Funny. They come up with the darnest signs.
I have a couple of thoughts that might explain the differences in your son's early signing.
1) When children are stressed (as in feeling emotional about the dead puppy), their linguistic processing drops. This happens with hearing or deaf children. When emotions enter the picture, language needs to become more simple or concrete for the child to follow. It might have been possible that your son, even at his young age, was experiencing some emotions (shock, sadness, etc.) which effected either his understanding of what you and your husband signed for "dead" or he was unable to make the sign clearly himself due to his emotional affect.
Another possible reason:
2) Certain handshapes are "marked" handshapes, meaning their are more complex to make than others. So we will often see babies and younger children who do not yet have full coordination of their motor movement or not yet fully able to make certain handshapes, make substitute signs. For example, the open-hand 5 handshape used for "mother" is a "marked" handshape and more difficult for very young children to make.But the pointer (index) finger is easier for them to control. So we see them sign mother by pointing their index finger to their chin instead of the full open 5 handshape.
It might be that your son was still young and not making certain handshapes fully yet.
3) Or, some children may not see themselves sign. They think they are signing what you just signed, but they are missing that sense of agency (seeing themselves in their own brain). They think they are making the same sign you are.
These are just guesses based on some the study of ASL linguistics and language development I recall in my college days. I don't know if they apply to your son or other KODA's or not, but just thought I'd toss them out here as possibilities.
~ LaRonda
very cute children sign that and I am sure children will grow out to get the right sign later on to grow up...... but cute. Iam learning from CODA life they have. yea it is intersting how kid got that in your family with to use SEE sign instead of ASL but you don't use SEE sign .... hummm still intersting.
Davy
Very typical for toddlers babbling and sign productions inaccurate but later they get better as they get older. Does your son now signs DEAD right or still signs the same since toddler? Dyslexia?
Heh, don't tell me he still uses his own signs - unless he wants to get a rise out of you!
Wow that is very intersting. I'm HOH in deaf family. My family always makes fun of my signs. I must be CODA in addition to being "deaf". I sign the same way your son does for "dead". always have. and I always used first letter of alphabets for some signs. Hard for me to change..I've had many people critizing me all the time, I'm like yeah I know..but old habits die hard. I wonder if many other codas and HOH from deaf family do the same thing? Does it have anything to do with how brain register signs and the sounds in connection with the words? I've no clue, really.
Belle,
He STILL signs all those signs - which is why I still remember how he signs them!
Anonymous,
Dyslexia? Nah. It is just his own way of signing certain words. He signs most of ASL signs correctly - with Dyslexia, he'd sign many signs incorrectly. He only signs a few differently.
C
Yes, it is hard to change the way you sign. It is like trying to change the way you walk!
Davy
Garth signs only one word with SEE...no idea how he picked up that - definitely not from me or my husband. Something he just started signing and been signing that since.
La Ronda,
Garth was not stressed out. He still signs "dead" the same way today. It is just how he signs it - feels right to him.
You're right about some signs being more difficult to master as toddlers. Many children, both CODAs and deaf, often sign mom and dad with just index finger which is part of their index finger milestone when they use index finger to point or to communicate. They self correct when they develop more hand dexterity and are able to use all fingers to sign more complex handshapes and movements.
This brings another memory...some letters in ASL alphabet is almost impossible for toddlers to utilize...such as W and M...my younger son's name is Wesley. Garth used to use index finger to ask "where Wes?" Index finger for where and another index finger to sign "W"...we assigned letter W on the hand and "shake" the W handshape and he couldn't move his hands to form W so he used index finger. He used to ask me that question with double index finger everyday!
Yes I see that in my son and daughter, there are some signs that he made up and still uses them today. Like "almost", "think-remember", and a few more that I cannot remember out of my head.
I sometimes correct them and tell them the proper signs but they continue to sign it that way.
Did you show the vlog to your son and see how he reacted to it? just curious
Yes, my children also sign the same way for "dead" like your son. I asked him why he signed that way, he said its easier to sign it that way instead of the proper ASL way. Interesting!!
I want to share with you all! My second son Alex has many his own ASL. One example, Black he would sign B on his forhead.
My oldest son Zach gave his baby bro name sign. When Alex was born, a few weeks later, Zach would come to me or Dad, signing to us crying and pointing where from. Then he just made Alex's name sign with one L crying. We tried to change to different name sign but Zach could not change and loved that sign. Today, Alex does not mind that and it is special that Zach gave him name sign.
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