Without words

Young Chang

Even while recovering from a fever and a bout of pink eye, 2-year-old

Shira Granoff communicates that her doll -- which she calls “baby” --

needs to return to her home because she needs a toothbrush.

The hearing and verbal Shira, through a mixture of words and sign

language, says that the truck that rolls by every morning to collect

trash scares her. It’s too loud.

She asks whether she can eat her valentine candy though it’s still

early in the morning.

She communicates “happy Valentine’s Day” through signs, but it turns

out she doesn’t know the sign for “Valentine’s” so she’s simply wishing

people “happy day.”

She even sings and signs “God Bless America.”

Just shy of 3 years old, Shira and her mother, Barbara Granoff, who

teaches sign language classes, use a mix of signs and speech to get

almost all of Shira’s needs met.

“We joke that Shira’s our best selling point,” said Granoff, a Newport

Beach resident.

Granoff started teaching classes for parents and caregivers of hearing

infants and toddlers almost two years ago. The mother, who has a

bachelor’s degree in special education, focused her education on teaching

the hearing impaired and has taught in the U.S. and overseas.

After having Shira, she started signing with her hearing daughter

without really being aware of the researched benefits signing has proven

to have on hearing, pre-verbal children.

They’d sign and speak at home, in public, during various mommy-and-me

classes.

“I had so many parents who had seen me signing with my daughter, and

they wanted me to teach them. And once I started researching it, it was

so profound to me,” Granoff said.

Her classes -- The ABC Me Sign Introductory Workshop -- are held once

or twice a month in cities including Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and

Irvine. Granoff arranges classes through the city in both Irvine and

Costa Mesa and privately in Newport Beach.

Students start off learning the basic signs for words such as “more”

and “finish,” as well as the alphabet and some basic emotions.

“Signing lets babies express what they’re not able to say,” Granoff

said. “Children have control over their hands before they have the fine

motor skills necessary for speech, so signing lets them bypass the

speech.”

Research by speech and sign experts shows that teaching sign language

to pre-verbal children speeds up the rate at which they can learn to

speak, increases self-esteem, helps cognitive development and even

deepens the bond between the caregiver and child.

Teaching sign language to verbal children has been proven to improve

reading and spelling skills, the ability to learn the English vocabulary

and, once again, to improve self esteem.

For parents who worry that depending on sign language will hinder a

child’s verbal skills, Granoff cites research to explain that it’s like

the process of crawling before walking.

“Signing motivates the child to speak,” she said.

Kiyo Nagatomi, a Costa Mesa resident who took Granoff’s class last

year, said using sign language with her then year-old daughter increased

communication and decreased frustration.

“She’ll sign when she wants to take a bath, when she wants food or

drink, and she signs for Daddy,” Nagatomi said. “The signs make things

clearer. I think it cuts down on the frustration for babies.”

Nagatomi’s youngest is now 16 months old and named Tessa. Her oldest

child is 6-year-old Emma. Emma didn’t learn sign language as a toddler,

so Nagatomi’s reasons for taking Granoff’s class were twofold.

“To increase channels of communication with the baby and for the older

one to interact with the little one,” the mother said. “And studies show

that the more language you give kids when they’re little, the better

they’re able to communicate later.”

When asked about the verbal difference between Emma as a toddler and

Tessa now, Nagatomi said she’s not sure whether it’s a matter of

personality, but Tessa has fewer temper tantrums and gets less irritated.

Granoff has had the same experience with Shira. When the toddler wants

more food, she’ll point to the fridge and sign “more.” When she’s

prompted to attach a “please” to a request, she’ll rub her tummy in

circles and sign the word too. She’ll sign “yuck” while simultaneously

showing disdain for something she’s eating, and she’ll make the sign for

“hurt” when something hurts.

“You don’t know why the child’s crying, and they don’t have the words

to tell you,” Granoff said. “But this levels the playing field before

they start speaking.”

FYI

* What: Granoff’s next ABC Me Sign Introductory Workshop

* When: 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday

* Where: Neighborhood Park Center, 1845 Park Ave., Costa Mesa

* Cost: $35 per adult, $50 per couple

* Call: (949) 718-1391