Shanna Thompson is a local audiologist who teaches sign language classes for parents and hosts a play group for children and parents at Charleston Area Medical Center.

"As an audiologist, I knew I wanted to sign with my daughter," Thompson said about her 2-year-old, Zosza. "It has been a godsend for my family."

Even if a child is too young to say she wants milk, if she understands the sign for milk, she can still ask for it.

She recalled one day before Zosza was even a year old she was upset and frustrated that she couldn't make her mother understand what she wanted. Zosza suddenly made the sign for a mouse and her mother realized she wanted her stuffed mouse. When Thompson gave her daughter the mouse, she calmed down.

Thompson said that a child's motor skills develop well before her verbal skills do and a child's visual centers develop before her auditory centers do. Both of these factors mean signing is a great way to communicate with a toddler.

"It was such a great experience for our family," she said. "I wanted to share it with as many families as I could. It increased my parent-child bond with her."

Although Zosza is only 2, she knows more than 200 signs, which Thompson believes is building her vocabulary, improving her memory and IQ and -- and boosting their level of parent-child cooperation.

"It's increases their creativity," she said. "It improves their self-esteem.."

Marci Barton of Charleston has been teaching signs to her 2-year-old daughter, Hope.

"Before she could say ‘please' or ‘more,' she could sign it," Barton said. "It's been a fun parent-child activity -- it's a bonding activity. I think that signing has definitely enhanced her verbal skills."

Barton said the signing also has practical purposes.

"If we're in a public place and it's not appropriate for me to go, ‘No!', then I can just sign it and she listens," she said.

Bill Hinamon of Charleston said he's seen two daughters sign in their sleep.

"They do it when they're dreaming; it's pretty amazing," Hinamon said.

Yolanda Fredeking uses sign language to calm her 11-month-old daughter, Marley. When Marley gets upset because she's hungry, for instance, Yolanda will make the sign for "milk" or "eat" and Marley immediately settles down.

"She's a little more content because she's not like, ‘Do you know what I'm wanting?' " Fredeking said.

There is no age limit on the class, but the activities are designed for children from a few months to 4 years old. The playgroup is free, and parents don't have to have a background in signing.

The playgroup is scheduled for the third Friday of every month from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the CAMC Family Resource Center.

And if parents cannot attend the classes or the playgroups but still want their kids to learn sign language, Thompson recommends the "Signing Times" videos available at www.signingtimes.com

By Samantha L. Thomas
http://www.dailymail.com/news/Life/2006032714/