3 Baby Signing Stories To Inspire You And Make You Laugh

Auslan has brought our family so much joy. My eldest could do around 200 signs before she began preferring verbal language. She was an early signer and an early talker. My middle boy didn’t really get into signing, he could do a few useful signs but wasn’t really chatty. He was also a late talker too so I think it’s just his personality.

If you are considering learning Auslan I want to encourage you with three stories :) If you want to learn more Auslan please reach out to your local deaf community, it will be worth your effort to learn this wonderful language.

Airplanes And Cars

When my signing daughter was just over one year old we took her to visit family in Melbourne. She absolutely loved watching airplanes fly overhead, but when we saw the airplane on the tarmac she insisted it was a car. I kept explaining it was an airplane but she kept on signing car and looking at me as though I was crazy. Clearly if it was driving on the ground it was a car.

Next came one of the highlights of my career as a mum. As we took off she was looking out of the window and she had the biggest light bulb moment I have ever witnessed. Suddenly it clicked and she kept signing airplane over and over again. I think she didn’t stop signing airplane for at least a fortnight. It made the trip so much more enjoyable.

Teddy Bear And Sleep

My daughter was always more interested in partying than resting, even at 13 months old. She had a teddy bear from her grandparents that we put in her bed and one night at bed time I asked her what it was. I had just read and signed to her the book “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” and expected her to sign bear. Instead she signed sleep. Her little brain had put the teddy in the sleep category, not the bear category. I found it fascinating to see how she was understanding her world.

Peas And Strawberries

OK, I promised you laughter, even though I’m a little embarrassed to share this story. When the little one was 15 months old she was having a bath with her dad. She pointed to his nipples and signed ‘peas’. A few days later I was breastfeeding her when she pulled off my nipple and looked at it very seriously. She announced that my nipple was a strawberry, and even she thought this was funny! To this day we still call male nipples peas and female nipples strawberries!