Deaf Service Center

There is no one universal sign language. Just as there are many different languages such as German, French and English, there are many forms of sign language for deaf people too.

Not only that but different countries also have different forms of the language, some of them are based very much the same as each other for example the Australian sign language is based on British sign language with elements of the American and Irish sign language mixed in.

What Is Sign Language?

Sign language is a way of clearly being able to communicate with people, who are deaf by using a series of hand gestures, for every letter of the alphabet there is a certain sign that can be made which is usually done with the combination of both hands thought there is a one handed version of the alphabet too and is often referred to as finger spelling. There are also hand signals for everyday common objects and full words.

How Can I learn Sign Language?

There are several ways that you can learn sign language, a search on Google over the internet will take you to several websites that will show you the alphabet and how to sign each particular letter.

Some of these sites offer short video clips showing the actual motions of the hands which make it clear to follow along; others offer print outs of the full alphabet but which sometimes are not very clear in the actual movement of the hand.

Several sites offer you the opportunity of purchasing CD-ROMs for use on the computer that teach you sign language along with free downloadable games aimed at children to improve sign language skills.

There are a multitude of books available for every aspect of sign language from how to communicate with your baby even before they can speak to sign language for the beginner.

For someone who wants to take sign language to a more serious level than just the basics then a course can be taken in sign language which is usually taken through a college and on completion a degree in sign language is given to those successfully completing it.

Sign Language for Your Baby

Sign language may come easier to babies than you would first think after all the muscles in there hands develop quicker than the ones they actually need for speech.

So the baby is in effect ready to communicate a long time before they would actually start speaking. All babies whether they are deaf or not will communicate through hand signals from a very early age by pointing to there eyes or nose for example if they need wiping.

When beginning to sign with your baby choose simple ones to start with such as milk, eat and drink all things which relate at that time to your baby, this will give them ability to be able to ask for a drink or tell you that they are hungry.

The easiest and quickest way for your baby to catch on is to make the sign for milk/food when you are about to feed him/her and repeat this whenever you do the same. In most cases you will find that you can’t teach your baby new signs quickly enough.