Signing Hands Outreach
Reaching Out To Communicate With Signing Hands
Success Stories and Testimonials - Hear what other families are saying about signing with their children!
~"Having young girls learn to sign is really important. My daughter learned when she was helping with a special ed class in her elementary school. Twenty years later she developed a brain tumor and lost her ability to speak for several months. Knowing sign language helped her to communicate during that time." Sonia F., Girl Scout Lifetime Member (Thanks Sonia for allowing us to share yours and your daughter's testimony!).
~“Before attending an informational presentation a few years ago, I was not a believer in the use of sign language for young children. But, after listening to Katheryne and Jenny, I am now a firm supporter of the Baby Signs® Program and the use of sign language for very young children, infants on up through childhood. They explained how much less frustrated the children were as they were not able to verbalize their feelings, wants or needs. It also does not interfere with language acquisition; it only enhances it and their learning abilities. I now promote Baby Signs® wherever I can to all parents, grandparents, or care givers of young children." Dale King, Mesa United Way
~“The signing program was phenomenal! Learning was fun and easy. I was shocked by how quickly the girls picked up the material. The girls even learned how to do the Girl Scout Promise in sign language and were eager to learn more. Thank you for making a difference in my girls’ lives!” Gina, Girl Scout Troop Leader, Arizona
~"Signing has been a true gift to my family and a fantastic addition to my son’s learning. My son loved learning signs in the Kids Love to Sign™ Class and would come home excited to teach me what he learned. The class provided a lot of fun activities to help the kids learn many new signs. We looked forward to every week! This class was a wonderful and fun way to bring all family members together.” Jackie, Mesa Arizona
~"My name is Angela and I met Katheryne at the Apache Junction Library. I am writing to tell of my experience with the sign language. When my son was 6 months old, Katheryne made an appearance at the library for baby storytime to introduce Baby Signs®. I asked if 6 months was too young to start as I thought this sounded just great, she said it was never too young to start. My son had not shown signs of communicating yet-not even a Da-Da or ma-ma. I went home and tried simple signs for a few months and then thought-this lady is crazy, my son is not grasping any of this, there is no way that babies understand this stuff!! Then around his 10 month milestone she was again back at storytime. I sat and listened and learned a few more signs and all I remember her saying is "consistency is key" over and over in my head. So I went home with an open mind to try again. And this time I only lasted about a month and said it was for the birds, it's not working, I'm done. During this month my son had began the desire to bang on his tray and "Yell" when wanting anything, still with no words, just yelling and banging. It was very frustrating. All of a sudden he starts waving his hands back and forth while we were eating dinner and I helping him. It took me awhile, thinking what is wrong with my kid waving his arms like this when he should finish eating. And then it hit me-ALL DONE. He was signing to me that he was all done. The next morning, he wanted some milk and showed me the sign for milk while standing by the refrigerator. When he was done he wanted more and instead of banging on his tray, signed more and actually said "mo" mo "mo" while signing. Now he signs please, thank you, eat, drink, love you and others. It was amazing and I did have to admit to Katheryne how reluctant I was in believing it would ever work in helping with communication. The last time she was at storytime she seen Dane and he wanted a drink and signed please-drink. Consistency is key-it really is. And it's wonderful to understand him-the screaming wasn't working for me!! Katheryne, feel free to share my story with others. We are still working on things day by day-at Danes pace now. Thank you for all you do in helping others." Angela, Apache Junction Arizon
“I believe that any time children are exposed to other languages and cultures it helps build a more well rounded person and it helps them to learn to communicate better. Just last week Emilio was able to name several of the letters from the sign book without me prompting him.”
Elena, Arizona
~“We have seen the benefit of using sign language to develop social and intellectual skills. We were excited to find a program that helps our children learn quicker and stimulate their intellect. Signing has helped our preschool and kindergarten students increase their vocabulary. The development of these early literacy skills has improved their overall performance and has created a stronger desire for learning.” Pat Sullivan, Director, Bethany Learning Center
~"In the 2 weeks after incorporating signing into our preschool classroom, most classes had already learned, and now use on a regular basis, 50 signs. That shows you how easy and effective signing can be." Rachel, Preschool Director
