Signing Savvy, Your Sign Language Resource

With Halloween next week, the countdown to Halloween has officially begun! We asked everyone on our Signing Savvy Facebook Page what their favorite "seasonal signs" are. And the survey says… skeleton spider scary fireworks pumpkin ghost Check out the Sign of the Day from now to Halloween to see each of these signs featured as we countdown to Halloween. Join the conversation on our Signing Savvy Facebook Page or tell us your favorite seasonal sign for Halloween by leaving a comment ...

I know, you never thought you would hear me ("The Man in the Blue Shirt") say that deaf children are signing too much, right?  Well I say it only in perspective of comparing their signing skills to their writing skills. I think there are often times in the field of Deaf Education that the parents, teachers and interpreters that are working with the deaf and hard of hearing population are just so excited that the children are beginning to express themselves ...

Sign language is not a universal language. Unfortunately sign language is NOT universal throughout the world. There is American Sign Language, British Sign Language, Spanish Sign Language, Japanese Sign Language, Ausian (Australian Sign Language) and many more. In fact, there are even multiple sign languages used in the United States (American Sign Language, Signed Exact English, regional dialects, etc.). Although one universal sign language would probably make things easier, just like with spoken language, the world would have a very difficult ...

Raising a young child in this day and age of fast paced life is difficult. It is hard to keep up with the excitement of animated video games and television shows, which often times are not displaying the behavior or teaching the lessons that we want our young children to learn and emulate. This is why we at Signing Savvy are very proud to have a partnership with an animation company, called WonderGrove Kids, that’s primary focus is to take the ...

I have had several questions about how to teach young children to sign recently, so I wanted to repost an article I wrote back in 2009 (with a few modifications), which answers many of the questions. Research has shown that a child's muscles in the hands and fingers develop at a faster rate than those in the mouth and jaw. This shows us that a child is better equipped at a young age to sign before they can speak. And children ...

We hope you have a great Valentine's Day! This is a reposting of our blog post from last Valentine's day. It does a great job of covering all the different ways to show LOVE... in sign language that is! Many people know and use the sign for I LOVE YOU. This sign is used universal throughout the country and the world. We see it all over television, at sporting events and during "shout outs" to our mothers. The sign is actually ...

Many people have heard of individuals using dogs to assist them with their visual difficulties, but the use of dogs for people who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing is less understood by the general public. Hearing dogs for the deaf alert their owners to sounds, both inside and outside of the home. Some deaf people also choose to get hearing dogs for safety reasons. The general public's lack of understanding about dogs for the deaf has been known to cause ...

This video gives a brief overview of the Signing Savvy service and the inspiration behind it by one of the Signing Savvy founders, John Miller.  In addition to his work on Signing Savvy, John has been a teacher, educator, and administrator at the K-12 and University level.  His focus throughout his career has been on Deaf Education and working with Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and their parents. Transcript of Video Over 90% of deaf and hard of hearing children are born ...

Recently I visited with a group of parents of young deaf children who were sharing their frustrations and struggles with learning sign. They were asking for tips to improve their skills as their families learn the language of their young deaf children.  Their question is one that I hear often, and I know I have addressed it in previous blogs, but because I hear it so much, I thought it might be good to discuss it again. I will also ...

About a year and a half ago, I came across a young man having problems in one of my schools.  He was about five years old and like any other five year old boy, he was a bit stubborn.  But, unfortunately, he was also known to be a bit of a “flight risk” from the classroom.  We will call him Alex. Alex isn’t deaf.  I don’t even think he is hard of hearing.  Alex is a very bright young man….a bright ...