Articles by JILLIAN WINN

Deaf Awareness Week 2016

Deaf Awareness Week 2016

By Jillian Winn
Sunday, September 18, 2016

Deaf Awareness Week this year is September 19-25, 2016. Deaf Awareness Week, also called International Week of the Deaf (IWD), is celebrated annually and ends with International Day of the Deaf on the last Sunday of September. Deaf Awareness Week is celebrated by national and regional associations of the deaf, local communities, and individuals worldwide. The purpose of Deaf Awareness Week is to increase public awareness of deaf issues, people, and culture.  Activities and events throughout Deaf Awareness Week encourage individuals to come together ...
12 Facts You Probably Don’t Know About Helen Keller

12 Facts You Probably Don’t Know About Helen Keller

By Jillian Winn
Monday, June 27, 2016

Helen Keller became deaf and blind at 19 months old. She was famous from the age of 8 for her experience of overcoming great obstacles in order to learn to communicate. This early part of her life is the most well-known, but the story doesn’t end there. Helen would go on to become not only well educated, but famous in her own right as an author and activist. She has even been said to be one of the 20th century's ...
Guide to Using Sign Language With Your Hearing Baby: Signing With Food - Starting at 4 to 6 Months (whenever they start eating)

Guide to Using Sign Language With Your Hearing Baby: Signing With Food - Starting at 4 to 6 Months (whenever they start eating)

By Jillian Winn
Tuesday, June 14, 2016

It’s easy to start signing with your baby and it’s amazing to be able to communicate with them through sign before they are able to talk. To get started, simply use signs when communicating with your child. There isn’t a “right” way or specific order to learning or teaching signs, just start by picking signs that make the most sense in the context of your baby’s life. There is no limit to how many signs you should introduce at a ...
A Big Thank You to the  Growing Signing Savvy Advisory Board!

A Big Thank You to the Growing Signing Savvy Advisory Board!

By Jillian Winn
Tuesday, May 31, 2016

We have added several new members to our advisory board and wanted to take this opportunity to recognize AND THANK all of our board members for their help and expertise.  We’ve made many updates to Signing Savvy because of suggestions provided by this wonderful advisory board! And we have many more updates in the works. The Sign Language Advisory Board is made up of thought leaders who have a deep subject matter expertise in sign language and deaf culture and are leaders ...
The Meaning Behind Champion Nyle Dimarco’s Freestyle Dance on the Dancing with the Stars Finale

The Meaning Behind Champion Nyle Dimarco’s Freestyle Dance on the Dancing with the Stars Finale

By Jillian Winn
Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Nyle chose a special song, with a special meaning, for his freestyle dance on the finale of Dancing with the Stars. He chose the song “Sound of Silence” covered by the heavy metal band Disturbed and originally by Simon and Garfunkel. Nyle and dance partner Peta worked with contemporary choreographer Talia Favia to make the dance a moving performance focused on storytelling. Nyle said, “Our dance together is for million’s of deaf people, this dance needs to reflect all of them.” I CANT BELIEVE IT! WE WON! WE WON THE MIRROR BALL!!! This is for 70 million Deaf people in the world! Thank you all for your CONTINUING SUPPORT. @petamurgatroyd YOU ARE AMAZING. Thank you for embracing this journey with me. Thank you for pushing me and believing in me. I love ...
Signing Savvy Featured as 1 of 15 Pure Michigan Businesses

Signing Savvy Featured as 1 of 15 Pure Michigan Businesses

By Jillian Winn
Thursday, May 5, 2016

You may not know this, but Signing Savvy is based in Michigan. That does not mean the signs on Signing Savvy are regional to Michigan or that only people from Michigan work for Signing Savvy, just that the company itself was founded and exists physically in Michigan. Of course, we are an online business so we connect with you wherever you are. So far, over 10 million people have used Signing Savvy - the majority of people who use Signing ...
Guide to Using Sign Language With Your Hearing Baby: 0 to 6 Months

Guide to Using Sign Language With Your Hearing Baby: 0 to 6 Months

By Jillian Winn
Tuesday, April 26, 2016

It’s easy to start signing with your baby and it’s amazing to be able to communicate with them through sign before they are able to talk. To get started, simply use signs when communicating with your child. There isn’t a "right" way or specific order to learning or teaching signs, just start by picking signs that make the most sense in the context of your baby’s life. There is no limit to how many signs you should introduce at a ...
When and How to Start Using Sign Language With Your Hearing Baby

When and How to Start Using Sign Language With Your Hearing Baby

By Jillian Winn
Thursday, February 4, 2016

When to start signing with your hearing baby? Experts recommend to start talking to your child at birth – even newborns benefit from hearing speech and talking to your child is an important part of how they learn language and to speak. You can talk to them, describe what you are doing as you’re doing it, describe what’s going on around you, tell stories, sing songs, and read books. Because we would talk to our son when he was born, it just ...
America’s Next Top Model Winner “Just Happens To Be Deaf”

America’s Next Top Model Winner “Just Happens To Be Deaf”

By Jillian Winn
Tuesday, December 8, 2015

There are multiple reasons why 26-year-old Nyle DiMarco’s crown as the winner of American’s Next Top Model (ANTM) is significant (besides his good looks!) - he is the last winner of ANTM because this was the last season, he is only the second male winner out of 22 cycles, and he is Deaf.
Short Film from CNN Highlights a Deaf All-American Family

Short Film from CNN Highlights a Deaf All-American Family

By Jillian Winn
Monday, November 23, 2015

With Thanksgiving this week, this short film from CNN does a nice job of highlighting what many of us are most thankful for - family. The short film, called “All-American Family” shares the story of the Pedersen family, a deaf family with deaf parents, two deaf sons, and one hearing son. It gives a glimpse into Deaf culture and what living in a Deaf family and Deaf community is like.