Laura O’Hanlon’s introduction to sign language came at an early age.
There was a classroom for deaf children next to O’Hanlon’s Kindergarten class, and she befriended one of the children in the classroom. The friend taught O’Hanlon some basic signs.
“I just fell in love with the language of American Sign Language (ASL),” O’Hanlon told the Mercury.
But she wants people to know sign language is not just for communicating with the hearing impaired. It’s a great tool for enhancing communication skills and language development at an early age.
“The benefits of teaching sign language to anybody are outstanding,” said O’Hanlon.
O’Hanlon was at the Estevan Public Library on Saturday to present a WeeHands Baby Sign Language class. Several young people and their parents attended the interactive session, which included music. Parents learned more about the benefits of sign language with children.
O’Hanlon, who moved to Estevan last year, is very knowledgeable when it comes to sign language. She has studied ASL 101, 102 and 103 at a college in Ontario. She then became acquainted with the deaf community, and interacted with the hearing impaired at a bank where she worked.
Her interest in sign language continued to grow.
“When I had my own child, and had started reading on the benefits of it – because it was starting to grow in popularity – I knew that I was going to sign with her,” said O’Hanlon. “Then when I learned about the opportunity to share this with other families, after seeing what a great fit it was with our family, I knew it was something I wanted to share.”
Even though Quinn is now four years old, O’Hanlon still uses sign language every day when communicating with her daughter. They have seen a lot of benefits.
“Her language skills and abilities to communicate, and her vocabulary (are excellent),” said O’Hanlon. “She’s starting to read because she had a good understanding of letters from a young age. By the time she was 18 months old, she signed and sang her full ABC’s in English and French.
“Putting the hand gesture to the word helps children get a better understanding of it more quickly.”
The presentation at the library was the first time O’Hanlon has led a course through WeeHands in Estevan. The opportunity to teach came about when the library’s children’s program coordinator, Maureen Curtis, saw O’Hanlon communicate with Quinn through signing.
O’Hanlon said people who attended her session at the library would learn about eight sign language gestures. They will pick up signs that they can use to interact with their children on a daily basis.
“There will be lots of other opportunities, lots of other signs we will do,” said O’Hanlon. “I’ll be showing them how to incorporate it while reading stories or singing songs.”
She also stressed that if people don’t practice their sign language skills, they will eventually lose the ability.
Using sign language to communicate with a child will never prevent infants and other young children from developing or learning to speak; so O’Hanlon believes parents should be increasing their use of sign language.
O’Hanlon is a certified instructor through WeeHands, which encourages sign language for babies, infants and toddlers. It was founded in 2001 by Sarah Bingham, who is also the author of The Baby Signing Book. O’Hanlon is hoping to offer classes on a more regular basis while in Estevan.
