Mary
I was just confessing to a personal weakness and not seeking to
diminish the reputation of Signalong or any other of the various
schemes out there. As it happens, I strongly agree with Signalong that
in a British context British Sign Language should be the basis, and I
have studied BSL for that reason. (I was once at a conference where
six mutually irreoncileable schemes were being presented). It is easy
to imagine equivalent approaches wherever there is a naturally
developed sign language in the deaf community.
It is good that you found Signalong working for you and your daughter.
But I think you would agree that any sort of AAC is a big step for the
whole family and for everyone else involved with the child (and that
is where the plethora of schemes becomes problematic). My suggestion
was meant only in relation to the case where there is very little
speech and language, where there is clearly, at the very least, a
delay, as part of a careful, sensitive, accurate on-going evaluation.
If, for instance, there is little sign of frustration in the child
(and not all children seem to be frustrated by a lack of speech and
language), and if there is clear evidence of ongoing natural progress,
albeit at a slower rate than normal, intervention may be unnecessary
except to check that the progress is being maintained. It may become
apparent, in say three months at the most, that there is just no
progress at all, that a child of say three is just stuck with a single
word. In my view, such children deserve to be strongly prioritised.
I should perhaps say that the goal of this sort of cautious approach
is to allow very narrowly finite resources to be focused on those
children (including your daughter?) at greatest risk of never
achieving what might be regarded by the lay public as normal speech
and language – with obvious implications for work and social life.
To my mind, the goal of normal speech and language should always be a
factor even if for some children it is unattainable. I can think of
children, both older and younger than your daughter is now, who took
the decision themselves that such a goal was unattainable for them.
That is of course a very tough decision.
Aubrey
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