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Sign language aids bonding for families |
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Who: Kristine Alarie had always been fascinated with sign language so she enrolled in an American Sign Language class at Fox Valley Technical College in 1997 while at a crossroads in her career. “The teacher said I had a gift and I realized it’s what I’m passionate about and what I wanted to do as a profession,” she said. Alarie earned an associate of arts degree in the FVTC educational interpreting program in December 2002. She began working as a substitute interpreter in several school districts in the area, helping preschool through high school hearing-impaired students. What: While continuing to work in the classroom, Alarie pursued an application of American Sign Language — sign language with preverbal, hearing infants — that caught her attention in the summer of 2000. “In the 1970s an interpreter, Joseph Garcia, noticed that hearing babies of deaf parents communicated their needs at an earlier age than children of hearing parents,” Alarie said. Garcia researched this phenomenon at Alaska Pacific University and found that if hearing infants are exposed early and consistently to sign language, they could expressively communicate by 8 or 9 months of age. Why it’s important: Alarie started her business, Expressive Hands LLC, in August 2003 to teach American Sign Language to parents and caregivers of hearing children. She learned through a book, “Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children’s Literacy” by Marilyn Daniels, that hearing children who are exposed to sign language in infancy have higher vocabulary levels, higher IQ scores and better literacy rates. “I love what I do — connecting parents and children,” Alarie said. “A lot goes on in a preverbal child’s head and we never knew it.” |