Sign_of_the_Times

Andrea Filary Professor Woods English 1104 October 7, 2011 Signs of Change William Sevcik sits in his high chair with an assortment of Multigrain Cheerios and pieces of banana. After eating a couple slices of banana he begins twisting both his hands with his palms facing out to indicate that he is finished. Instead of crying or throwing his food on the floor he communicates with his mother. Next, he puts his arms up and starts to open and close his hands quickly showing his desire to be picked up out of the high chair. There are no tantrums and no mess. William is only eleven months old, and he is using Baby Signs to communicate with his mother. Baby signs have become a popular trend among parents and child caretakers, and are a form of American Sign Language or gestures that allow babies and toddlers to communicate. (Acredolo) [SINCE THIS SEEMS TO BE A BRAND, USE THE SINGULAR. Statement (Citation)Period ] Just like many trends Baby Signs had small causes that had a big effect on the way adults approach communicating with young children. Baby Signs is a trend that illustrates Gladwell’s ideas. [IN MLA, USE FULL NAMES ON FIRST MENTION. OTHER SYSTEMS, LIKE APA, ARE DIFFERENT.] It started with a small cause, then became contagious to parents, and finally reached a “Tipping Point” in 2004. (Gladwell) [MORE EXPLANATION OF GLADWELL’S IDEAS WOULD HELP.] Baby Signs began with parents trying to communicate with their children. Linda Acredelo, a psychology professor at UC Davis in Northern California, actually stumbled upon this communication technique by accident in 1982, when she noticed her young daughter making gestures to describe things that she saw in her back yard. (Wiley) [ACREDELO’S NAME AND PRESENTATION OF HER CREDENTIALS ARE NICELY DONE HERE.] Dr. Acredolo then began to document the symbolic gestures that her daughter was making to communicate, and along with her friend Susan Goodwyn applied for a grant from the National Institute of Health to research the phenomena. [PROBABLY PHENOMENON—SINGULAR] Similarly, Dr. Joseph Garcia from Alaska noticed that hearing children of deaf parents started communicating with sign language at an earlier age than hearing children did with spoken language. He decided to do research into the use of Sign Language with children for his graduate thesis in 1986. (About) [LOWER CASE FOR sign language in general, but American Sign Language; “About” – article title] As researchers studied the effects of using Gesture training can allow both the child and parent to reap many rewards. [EITHER A FRAGMENT OR MISSING A COMMA AFTER “STUDIED,” WHICH DOESN’T QUITE MAKE SENSE.] Dr. Acredolo and Dr. Goodwyn have made claims that Baby Sign Language improves the child’s vocabulary, can improve parent child relationships, and even reduce the amount of tantrums. (Acredolo) Dr. Joseph Garcia’s research showed that infants could learn signs as young as six or seven months of age. (History) All three researchers were excited to publish their findings. In 1996, Dr. Acredolo and Dr. Goodwyn co-authored the book “Baby Signs: How to Talk to Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk”. [ITALICIZE BOOK TITLES.] Excited to get the message out to fellow parents they then hit the talk show circuit to promote the book. They were seen on such programs as “Dateline” and “Oprah”. (Wiley) [ITALICS] Childcare workers and parents alike we intrigued. Dr. Joseph Garcia also published a book that used American Sign Language as a basis for teaching your child their first means of communication. [TWO PROBLEMS—“YOUR”—A CHILD OR CHILDREN—AND AGREEMENT OF CHILD & THEIR] He came out with a complete learning kit called “Sign with your Baby” In 1999. He continues to do research into teaching and training methods. (About) Parents got excited. It seemed like parents were spreading the news about Baby Signing to anyone who was involved with children. Monta Z. Briant began “chasing down everyone she saw with a baby to tell them about signing with babies: in the supermarket checkout line, on walks, and at the playground.” (Briant) [CREDENTIALS'] It was as if the excitement of one parent was contagious. [A GOOD SPOT TO REMIND READERS OF GLADWELL.] Baby Signing spread from parent to parent, and from parent to childcare worker. Researchers became more interested. Suddenly there was a Baby Signing explosion. In one dramatic moment Baby Signing changed from one parent’s curiosity into part of main stream culture. Baby Signing reached a “Tipping Point”. (Gladwell P#) It even appeared in the movie “Meet the Fockers” in 2004. (Baby) More research was being done on the benefits of signing with children, and childcare facilities started to offer sign language as a part of their curriculum. In Cherry Hill, NJ and in other cities throughout the country Baby Signing classes are offered to the community. (Kadaba) [CITY, STATE,] At the same time there now was a market for Baby Signing Products. [BRAND NAME' IF NOT, LOWERCASE] A variety of multimedia products have since come out to fill this need. There are many books for adults, board books for children, and a video line call “Signing Time!” was created to teach children and parents sign language. (Ryan) The Disney Corporation has even jumped on the Baby Signing trend offering “My First Signs” through their Baby Einstein series of videos. Now it is the end of the day and William Sevcik pulls on his right ear and puts his other hand on the side of his face. His mother knows that it is time for her son to lie down. He is letting her know that he is sleepy. Being able to understand her child’s needs and end the day without crying has made a big difference in this family’s life. A small group of individuals taking notice of how their child was communicating with them caused a national change in the way parents and educators are working with children. Works Cited “About the Sign2me Program” Sign2me. 2011.Sign2me@Northlight Communications, Inc. 2011. Web. 5 Oct. 2011 Acredolo, Linda, and Susan Goodwyn. My First Baby Signs. New York: HarperCollins, 2002. Print. Baby Sign Language. Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation. 31 Aug. 2011. Web. 5 Oct. 2011. Briant, Monta Z. Baby Sign Language Basics: Early Communication for Hearing Babies and Toddlers. Calsbad: Hay House, Inc. 2004. Print. “History and Research.” Babysigners. 2004. Web.5 Oct. 2011. Gladwell, Malcolm. “The Tipping Point: Hush Puppies, Crime, Yawning, and Other Contagions.” Back to the Lake: A Reader for Writers. Ed. Thomas Cooley. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009, 628-634. Print. Kadaba, Lini S. "Signs of the Times; Hearing Babies are Learning Sign Language in Order to Communicate their Needs." The Spectator: D.14. ProQuest Central. Feb 09 2002. Web. 7 Oct. 2011 Ryan, Diane. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Baby Sign Language. New York: Alpha, 2006. Print. Wiley, Chris. "Sign Language Helps Babies Communicate." Inland Valley Daily Bulletin: n/a. ProQuest Central. Feb 18 2005. Web. 7 Oct. 2011. n.d. = no date Before we could do italics, we underlined to let printers know we wanted them to set copy in italics. Now we can do it for ourselves, and at least five years after everybody else, MLA decided it was time to use italics.