text:
"We took your boom and zoom sign language class a year ago at Blossom and I wanted to share a story of how sign language made my Monday way easier with my signing 18 month old.
Picking up my son Luke from daycare we were looking at cars and tractors at the construction site next to school. He is sucking on his hand because he's been teething. I asked "Do you want your pacifier" Signing, you, want, and pacifier. He nods yes and signs pacifier back. "It's at home, we need to go home to get the pacifier." signing home and pacifier. He nods and points to the car door and got into his seat with no fuss. (The day before it took be 2 minutes of crying to get him into the carseat.)
We get home, he gets his pacifier and we are good. "What do you want to eat?" Signing want and eat. He signed, cookie. Haha, good try, what about strawberries. Now, he can't do the sign for strawberries but he can sign eat and make a kissing noise. He ate his strawberries and goes back to the fridge signing and saying "cheese", we sat down, ate cheese, read a book and played until dinner.
So many things were made easier that day with sign language. We started in your class when Luke was only 3 months old and he didn't make his first signs to us until about 9 months old. The difference is that he knew what we were signing and could nod yes or no (or run to the bathtub for bath time!).
His signing started ramping up at 14 months and hasn't slowed. He uses signs that we haven't used in weeks and says a lot more words than the other kids in his class because he knows that words = things. I don't know if that is normal but it's normal for us!
Thank you so much for sharing sign language with our family."
Meredith, Pete and a very communicative 18 month old Luke (Sunnyvale, CA)
"We've been working with Charlotte on signing since she was about 2 months old. Even though there was no way she was going to sign back at us at that age it was really more about us practicing using it regularly. As you can see below it really paid off. Charlotte absolutely LOVES telling you what's on her mind through the course of the day - the ability to sign has actually INCREASED her vocabulary she actively tries to say. Words like, 'mama, dada, turtle, tu-tu, milk, light, don't, down, help, poop.' Also surprising, she is actually saying A LOT of words with very distinct sounds for each of them while doing the signs at the same time. The Happy Baby Signs method of using sound effects together with signs was very helpful in recognizing Charlotte's signs.
We wish there was a toddler program; we'd sign up in a heartbeat! Thanks so much for your help Bill! I'm so happy we took your classes!
Update: "Charlotte has begun trying to sign the alphabet (especially to the tune of the "ABCD..." song) and now recognizes letters & constantly points them out as we go about our day (advertisements, signs, markings, etc.) I know a lot of parents must think their kids are doing well and I really feel weird being one of those parents but she definitely seems to be ahead of the curve. This is something we really attribute to the jump start you gave us in speech processing at such an early age. Thanks so much. Here's a new video of Charlotte recognizing letters at just 16 months old." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTz4Lmt9lko&feature=player_embedded
Rick, Sharon and 16 month old, Charlotte Turlington (Menlo Park, CA) Email Richard
Picking up my son Luke from daycare we were looking at cars and tractors at the construction site next to school. He is sucking on his hand because he's been teething. I asked "Do you want your pacifier" Signing, you, want, and pacifier. He nods yes and signs pacifier back. "It's at home, we need to go home to get the pacifier." signing home and pacifier. He nods and points to the car door and got into his seat with no fuss. (The day before it took be 2 minutes of crying to get him into the carseat.)
We get home, he gets his pacifier and we are good. "What do you want to eat?" Signing want and eat. He signed, cookie. Haha, good try, what about strawberries. Now, he can't do the sign for strawberries but he can sign eat and make a kissing noise. He ate his strawberries and goes back to the fridge signing and saying "cheese", we sat down, ate cheese, read a book and played until dinner.
So many things were made easier that day with sign language. We started in your class when Luke was only 3 months old and he didn't make his first signs to us until about 9 months old. The difference is that he knew what we were signing and could nod yes or no (or run to the bathtub for bath time!).
His signing started ramping up at 14 months and hasn't slowed. He uses signs that we haven't used in weeks and says a lot more words than the other kids in his class because he knows that words = things. I don't know if that is normal but it's normal for us!
Thank you so much for sharing sign language with our family."
Meredith, Pete and a very communicative 18 month old Luke (Sunnyvale, CA)
"We've been working with Charlotte on signing since she was about 2 months old. Even though there was no way she was going to sign back at us at that age it was really more about us practicing using it regularly. As you can see below it really paid off. Charlotte absolutely LOVES telling you what's on her mind through the course of the day - the ability to sign has actually INCREASED her vocabulary she actively tries to say. Words like, 'mama, dada, turtle, tu-tu, milk, light, don't, down, help, poop.' Also surprising, she is actually saying A LOT of words with very distinct sounds for each of them while doing the signs at the same time. The Happy Baby Signs method of using sound effects together with signs was very helpful in recognizing Charlotte's signs.
We wish there was a toddler program; we'd sign up in a heartbeat! Thanks so much for your help Bill! I'm so happy we took your classes!
Update: "Charlotte has begun trying to sign the alphabet (especially to the tune of the "ABCD..." song) and now recognizes letters & constantly points them out as we go about our day (advertisements, signs, markings, etc.) I know a lot of parents must think their kids are doing well and I really feel weird being one of those parents but she definitely seems to be ahead of the curve. This is something we really attribute to the jump start you gave us in speech processing at such an early age. Thanks so much. Here's a new video of Charlotte recognizing letters at just 16 months old." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTz4Lmt9lko&feature=player_embedded
Rick, Sharon and 16 month old, Charlotte Turlington (Menlo Park, CA) Email Richard
"I am having a fabulous time with Marc who still enjoys signing and is just beginning to mimic finger spelling. One of my favorite moments (ever) was when Marc, around 16 months old, put two books on the ground and started saying something excitedly that I couldn't understand. I then saw he was signing "train" in an exaggerated way, which helped me realize he was saying, 'choo-choo.' I was confused, though, because neither of the books was a train book. As soon as I said, 'Train?', his excitement level soared because I understood what he was saying. He then pushed the two books together along the floor, showing me that he had MADE a train. He started adding book after book to make a longer train, delighted that I figured out what he was doing. It all started, though, because I saw he was making a purposeful gesture that looked an awful lot like the sign for 'Train.' To this day, he loves trains, and I get to continue learning right alongside him about all different kinds of trains. I'm attaching two photos I took in the moment (you can see the joy in his face) and a video from later that day!"
Dr. Tricia Tayama and 2 year old Marc (Pediatrician, Burlingame, CA) Email provided by request.
"On the Baby Sign Language front, this is the BEST baby sign language program ever. Thanks to them, the classes we took before our twins were born and during their early months paid off when they both started signing ASL at 9 months old! By 12 months, they had the basic signs we needed to communicate with them daily (milk, more, all done) plus some really fun ones (train, duck, bath).
They are now 2 years old but still signing a ton of words, which is great since one of our twins is not as verbal as the other, so signing has helped a lot on taming tantrums and communicating proactively to avoid frustration (in them, and in parents!).
I strongly recommend that all parents take the Intro to Sign Language and then join the Sign Language Playgroups as soon as they can. The more practice that parents can have with signing to each other and to their children, the earlier and more successfully their kids will sign in return. The payoff is tremendous!"
Denise (San Mateo, CA) - Excerpt from Yelp.com. Find more reviews at Yelp.com
"For the last staff development day, we had a Baby Sign Language Workshop! It was phenomenal!!! The staff were thrilled about the class and many said it was the best part of our day. They were so excited about the class that we provided the staff with Happy Baby Signs' playgroup series at night after work. It was unpaid, professional development and we had a great turnout. We also offered parent introductory classes for parents, that we paid for, and held the workshops here. We have had a great response from the staff and parents. Bill is a great instructor and makes the class fun, while very informative. I would highly recommend him for any staff or parent workshops."
Priscilla Wong, Director
Children's Creative Learning Centers, Families@First (Cisco in San Jose)
innovative child care solutions for today's progressive employer
Email address available upon request
"We had Erika, one of Happy Baby Signs' sign language instructors present a 90 minute workshop to our task force meeting. There is SO much information and Erika uses so many different teaching techniques that our staff walked away knowing quite a bit of sign language. Our group enjoyed it SO much that they still talk about it and have requested that we bring them back!"
Corri Inouye | Regional Education Coordinator, Northern California | Bright Horizons Family Solutions
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1
"If you remember us, around the last time we'd stopped by Camden had just started signing but no verbal words yet and we'd started looking into different assessments to see why the delay in communication. We started having speech therapy twice a week. Camden picked up about 100 signs which was great to see after all our time and effort in and out of your classes :) It was very rewarding getting that communication going. I can't possibly imagine all the extra frustrations we would have had if we didn't have sign language to communicate with early on. After January he picked up verbal words very quickly and now the average person wouldn't guess he had next to no words just back in December. I highly attribute this to getting started with ASL, even if it was delayed, it still got everything going sooner than if we had just waited for verbal words.
Now Camden is turning 3 later this month and he's just been assessed by a psychologist and was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1, requiring support, without intellectual impairment, with accompanying language impairment. We've had plenty of early intervention services with Camden's speech and other therapy which has had such a major impact. All along the way therapists have praised us for signing with Camden. We're very appreciative of having that kick-start of communication with him. Thank you!"
Donna, Leigh, and 18 month old Camden (San Francisco, CA)
"It is so much fun to gain insight into what my 11 month old daughter is thinking about. She points to a lot of things, so it is is sort of hard to tell what she is interested in...until she started signing! For example, I think she's pointing to a toy, but then I see her sign 'hat' and I can respond appropriately instead of playing the guessing game as to what she wants. Her favorite sign these days is 'gorilla' and I always know when she wants me to read her zoo book with the gorilla on the cover because she gets a big smile on her face and does the sign for gorilla and points to the book. It's amazing to be able to communicate and know we are understanding each other even when she is pre-verbal. You were right, the added sound effects totally save us. I only know when she signs 'balloon' because she makes a fffttttt sound like she's blowing up a balloon. Great tip! Take care and we will look forward to the launch of the toddler series, Va Va Voom playgroup. I can't wait for more signs to come!"
Rebecca & 12 month old baby A, (Oakland, CA)
Five years ago I took your class at Natural Resources with my baby Austin. This week I'm home with him and his brother Taylor (14mo). Taylor is signing up a storm - bird, apple, drink, more, eat, ball, strawberry, diaper/change, hat, cracker, cheese, milk, don't touch, baby, etc. - and the words are coming just as quickly. Thanks again. It's delightful!
Tom, 5 year old Austin, and 14 month old Taylor
My husband and I want to send a quick note to say how thankful we are that we took Playgroup Boom and Zoom last spring. Eleanor was only 4-6 months then, so as you say you were mostly teaching us. We stuck with it for our most common words and its amazing what she can do now and how one day it just clicked with her. She's now 14 months and has about 15 -20 words and 5 or so signs. We see that we use the sign and word and she decides whether or not the sign or word is easier and goes with that.
I also can't emphasize how important and happy you told us to use sound effects. Her first "sign" was for balloon at 11 months. When we would go to the grocery store she was fascinated by all of the balloons at the registers. I would sign balloon with the sound effect. She has ignored the sign when I do it, but definitely uses the sound of a balloon every time she sees them now. :-) It's adorable, but also effective.
I can't wait to see how her vocabulary flourishes over the next couple months.
Oh, and I forgot to mention how much my husband have also enjoyed the sign language. We can communicate across rooms and the park, in a loud bar (to order drinks thanks to those handy drink signs) and while we are on the telephone. ASL helps with not only communication with our daughter but with each other. Can't thank you enough.
AZ, FZ and 11 month old Eleanor
I took your class at Natural Resources several months ago and just wanted to tell you how happy I am that I took your class. My daughter, Isabella is 15 months old and she is such a great communicator. I took your advice about adding sound effects to the signs and this has been so helpful. I feel like she is pretty advanced verbally and I think teaching her sign language has played a big role in her language development. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Natalie and 15 month old Isabella
One of the first signs our child learned was "duck" b/c I used to sign it for her in the bathtub with her rubber ducky. She loves that sign b/c it's easy to do and she likes the "quack" sound. So ... the other night in the bathtub, she let out a big ole' fart. As quickly as she heard it, she turned around, looked at her butt, then signed "QUACK" and smiled. And you know what ... she's right. Quack and the sound/feel of a fart are sort of similar.
Parent's requested the child's name be anonymous for obvious reasons :-D
"Little Maddie is 16 months old now and at last count she's using around 25-30 signs! Some words she signs exclusively – especially multi-syllable words like elephant – and others she both says and signs. There are a few she doesn't sign often but she will speak the words when she sees us sign them… and will point out the object. Most terms though she says and signs interchangeably. What a great gift you've given us! According to her pediatrician she's got a tremendous spoken vocabulary for her age - about 80 words now – and we attribute it all to the signing. Thank you, THANK you for all you do."
Dori Gutman and 16 month old Maddie (San Leandro, CA) Email by request
"Bill came to our infant-toddler center for an seven-session series, teaching two half-hour sessions back-to-back. He always arrived in plenty of time and stayed beyond his full hour. We teachers loved his classes! Bill is a fabulous teacher: responsive to our questions and needs, and presenting signs in a lively and fun way. He was flexible regarding teachers and children coming and going, and where we held class - outside or inside, different classrooms depending on our needs that day. During class, children would approach him crawling or walking, and he wouldn't miss a beat, keeping up with the lesson while being friendly to the children. We teachers particularly enjoyed learning the songs, such as "Brown Bear, Brown Bear," which we would practice throughout the week. We also especially benefited from learning signs for everyday and urgent communication with the infants and toddlers, like "outside," "jacket," "no biting," and "pain." Bill's classes enriched our teacher culture, bringing to the team fun and laughter along with a new teaching tool. I feel very lucky that our center brought in Happy Baby Signs' sign language."
Lisa Park | Infant Toddler Teacher | C5 Children's School, 525 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco,
"I took the baby sign language workshop and Boom playgroup series at Kaiser in Redwood City. It was a really great experience. My baby was 6-7 months old during the class. I thought her age was perfect. We took her to all the classes (you are welcome to bring your baby or leave her at home) and she wasn't old enough yet to get into trouble and crawl all around, but was old enough that she could play with toys and sit up on her own while I participated in the class.
It really was a sign language class for adults, but with the vocabulary geared toward baby activities. In order for it to be worthwhile it took (and still takes) a lot of commitment from the parents. Since I took the class about 6 months ago I've been signing while talking to my baby every single day. When I look for books or toys to get her, I try to find ones with clear pictures of items I know how to sign (e.g. a book with a realistic looking bird as the main character rather than a cartoon monster). The class itself is only as useful as you make it.
After about 3 months of signing to my baby, she started using "milk". Now she can clearly and confidently sign "more", "help" and quite a few animals and household objects ("ball", "hat", "dog"). She gets a big smile and look of pride on her face when she recognizes an object, does the sign for it, and then gets a positive reaction from me. I feel like I've given her another tool for communicating and learning about the world around her.
I'd recommend taking the 1-day workshop if you are interested. You might be able to cobble together a useful vocabulary using online videos and library books, but it would be good to at least get a baseline understanding of how to sign and how to use body language with your baby before turning to the internet for help. Probably the best part of the class was the accountability. It was easier to diligently practice when I knew I'd have another class in a week. So if you are the type of person that joins a gym just to give you an incentive to work out, this would be a great class for you. If you are totally self-motivated, perhaps the workshop only would suffice."
Hollie and Rhiannon, Age 12 months, Menlo Park
"I wanted to extend a sincere thanks from my husband and myself for what you taught us with our son in your baby signing class at Carmel Blue. It REALLY helps us communicate with him. And lately he's been surprising us daily with both words, and his ability to sign new signs. Starting younger helped. He's 15 months old and he now signs: more, milk, duck, froggie, sleep, elephant, water, bread (his favorite food), and "eat" a first the other day! YAY! and chicken. Probably some I'm forgetting. But I am really impressed.
...Update a year later, he is still signing, speaks above average, and we are teaching him some Spanish and Chinese, using sign language as the translator for these languages. It's super helpful. Also, he wants to learn how to read already, so we are looking the finger spelling to connect letters for him on a kinesthetic level. Great stuff!"
The Young Family (San Francisco, CA)
"Genevieve was babbling away and I wasn't quite sure what she was saying since so many words sound alike, so I asked her to "sign" it for me- she did and I totally understood what she wanted!! Yippee for signing!! She now signs and says the words!"
S. Campbell (Redwood City, CA)
"We started taking Bill's series at 3 months and I believe we've taken it 3-4 times. Our daughter Asrai started signing at 9 months with light, followed by milk, stripes and dog in the months following. Around 12 months she had around 25 signs and now at 14 months we've lost track. When she is trying to get something across that we don't get right away, she will hold eye contact and try over and over until we get it or guess it. She signs to be read a book READ-BOOK-PLEASE--sometimes with an identifying sign for different books; signs for the food she wants and of course for milk; and delights in identifying animals, stuffed and in real life. She also knows when to sign please to melt our hearts. Currently she is putting signs together to make short *sentences* most of them could be called jokes. My favorite is "EAT-DOG-OH NO!" The other thing she likes to sign is noun-scary/scared. Like MAMA-SCARY, BABY-SCARY, CHEESE-SCARY etc. In those cases she is doing it for a laugh but she also signs when she's scared of certain people or cars which is very helpful. We are so grateful to have such successful communication with our daughter who is largely preverbal."
Toby and Rayna Mayer, and 14 month old Asrai (Palo Alto, CA)
"Thought you'd like to see a video of us using our sign language in the hospital with 14 month old Vivian. Thank god I found your class as she may not speak again for a year or so. http://www.facebook.com/amy.hahner
We sure are glad we started signing early. It looks like it will come in handy! Vivian was born with airway issues, neurofibroma tumors by her larynx that were removed. We have been to ER many times...lots of steroids for swelling, finally decided she would need a tracheostomy tube to breath, grow and develop.
The sign she does the most at home is airplane as they fly over our house every few minutes. She puts her hand up in the air and leaves it there for a few seconds. We were all so happy to see her REMEMBER the sign! At home, we go through flashcards each meal time to learn new signs.
Just wanted you to see how much your baby sign language class has meant to me. I know you meet many families but you never see what happens later. I hope the video makes you feel very special because my desire to learn more was from you! THANKS FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT TEACHER!"
Amy Joy Hahner and 14 month old Vivian. (San Jose, CA) Email provided by request.
"We took two of your courses last year when our baby, Malia, was 6-9 months old. I just want to say that a little before her first birthday, Malia started going crazy with the sign language. She learned all the words that we knew and we have been very very impressed. I'd guess she knows about 100 signs. Between Malia baby signs and her speech which are both advancing, we find that we can understand her a lot better than if she just had speech or signs alone, especially as she is learning the more complicated vocalizations now. So I can definitely see all the stuff you were talking about in class. Thank you so much for making sign language fun and easy for us."
Marc & Rebecca Marasco and 12 month old Malia (Palo Alto, CA)
"Addison is 16 months old and is able to do 37 signs! It's amazing and so fun to be able to communicate with her! At this point, I can show her a sign once and she is almost immediately able to repeat it back to me. Signing is the greatest! Today, when Addison and I left this little class we are taking, I asked her to say 'thank you' to the teacher and she signed thank you. It was such a great public affirmation that she not only understands and can communicate, but that she's using manners! :) The other great part about this interaction was that the teacher knows baby sign language, so she signed, 'you're welcome' in return. Thanks again for the class."
Darci Tracey and 16 month old Addison, (Mountain View, CA)
"You might remember me, my husband Jeff, and our daughter Penny from the sign language class at PJCC. We were the ones who had extra grammar and vocabulary questions after every session. Well, we've kept up with the signing, and while Penny doesn't ask for her diaper changed (yet), she can communicate lots of other things. We took the attached video yesterday. You'll see her briefly sign 'more', 'train' and 'hat'. Her other favorites are 'milk', 'ball', 'dog' (snapping), 'bed', 'socks' and 'bubbles.' She's picking up new signs nearly every day now, which is exciting to watch.
Penny's also signing 'water,' 'wash hands,' 'banana,' 'peas,' 'bread,' 'mommy,' and, to my total amazement, 'swing' (at her request, we now go to the park almost every day!). Thank you so much for teaching us baby ASL; definitely the best educational course we've ever taken!"
Allison and 12 month old Penny (San Carlos)Great Photos on file and a Video
"We are great here and enjoying all the signs!! :-)
The boys turned one on January 28 (born 6 weeks premature so developmentally one year old on March 6). They are both signing up a storm!
Here are the signs that they can do consistently: mom, dad, grandpa, eat/food, milk, more, please, pea, all done/all finished, dog, fan, burp, bath, walk, car/drive, and change.
We are working on good, thank you, no, yes, sorry, see, later, wait, work, sleep, night, cracker, and many more.
There are some signs that they just are not coordinated enough to do right now, but they are really picking the signs up quickly!"
Rhiannon LaBrie and 11 month old Liam and Arlo (San Jose, CA)
Just a quick note to say Anna is signing up a storm these days. She is 16 months old and regularly uses; monkey, hat, eat, milk, cheese, banana, broccoli, tree, berries, apple, more, elephant, please, all done, red and more. It's so fun! and so useful as she can tell us when she is hungry. We are having so much fun with the signing with her. I do think one of the things that made it easier for Anna to learn all this was having not just me and Jon be there in the class, but her grandparents too - they really got on board with this and further helped to reinforce it. Thanks again for teaching us this great skill!"
Jon, Danny, and 16 month old Anna (Muir Beach, CA)
"Communicating via signs has been a dream! Abigail is rarely frustrated and therefore so am I. At 17+ months, she's just at the cusp of dropping some signs because she can verbalize them too, but it's still so cute to have her sign and speak at the same time. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Debra, Ethan and Abigail Allison (Foster City, CA), Click to email Debra. Click for Debra's Spanish Tutor
"I should tell you that Sean (now 8 months) did his first sign - all done - used at the end of bath and mealtimes about a month ago. He also signs dog (for pretty much every mammal, but not bad) and also flaps his arms for happy, so he is getting close. He does a lot of things that aren't sign language but gets the message across - like tapping on the door to go outside and the chair to sit on it. He understands many more signs since sometimes I just sign to him without speaking. Also, my niece Elizabeth, who was hearing impaired from birth until surgery at 5.5 months, is now 11.5 months and signing sentences, such as "Play outside, Grammy" So, it works to start early as my sister and I did. Thanks so much for your great class. We got a lot out of it and continue to sign in conversation and reading books every day."
Seven Months Later
"Sean had over 50 spoken words and numerous signs at 15 months. Now, at 17 months, he is saying three word sentences. He continues to learn new signs and usually adopts both the sign and the spoken word at the same time. He also has made up his own signs, such as excavator - which is sort of a modified elephant. I knew what he meant the first time he used it! I am very happy to have a baby that likes communicating. The redundancy certainly helps since the sign and spoken word together, especially at the early stages, gave us a clue, and he was so excited that we understood him, I think it encouraged him to try more. Plus, the alphabet placemat taught me the signing alphabet (good for working with my deaf student) and I am sure contributed to Sean knowing his alphabet since he loved going over it with me. Thanks again!"
DLL and 17 month Sean (Pacifica, CA)
"When Miriam was 12 months old we started classes with Happy Baby Signs' 6-week Playgroup Boom and within a month she was signing many useful signs including: BROCCOLI, BABY, as well as MORE, ALL DONE, BATH, SLEEP, and BALL. Communication became much less frustrating! We liked it so much we organized the 6-week Playgroup Zoom at our house. Soon, she was signing "More food please." Organizing the play group schedule ourselves allowed me to attend most of the classes and learn quite a bit of ASL while juggling my career and our older son's schedule."
Dr. Sara Goldhaber-Fiebert and 17 month old Miriam (Anesthesiologist in Palo Alto CA)
"Lorelei has so many signs now it's hard to keep track! Thanks so much for introducing us to this wonderful way to communicate with our daughter!"
Kristen and 12 month old Lorelei (Belmont, CA)
I have to say, I was originally a skeptic and did not think sign language would benefit a child's language development. That is entirely untrue and was solely based on my uneducated opinion at the time. I changed my mind within minutes of attending my first class taught by Bill. There was so much information about the benefits of teaching your child sign language that go far beyond the linguistic advantages and it all made perfect sense. I was immediately intrigued by the teaching style and enjoyed the four week class I attended with my then 11 months old daughter at the Foster City library last November. At first, I didn't think she responded much to my efforts of signing with her, but I enjoyed going to the class so much that I stuck with it and I kept signing with her. Of course my "vocabulary" was still very limited, but my enthusiasm did not dwindle and when the Woodward library and then Atherton offered the classes in 2015 I knew I would go again with my daughter. Those classes were taught by Erika and while I really liked Bill as a teacher I must say Erika topped it all off! She is wonderful with kids, and her class is fun even for adults. I find myself glued to her performance (for lack of a better word). She sings songs (her voice is lovely) and reads books with tons of facial expressions and gestures to keep the little ones entertained and interested while teaching them american sign language. Even if you had no intention of learning the signs, I guarantee you, you would enjoy her class. She brings items to the class that pertain to the topic she is teaching, weaves them into the stories she is telling and songs she is singing, thereby helping capture the children's attention. The kids learn american sign language in a fun and entertaining way. It is obvious that Erika enjoys working with children and teaching them sign language. She is excellent at what she does. The best part is, my daughter is now 16 months old and is using roughly 30-40 signs. It is amazing how all of a sudden she picked them up and started to sign back to us. At first there was the sign "more" and "milk", then nothing for a little while, and then within days, her sign vocabulary expanded tremendously. It was like an avalanche of signs all of a sudden. The other day I pushed her in the shopping cart past the strawberries at the grocery store, and she signed "strawberry" to me. She can't say the word yet, and without her ability to sign, it would have gone completely unnoticed by me that she recognizes the fruit, but thanks to the sign language we were able to have that "conversation". And it goes on and on, this is just one of many examples. Your kids will feel less frustrated trying to tell you what they want, because you will understand their signs before they can express themselves in spoken language sufficiently to be understood. It's an amazing tool and I am so glad to have ignored my initial hesitation and gone to that first class. All it took was 5 minutes to change my mind and the two teachers I have met from Happy Baby Signs are both phenomenal. Erika in particular is exceptionally wonderful with kids. I highly recommend Happy Baby Signs and their American Sign Language classes. The best activity I have gone to with my daughter besides swimming, which she loves also, and she can sign water and fish, so we have sign language conversations about that as well.... :) Long story short, go and try out their classes, you will not regret it!
Elisabeth M.
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
We took Baby Sign Language with Bill at Blossom Birth. It was absolutely fantastic. I had no interest in this as I thought it was another silly baby class trend designed to make new parents spend even more money, but I happened to catch an intro at Whole Foods and as Bill talked about the benefits of being able to communicate sooner and better with your baby/toddler - giving then a sense of control, a voice, a start on labeling and categorizing the world around them, I was hooked.
I was not disappointed when I joined the class and my husband and baby loved it as well. Bill is fun and engaging and sings songs, teaches relevant vocabulary with lots of parenting pointers along the way. We also had Aniko observing our class and substituting and she is a great new teacher that I wouldn't hesitate to take a class with. I highly recommend these classes - everyone had a wonderful time and we are really enjoying communicating not only with our son, but as an added bonus we use it a lot with each other in social situations (to communicate a need without interrupting someone, like water) and when we don't want to wake the baby. Loved it!
Gina L.
Mountain View, CA
I took the baby sign language workshop and Boom playgroup series at Kaiser in Redwood City. It was a really great experience. My baby was 6-7 months old during the class. I thought her age was perfect. We took her to all the classes (you are welcome to bring your baby or leave her at home) and she wasn't old enough yet to get into trouble and crawl all around, but was old enough that she could play with toys and sit up on her own while I participated in the class.
It really was a sign language class for adults, but with the vocabulary geared toward baby activities. In order for it to be worthwhile it took (and still takes) a lot of commitment from the parents. Since I took the class about 6 months ago I've been signing while talking to my baby every single day. When I look for books or toys to get her, I try to find ones with clear pictures of items I know how to sign (e.g. a book with a realistic looking bird as the main character rather than a cartoon monster). The class itself is only as useful as you make it.
After about 3 months of signing to my baby, she started using "milk". Now she can clearly and confidently sign "more", "help" and quite a few animals and household objects ("ball", "hat", "dog"). She gets a big smile and look of pride on her face when she recognizes an object, does the sign for it, and then gets a positive reaction from me. I feel like I've given her another tool for communicating and learning about the world around her.
I'd recommend taking the 1-day workshop if you are interested. You might be able to cobble together a useful vocabulary using online videos and library books, but it would be good to at least get a baseline understanding of how to sign and how to use body language with your baby before turning to the internet for help. Probably the best part of the class was the accountability. It was easier to diligently practice when I knew I'd have another class in a week. So if you are the type of person that joins a gym just to give you an incentive to work out, this would be a great class for you. If you are totally self-motivated, perhaps the workshop only would suffice.
Hollie P.
San Francisco, CA
I wanted to extend a sincere thanks from my husband and myself for what you taught us with our son in your baby signing class at Carmel Blue. It REALLY helps us communicate with him. And lately he's been surprising us daily with both words, and his ability to sign new signs. Starting younger helped. He's 15 months old and he now signs: more, milk, duck, froggie, sleep, elephant, water, bread (his favorite food), and "eat" a first the the other day! YAY! and chicken. Probably some I'm forgetting. But I am really impressed.
The Young Family
San Francisco
Update a year later, he is still signing, speaks above average, and we are teaching him some Spanish and Chinese, using sign language as the translator for these languages. It's super helpful. Also, he wants to learn how to read already, so we are looking the finger spelling to connect letters for him on a kinesthetic level. Great stuff!
San Francisco, CA
We love Baby Sign Language Class at Carmel Blue in North Beach. Bill White at Happy Baby Signs Baby Sign Language is the best of the best. He is very focused on making teaching/learning fun for parents and babies and does so with an understanding on the time constraints for new parents. His anecdotes will have you rolling, and you'll also get a nice adult vocabulary as well... for those margaritas we all want to get after class :). I'm a firm believer (once a skeptic) of baby sign language after bill's teachings, and love having a new way to interact with my little one (5 months). The workshop was very informative and offered a sound base of understanding in the benefits of baby sign language and WHY it works. We've enrolled in Boom and Zoom, and may even do a repeat class just because we find it fun and educational. Its also a great way to meet other parents and babies :).
Ali E.
San Francisco, CA
I'm a new mom of a seven month old and have probably taken every "new baby" class there is in San Francisco. I can say without any reservation that Bill's sign language class is the best class I've taken so far. Highly recommended!
Candice S.
San Francisco, CA
My wife, 7-month old and I started Bill's baby sign language class two weeks ago, and we've loved every minute of it. Having been to a handful of pregnancy- and baby-related classes over the past, oh, 16 months, I was starting to think that all instructors in the category 1) were not good teachers, 2) had zero time management skills, and 3) were completely self-unaware about points 1 and 2.
Bill is the total opposite. The class is well-organized, he communicates the agenda ahead of time, he stays on-topic (and when he doesn't, it's enjoyable), and most importantly, he's a fantastic teacher. Anyone who can keep the rapt attention of a handful of babies and their parents is a talented guy.
The classes are an hour long, and Bill is such an enthusiastic teacher, and keeps things moving so well that the time flies by, and before you know it, you're talking with your hands. He's a real multi-dimensional teacher, in the sense that he engages a lot of the senses in the process. Obviously sign language involves the hands and body, but he adds sound effects (since the babies can hear), and uses a lot of singing and helpful mnemonics to keep everyone on track.
Only two weeks in, and I'm using about 20 different signs on a regular basis with my baby. Looking forward to the next four weeks of classes!
Andrew M.
San Francisco, CA
A group of us - enthusiastic moms, dads and babes - got together and hired a baby sign language instructor from Happy Baby Signs to teach us signs every week for a few months...
There were about 8 classes, and each session had a different topic - food, bath, family, colors, etc. I admit...the materials were sometimes overwhelming to me and my husband since there were lots to learn in one hour. But the instructor provided us with sufficient review materials and offered books and DVDs for purchase if we wanted to also study on our own.
Each class was fun. She incorporated games, songs, props and video demonstrations to enhance learning. She welcomed all questions and was patient with crying, crawling and running babies.
As for the actual signing...we have yet to learn it well, but we're eager to start signing with our baby. It's an amazing way of communicating with your little ones even before their first words!
SUM: Highly recommended.
Keiko S.
Singapore, Singapore
When I was about 4 months pregnant, we got to watch Bill's baby sign demo @ the SF Birth & Baby Fair. After being a teacher in early childhood education for many years, I knew the importance of signing with little ones & it's many benefits. That being said, I never knew just how important it was until my husband Brad & I watched Bill's demo that day! Walking away from the demo it was as if the light bulb went off for both us & we instantly looked at one another & said "WE HAVE TO DO THIS & REALLY DO IT." We signed up for the introductory class at DayOne in Palo Alto with Bill so that we could learn some basic signs before our son was born. When we brought our son Emery home from the hospital we started using the basic signs that we learned so that we could become acquainted, comfortable, & confident in signing before Emery was old enough for us to begin signing with him. Surprisingly at 4 months old he signed MILK! My husband and I saw him & we signed it back to him & said "You want milk?" & he signed it repeatedly! When my husband came back into the room with the bottle & showed it to Emery he signed milk! Emery signing back to us had began. We were BEYOND excited. The very next day we called DayOne & we enrolled in Bill's playgroup series & convinced another couple we are friends with who has a son Emery's age to enroll too! In the next month & a 1/2, Emery continued signing milk on & off & we continued signing to him at *EVERY* opportunity we had. We learned so much from Bill's classes & enjoyed them so much. The next sign Emery added to his vocabulary was "change" (change diaper), he really didn't like having a wet diaper! Emery had been signing "change" for about a month and a 1/2 and when we were down in Southern California in the summer visiting my in laws, he kept signing change, change, change, change, change! Brad & I kept checking him & he wasn't wet nor had he had a BM so we kept saying "you aren't wet, you aren't poopy, you don't need to be changed right now." Well Emery had a different idea to that, he kept signing change, change, change for 15-20 minutes & began getting very upset (Hello Mom & Dad, I'm signing CHANGE ME!) so as Emery was persistent, I said to my husband "maybe something is bothering him, perhaps the diaper is rubbing him or something." So Brad went to change him & we were shocked! Inside Emery's diaper was an ANT! A live, crawling around ANT! Well long story short... my in laws had a minor ant invasion upstairs in one of their bathrooms (the one we had stored Emery's diapers in). POOR BABY! It was from that point on that we were true believers in the power of communication that baby signing can give a baby and its parents! Also, of course we felt horrible that we weren't listening to him before! Fast forward a few more months to Emery being between 8-11 months & his signing vocabulary just exploded over night it seemed!!! He was signing milk, change, eat, more, tree, dog, light, Daddy, ball, bird, animals, hurt/owwie, medicine, it was AMAZING! Not only had we become total fans of baby signing but also of Teacher Bill too! Any baby fairs we would go to, we always would go & see Bill's demo. He's such a nice, genuine guy which a wonderful sense of humor & charismatic energy. His passion of signing has become ours. Now (as of July 2013) Emery is a few days shy of 17 months old & he has over 100 signs (we actually stopped counting about 3 months ago while on vacation in the midwest and east coast & at that time he had 92 signs that we had noted in his baby book) and he also has 50+ verbal words (now of course, some of which others who don't know Emery might not understand but we sure do! Example: "nanny" is "banana" "mmm-o" is remote, etc.) Emery is also signing & verbally speaking words (says & signs "nanny" for banana). I can not tell people enough how much we recommend Happy Baby Signs for baby signing classes nor how great Bill truly is. Baby signing for us has been such a huge part of our lives as first time parents. It's been a monumental experience for us & I know years & years & years down the road when we look back at Emery's early years, baby signing will always be a HUGE memory of it. Our immediate families also have learned baby sign & have signed with Emery since he was months old and it has allowed them to communicate with & understand Emery's wants & needs. What a perfect way to show Emery that the people in his life care about what he has to say!!! (Something Bill is always mentioning, well it's nothing but the truth!) It has been a lot of fun, extremely beneficial, & has allowed us to bond with Emery in ways we couldn't have without the use of signing with him. We are happy that Happy Baby Signs is going to be starting Toddler signing classes soon & we can't wait to sign up. Hubbie & I are currently working on a video montage of Emery's journey with baby sign & will send it to Happy Baby Signs when it is done. THX Happy Baby Signs & TEACHER BILL! YOU ROCK!
Crystal C.
Fremont, CA
I took a Sign Language Class with Bill White and absolutely loved it! Having a new confidence and way to communicate with your infant or toddler is priceless!
Emily G.
Palo Alto, CA
"I just wanted to say, 'Thank you' again for introducing us to baby sign language. Orea is doing more signs everyday and it has been so much fun for us. Her most consistent signs have been dog, bird, monkey, eat, milk, bath, book and she even made up her own sign. She mixed the tilting of the hand 'drink' with a thumb in her mouth for 'sippy cup'. And every night before bedtime she makes sure she signs the work 'book' several times so that we don't miss that very important step. And my final bragging point....she has been adding signs together for sentences...like 'more' + 'milk' and 'more' + 'book'.
Anyway, I guess you can tell we are loving it and I really enjoyed your classes. You have a fun way of presenting the material without being too rigid. It was relaxing and fun! I hope you keep teaching the classes and passing on your knowledge and enthusiasm to others."
Patricia and 15 month old Orea (Santa Cruz, CA)
"I wanted to thank you so much for the gift of signing. It is really the gift of being able to communicate with our daughter. She has about 60 words now at 15.5 months (~45 signs and 15 spoken words). The range of communication--understanding and expression is really wide and I am so grateful to be able to know what she wants to eat (usually pizza) and what she is thinking about (usually ducks). :)
Again, many thanks. You did a phenomenal job in introducing us to this, giving us this brilliant skill, and helping us to have so much fun getting to know Lilly through signs."
Eugenie and 15 month old Lilly. (Palo Alto, CA) Email address available upon request
"Ruby is now 14 months and has been doing signs since about 11 months - milk and more were the first. She also does bath and bed and several animal signs. Now that she is older she picks up the signs so quickly after only a few times of showing her. We are back in Australia now and everybody is amazed at how she is communicating. Thanks so much for your class and encouragement."
Sally and 14 month old Ruby (Australia) Email upon request
"We love the class. It is a lot of fun and is making learning how to sign so much easier than looking it up in a book or online. After the first class, my husband and I were amazed at how many words we learned in just one hour. Cassie really enjoys watching the instructor as he signs and makes sounds for every word. We have started showing our sitter some of the signs so she too can use them with Cassie and the other kids. Well worth the money and a great time for the family."
Dawn, Mike and eight month old, Cassie (San Jose, CA)
"Just thought you would like to know that Kyla is signing. She started signing "milk" the day she turned 9 months. Now, a few weeks later is signing "eat", "music", and "more"! We are so proud :) Thanks again for a great class!"
Corinne, Jason, and 9 month old Kyla (Santa Cruz, CA)
Now living in Norway, fast forward one year:
"My daughter and I took your class a little over a year ago in Santa Cruz when she was 6 months old. She started signing for milk at nine months and learned over 70 signs. She became extremely verbal at 18 months and now at 22 months she still signs sometimes while saying the word. We moved to Norway 2 months ago and she is already starting to pick up some Norwegian. I think her signing was a great foundation for her being multilingual. Thanks for a great class!"
Corinne, Jason, and 22 month old Kyla (Sandefjord, Norway)
"I've been meaning to email for a long time, but what happened this week really prompted me to do so.
I took your 6-week class when my son, Nolan, was a few months old. He's now 23 months. I don't feel like I was as active as I could have been in teaching him signs (I know so many after taking your class!), but he probably has almost 50 and still uses them all the time even while he says the words out loud. It's always been so cute to see him sign -I still think "moon" is one of my favorites and "help" has been so helpful these days to cut down on frustration.
Anyway, a funny thing happened when I was putting him to bed the other night. We always "talk about our day" after reading stories and before singing songs. We've been in Grass Valley visiting family and his 1-month-younger cousin, Emmett, is his best friend & best rival depending on what kind of mood either of them are in.
Nolan calls himself "Nono" and calls Emmett "Emmy" and this is what he told me when I asked him about the day:
Nolan: "Emmy [signs "cry"]"
Me: "Aw. Emmy was crying? What happened?"
Nolan: "[signs "hurt" and smacks himself on the head]"
Me: "Oh? Emmy hurt his head? Did he hit his head?"
Nolan: "Yeah."
Me: "What hit his head?"
Nolan: Points to his chest, "Nono!"
Ha ha! Ok, not really a ton of signs used, but a great & funny example of how he can communicate a whole story with the use of both signs & spoken words. As a side note, my sister-in-law says he's already a great Catholic -confessing his sins so he can sleep with a clear conscience!
I hope you're well. Thanks so much for the experience, I've really enjoyed signing with him and now plan to continue it with my 4-month-old daughter. Take care."
Solvay, and 23 month old Nolan, and 22 month old friend, Emmett (San Francisco, CA)
"I just wanted to let you know that Vivian is signing 'milk', 'good bye', and 'up'. She started doing it two weeks a go. It was very exciting, I'm so happy."
Sandra and seven month old Vivian (Redwood City, CA)
"Just wanted to share Cassia Jade signing fish at the water in downtown SF. She only has 3 words now but she has 25 signs! I love that she can tell me what she wants and when she is hungry. It has made our time together much easier on both of us. Thanks for the signs!"
Oriana Duranczk, Tony Cresci and 12 month old Cassia Jade Cresci (San Francisco, CA) Email Oriana by request
"I want to thank you again for the wonderful workshop you did yesterday at the Edenvale Library. I'm so excited to learn more! I had gone to other sign language play dates and always felt like it was too much work and a hassle. It seemed complicated and unclear. But you made it so much fun and easy for me to learn that I continued using all of the signs the rest of the day. By six o'clock my 18-month-old daughter was trying to sign back to me! I could not believe it! I know this will help her and her little brother so much! Last night my son cried and cried (very unusual for him) and I wished so badly that he knew the sign for pain!
I want to thank you for being so generous and amazing with the children. For me it's hard to do things where I need to keep my toddler and my 7-month-old still for a long period of time, but your attitude about them walking, crawling and screaming was so relaxed, open and positive, I felt really at ease and not like a bother to you or the other moms. It allowed me to relax and learn while my children were... children. Also, I can't believe it, but my 7-month-old daughter used her first sign today! Just one day after we started signing! She asked for MORE bread... and more... and more... and more. She was so happy I understood her and was shining with pride... as was I! Thank you!"
Kara Herrera (San Jose, CA)
"My husband and I love the classes. Our 10 month old, William, is having a blast and we are having so much fun learning the signs. We started to teach him a few signs - nurse/milk, eat, more, please and thank you when he was about 2 months old (a friend taught us these basic signs). William started to sign back nurse to us when he was about 6 months old. The instructor, Bill, is fantastic and he makes learning the signs very easy. We have no background in sign language and Bill's teaching method has made it really easy to pick up. The parents in the classes are also really nice."
Kelley (Mommy to William who waved bye-bye to her for the first time today)
"I am personally enjoying the classes. The instructor, Bill, is very good, he does a great job of providing associations with each sign which makes it easier to learn (that something I haven't seen in the books, flash cards or videos I have). Also it's fun to get together with other parents and their babies during the class."
L.B. and six month old Alana (Santa Clara, CA)
"We are glad to report that baby Zacahry started signing at 12 and half month old. He can do 7 signs now - milk, water, strawberry, go out (like a hat sign by pressing his head), change, airplane, animals (he can't distinguish the dog or cat yet). We enjoyed the connection with him at this age through signing. It's one of the best things we did to take your class. It's always enjoyable to be at your class."
Jing, Kevin, and 12 and a half month old Zacahry Heisler (Redwood Shores, CA)
"Our little Sienna is 15-months old. We were in Bill's classes when she was about 6-9 months old. Now she is signing about 20 different signs - some helpful, some just cute! I especially love when she signs 'please', 'thank you', 'beautiful' and 'red'. What we find most helpful is when sienna is 'whining' for something, we can say to her 'please use your signs and she will stop the whining, and she will try to tell us something with a sign'. This is a relief from the whining but more importantly, we realize that she can tell us something and she understands us. We can't believe this early in her life she really 'gets things', more than we think."
Koryn and 15 month old Sienna (San Francisco, CA)
"James Gordon is 15 months yesterday. Even though a lot of his gestures are reflexive – fists and extensions - I'm almost certain he attempted this yesterday. It was 'change'. The situation, physical conversational context is why I felt certain he was trying this one out.
We were playing, smiling, having fun. He was fussy and we were trying to find happiness again, holding and entertaining in my lap. He was sitting up, lightly supported by one of my hands and a pillow. I started to show his favorite pictures, let him touch, push them out of my hands, grab hold of, etc. He stared at this one design he really likes to study and didn't touch like he usually does. He slowed down and watched his fists come together – carefully. Then he tried to move them – while they were touching each other. I've never seen him do that before. I said "change!". We immediately went to the changing table and blow me down…he needed a change. He smiled so big when we got to the changing table and I made the sign back to him…it looked and felt like understanding.
I sign to him all the time and when he gets control of those little muscles, it's going to be awesome to see how much information he's collected."
Jamie and 15 month old James Gordon (Santa Cruz, CA)
"Just wanted to send a note to let you know we really enjoyed your class with my son, Julius, whose favorite signs are 'milk' and up'. We did a sign language class when [our older daughter] Shayla was a baby and it was really useful for us that she could communicate before she could talk. But I enjoyed your class even more because your teaching methods really worked. I picked up far more words than I did in my last signing class. I think you're a lovely and warm person who was born to teach. You're a terrific teacher and you're simply amazing with the kids."
Lovina Warick, Shayla and 12 month old Julius (Santa Clara, CA)
"Dennis is signing a lot... in fact, I'm finding it hard to keep my vocabulary ahead of his! He has even made up a sign or two... sometimes a little challenging to figure out, but it's fun. I'm totally convinced that it really helps keep him a happy baby. I want to personally thank all of you because I don't think I'd have been as successful in signing with him without our playgroup!"
C.G. and 16 month old Dennis (San Francisco, CA)
"I keep showing Lucas the proper signs and he's now picked up Drink which helps a lot. For Eat and More he still claps probably because we understand him and he's communicating which I guess is more important. Lately he's really been picking up the signs and it's been a lot of fun. His favorites are ball, plant, light, banana, drink, and more-eat, and he understands a lot of others.
I have to admit not only is it adorable but it's really exciting to be able to communicate with Lucas at such a young age. He lights up when he signs and I can tell he feels empowered to be able to communicate too. Thanks for the workshop on signing."
Kira and 12 month old Lucas (San Francisco, CA)
"We took your signing class a while ago at the 4C's in San Mateo. I have been meaning to write you for a while but Lily really took to signing. We waited and kept signing and then all of the sudden between a year and 14 months she really exploded! It was like she looked at her fingers and figured 'I can tell them what I want with these things!' By 16 months she was signing about 60 - 70 different things. It helped that Pete and I both taught and used different signs with her so she had a larger vocabulary than either of us! Lily is now 20 months and speaking very clearly and has a large vocabulary, she picks up and knows words the first time she hears them. She still uses signs a lot too. She always signs and says 'please' at the same time, and the same with her colors. I have been meaning to write you and tell you how amazed we were by signing and the grandparents can not stop telling people about it, they think it is so cool!"
Ginger Lordy, Peter Todd and 29 month old Lily Todd (Redwood City, CA)
"I really think this is the best thing we've done for Avik (and for ourselves). Here's a list of the signs Avik knows: strawberry, popcorn, bird, eat, drink, water, milk, dog, cat, hurt, help, out, melon, cheese, bread, baby, music, tomato, grapes, banana, apple, candy, fish, book, cracker, up, down, sleep, shoes, spoon, change (as in diapers), play, finished, more, crayon, and tree."
Pia, Anish, and 17 month old Avik Srivastava (Redwood City, CA)
"Faith has been signing for the past month now and I'm so excited about it. Her 1st sign was 'milk', then 'dog', and now she signs 'baby', 'eat', and 'more'. I do feel it has helped our relationship as we are now able to understand each other and she's started to talk a little bit. Thank you so much."
Jessica, Erwin, and 12 month old Faith (South San Francisco, CA)
"Zack is walking now - just started on his own 3 weeks ago. And he's signing and talking a lot too. I'm having so much fun with the signing. And everyone who sees Zack and I communicate via sign is so impressed. Thanks for all the information you've shared through your classes! I am planning to sign up for the Elementary American Sign Language I class at CSM for the fall."
Christy and 15 month old Zack (San Mateo, CA)
"Our son is almost two and speaking in sentences. It was so much fun to sign with him (he still uses a few signs) and I really think it made a difference in our communication with him. You made learning sign language fun, entertaining and easy! I really enjoyed communicating with him starting when he was only 9 months old. I think the fact that we could understand his signs made him feel good! If I could do it all again, I'd teach him even more signs to lessen the frustration we both feel when I can't understand what he's saying!"
L. R. and her two year old (Burlingame, CA)
"I just wanted to let you know that Vivian is signing 'milk', 'good bye', and 'up'. She started doing it two weeks a go. It was very exciting, I'm so happy."
Sandra and seven month old Vivian (Redwood City, CA)
"After 4 or 5 months of signing food, water, more, and milk to Leo, all at once he's signing back! He's already added airplane and sometimes dog. Mind-blowingly cool! Thanks for your help. "
Rennie and 12 month old Leo (San Francisco, CA)
"I am fully communicating with my 16 month old. Every single day his sign language vocabulary is growing and I find myself surprised often at what he is picking up. There have been times when I thought he was ignoring my sign language, but then out of the blue he will sign the word. I am very thankful for the connection that I share with my son, Judah. You have helped me give my son a voice and he can't even speak right now! Yesterday I gave him a snack and he signed, 'thank you.' I was amazed… this is the best feeling!"
Christine and 16 month old Judah (Redwood City, CA)
"I just wanted to drop you a note and tell that Travis is signing like crazy now and how glad we are that we attended your classes. Every time a plane flies overhead, Travis swings his arm back and forth. He can usually hear them 15 seconds before I do. Or when a truck passes by… he signs truck. When he hears the train… he just touches two fingers together. But it is easy for us to learn his modified signs. He loves to sign 'all done' when he is bored with anything… especially his highchair.
It is so nice to be able to communicate with him while he is still working on mastering making sounds to speak. It is easy to see how this gets babies communicating sooner and more quickly making sense of their world. A million thanks!"
Gary, Melanie Lambert and 13 month old Travis (Menlo Park, CA)
"I just HAD to tell you Casey had made her first signs!! We were in Tahoe at a restaurant where a little girl had a ski helmet that had a unicorn horn on it and some brightly colored mane, and Casey wanted to see it. The little girl was ignoring her, and she just turned to me with this look of desperation and signed 'hat.' It was just the best thing ever. She's also started signing 'want' which she saw in that last class with you. She does that one all the time now. It's just SO GREAT!! Barry and I are just thrilled, of course. Anyway, we can't thank you enough! Your classes are just so much fun and we just love signing."
Dawn, Barry, and nine month old Casey (San Jose, CA)
"Bill White's signing classes not only were full of fun, but also incredible tools to communicate with our baby. Our daughter is 10 months and signing over 10 things. We can communicate effectively and also share in a new and fun way with one another. It is so important to find a common language. Bill White has an incredible way of teaching and creating a very fun and safe environment for families."
Jenny Ward, Playward Inc. and ten month old Leela (Palo Alto, CA)
"I just wanted to let you know that Judah, who is 12 months old, now signs to us when he has a dirty (poo poo) diaper. I began showing him the sign for poo poo when I knew he was going, but I also added a clap after the sign and I would add, 'Yeah Judah!' So now when he claps out of the blue, I know I need to check his diaper. I absolutely am a fan of baby signing. Can you believe I am communicating with my 12 month old?
Any parent would be nuts not to sign with their baby. I absolutely enjoy closing the communication gap with Judah. As he looks to my hands for signs, I feel closer to him. You cannot beat this. Thanks for your teachings!"
Christine and 12 month old Judah (Redwood City, CA)
"Yesterday the most amazing thing happened. We were playing with a stuffed animal, a pig, which we had received as a present (it is really cute!). Anyway, Abigail started putting her hand underneath her chin moving her fingers. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I thought she had a itch, a rash (she has eczema) or something. She kept doing it and it wasn't until later that day it clicked with me she was doing the sign for pig! I didn't even remember the sign for pig myself (shame on me!), so how did she remember? She didn't see me doing it... did she remember from class? We only have one signing DVD (we really need to purchase more from you when we see you next) and I know they don't do pig on the video. We have the first one in the Signing time series (with Alex and Lea) where they do basics like ball, mom, dad, baby, want, etc. So how did she know? Anyway, we now BOTH are signing pig! When we see a cow, she says moo or a duck she tries to say duck to quack, but doesn't show me the sign. She signs dog (she has been doing that one since 8 months) and now pig... oh, and bird. I think I mentioned she does butterfly and seal and those are both really cute to see. Another fairly recent one has been lion which is so cute to see as she makes this look and puts her hand through her hair. It is so cute the way she signs baby and moves her hands from side to side as she cradles a baby. I swear that girl makes me melt a thousand times a day.
I have been keeping track of her signs, but not so good to put an age by each one. Basically when she turned a year, I feel like her signing just took off one morning, and she has been giving me half a dozen or so signs each day. (dog, more, different animals, baby, ball, mom and dad, etc.). She taps the top of her head for dad and her chin for mom... similar to water, but for water she puts the bottom of her hand/wrist up to her mouth. She doesn't do 'mom' a lot, but when I do 'mama loves you' like you taught us, she smiles, so I believe she understands. I think she understands the signs and is working on doing them back little by little. It is interesting because it is like Spanish for me. I understand a whole lot more than I can articulate. My father spoke it at home sometimes (my mom doesn't speak a word) and I studied Spanish in school and college, but without practicing my verbal command isn't the best.
So glad we will see you in the New Year. After Abby did pig yesterday though out of the blue, I wish we could see you or do a class sooner. I think she really thrives off of it, and definitely has taken to sign language classes which I am so happy to report!"
Jessica Chamé, and 15 month old Abby (Redwood City, CA)
"Thanks for the great intro session. I never thought I'd be signing with my baby when I first learned sign language years ago. I only signed with Tazu a few times, but your session encouraged me to use more words and more importantly to have FUN with it! Thanks so much."
Maria Luisi, Seth and Tazu (Burlingame, CA)
"We attended four playgroup sessions at your home about six months ago, when our daughter was around nine months old. We diligently began signing with her and were met with a lack of response. Our parents reacted to our endeavors in different ways. Some showed a little interest but lost enthusiasm within a couple weeks, and some conveyed skepticism and said things like, 'She'll be talking before she signs.' Admittedly, after a couple months of not seeing results, I lost steam and stopped signing. But almost the moment I stopped, our daughter came to the rescue and signed 'more'. We regained our enthusiasm and haven't looked back since.
Now at 15 months, our daughter has demonstrated 28 signs, over double the number of words she can say verbally. What's amusing is I thought she would start telling me about things like diaper changes. Instead she started signing animals like 'frog' months before she signed 'change'. It's a look at what's important in her world; animals are huge!
I now hear my once-skeptical in-laws proudly tell people about their grandchild's signing, and on a recent visit to my office, my co-workers eagerly awaited each sign she demonstrated. I was even stopped in a coffee shop when someone noticed us signing. I explain the reasons for and the benefits of signing, so people know it's not just a neat parlor trick!
It's so wondrous when our daughter points something out to us, and it's fulfilling to have this two-way communication with her. Once she signed 'fish' while looking into a friend's backyard. I insisted there were no fish out there, but when I looked around the corner at her line of sight, I saw there was a fish/rocking horse outside! Another time, I was bringing her home from my parents' house. As I put her into her car seat, she began crying. I started to try to soothe her, and then she signed 'milk.' If she couldn't have told me what she wanted, I would have driven for 30 minutes with a hungry and upset baby in the back seat. Instead I took her back into the house, fed her, and then had a calm drive home. I have so many more positive stories just like these.
Now I even see her actively looking at me to see how to identify an object with a sign. She is also picking up signs at a more rapid pace. I'm glad she encouraged us to continue signing with her! It's required a lot of dedication and hard work, but the results are more than worth it. Signing has given our daughter a way to express herself and be heard. I believe it boosts her sense of self-confidence and eases her frustrations (and, thus her parents' frustrations!)
Thank you, Bill, for sharing your knowledge and being so generous with your time during your lessons, which were fun and organized. Your extra explanations and stories behind the signs were not only interesting, but they helped me retain the majority of what you taught. At this preverbal stage, our daughter's use of sign language has allowed us to interact on a whole other level, and it's been wonderful!
Steve, Wendy, and 14 month old Sophie (San Mateo, CA)
"Last week the cutest thing happened here at Bloom's childcare! One of our regular babies (she's about 17 months old), was trying to communicate something to me. She had her hands together at her chest and she was bending her front knee. It took me a minute, but I realized she was trying to show me that her mama was in yoga class! Her hands were in prayer while doing a warrior stance. I just about died laughing! She can't talk yet, but she can sure show me what she is thinking! Baby Signs is such a great way to start communicating with your little ones before they have their verbal skills!"
Michelle Long - Bloom Retreat Founder and Director
"Last week the cutest thing happened here at Bloom's childcare! One of our regular babies (she's about 17 months old), was trying to communicate something to me. She had her hands together at her chest and she was bending her front knee. It took me a minute, but I realized she was trying to show me that her mama was in yoga class! Her hands were in prayer while doing a warrior stance. I just about died laughing! She can't talk yet, but she can sure show me what she is thinking! Baby Signs is such a great way to start communicating with your little ones before they have their verbal skills!"
Michelle Long - Bloom Retreat Founder and Director


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La Residence Villas & Studios overlooks the beautiful bay of Anse la Mouche on the southwest coast of Mahé island, the biggest and most populated in the Seychelles island chain. This intimate collection of self-catering villas is set among tropical flowers and fruit trees and decorated in a color scheme of crisp white and natural wood furnishings.
Guests can choose from two-bedroom villas, studios and one-bedroom apartments. Spacious living quarters open up to spectacular views of tropical flowers and the turquoise-toned water of the Indian Ocean. All of the rooms have fully equipped kitchenettes and terraces.
Whether on vacation for rest and relaxation or adventurous activity, travelers will find plenty to do, or not do, on the island of Mahé. La Residence has a private beach, garden and picnic area. Diving excursions, boat tours and fishing trips can be organized. Restaurants and shops are within walking distance, and there is a nearby golf course.
With its jungles, mountains, beaches and waterfalls, Mahé is a nature lover's dream destination and a great base from which to explore other islands in the chain. La Residence Villas & Studios is located within close proximity to the airport and Victoria, the capital of Mahé.
Room Types:
Longitude: 55.491890000000

subset: commoncrawl


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In September I wrote a guest blog for JDRF on the difficult experience of the first few weeks of my six year old son Jasper's new pumping regime. Four months have passed since Jasper got his Medtronic 640 and thankfully a lot has changed from those tough early days. This is in no small part down to a surprising revelation Jasper made about how he learned to accept his pump, mostly thanks to an elephant named Jake!
I talked in that blog about how the pump had definitely made things more consistent with his glucose levels and we were experiencing fewer hypos. But I had found in the first couple of weeks of the pump that Jasper's moods were terribly erratic and he would fly into a rage at the smallest thing, even when his blood glucose levels were normal.
This was having a negative effect on the whole family dynamic so I decided to see a hospital's resident child psychologist.
For the first meeting with a psychologist I went alone and found it really beneficial. There were two key messages I took away with me; that it's totally acceptable for me to be angry at Jasper's diabetes and I need to be able to admit to him that I have angry days too. I had been so upset at seeing him worked up that I had almost been getting angry trying to calm him down. This had only been making him worse and he had started resenting me for it.
After that things improved dramatically – I let him express his anger and frustration at the condition and sometimes we would just have a chat about how we both didn't like his diabetes but we were in this together.
The psychologist agreed with me that I still needed to reprimand him when he was rude to me rather than just angry at his diabetes as he still needed to know the behavioural limits that any child needed to adhere to.
Jasper came along to the next meeting and my contribution was very little! Since his diagnosis Jasper is wary of doctors so I told him that she was just a lady who was interested in knowing about his pump. He talked more in that appointment than I had ever heard him talk in all his reviews put together!
It emerged Jasper thought of his pump as an elephant called Jake. This was a revelation that I had never heard of before. Jake's body was the main part of the pump. His trunk was the cannula.
Jake was his friend and helped him, but Jasper felt angry when Jake stamped on his tummy and made it sore. 'Sometimes Jake is naughty and eats too much of my food making my tummy sore'. This was a description of his hypos. He explained some children had pulled Jake's trunk out of his tummy and caused him pain – we all chatted about how we could wrap Jake's trunk more securely into his pump bag so this didn't happen again.
I feel this dialogue was a big turning point. Instead of feeling hurt that he had talked about some things that he hadn't talked about to us at home, I felt relieved that he had found someone who was not embroiled in his everyday care, to talk to openly.
He was obviously ready to open up too. He has been a much happier child since then and has now embraced wearing Jake.
When asked how I find the pump I tell people it's not a miracle cure and it still throws unexpected curve balls – unexpected highs and lows when all your data analysis goes out the window.
But I think it is a much better regime for all of us and makes our lives a lot easier.
All in all 2016 is looking to be an easier year with Jake on board the type 1 diabetes ship.


text: Add style to your bathroom with the iDesign Geometric Fabric sc! Made of durable polyester material, this water-resistant sc is perfect for your kid's, teenager's, college dorm's, or even master bathroom! It features 12 reinforced button holes to slide easily onto any standard shower rod. The classic blue polka-dotted curtain adds a pop of color to any decor. When it comes time to freshen up the curtain, simply throw it in the washing machine and let it air dry. The iDesign Geometric Fabric Dotted sc measures 72" x 72", the perfect size for your bathroom. With iDesign by iDesign, you can #LiveSimply every day.


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What was the last "SCARY" movie you watched?
Discussion in 'Halloween' started by CharlestonNole, Jul 19, 2009.
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Join with us in celebrating 15 years of abcMallorca. It has been an interesting journey to say the least… Many moments filled with joy, excitement and creativity to bring you the best of what Mallorca has to offer. Looking back to our humble beginnings, I am filled with pride how the magazine, website and our community have evolved over the years.
Like any business we have had our share of ups and downs, successes and failures but through it all we have remained steadfast in our love for Mallorca. In our spring edition we recall the story of how it all began with abcMallorca (p.80) while also taking a look back at a selection of the wonderful people and personalities the magazine has featured within its pages through the years (p.86).
We also meet up with the talent behind one of Palma's hottest new fashion boutiques, Folklorious (p.94), as well as the founder of RA MA yoga institute, who is bringing the discipline of Kundalini to the island (p.114). Mallorca continues to be a magnet for filming projects, and we learn all about the latest big TV production, 'The Mallorca Files', being shot here (p.108). We also chat to the organiser behind the Mallorca Live music festival (p.120), now in its fourth successful year.
Also don't miss news on all the island's latest openings, what's on, and recent events! Over the years so many amazing people have contributed to abcMallorca – your support is greatly appreciated.
I want to say a very special thank-you to the abcMallorca team for their relentless hard work and commitment – your shared passion and enthusiasm for Mallorca makes it a pleasure to work with you. Enjoy our celebratory spring edition and here's to the next 15 years!
Helen and the abcMallorca team


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Title: Rancorous Call
Artists: Anna Viola Hallberg & Björn Perborg
Production Year: 2006
Format: Single Channel, Color, Stereo, HD Video or DVD, NTSC or PAL, region free
Duration: 60 sec
Language: English
Subtitles: Non
Genre: Found footage/animation/surveillance
Echoing through time the words from a speech originally held in 1775 with depth of panoptical dimensions. Barricades of artificial control mechanisms are installed to protect us from our selves – the ever expanding distance between us.
Voice over segment from Patrick Henrys speech in 1775:
"Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable – and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come. It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace – but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
Rancorous Call consists of imagery of surveillance cameras arranged in a symphony to Sir Patrick Henry's words uttered at St John's Church in Richmond, USA, and here interpreted by Richard Shumann. Completely based on found footages and sound collected from the Internet.
Rancorous Call Screened at:
::: Malmo Sommarscen 2010. 28 July, 10pm, Slottstradgarden, Malmo, Sweden.
::: The International video and contemporary arts festival Waterpieces 2009, Riga, Latvia, 4-6 September.
The programme will consist of works from Art Video Screenings archive. >>>
:::Urban Jealousy, The 1st International Roaming Biennial of Tehran, Belgrad, April 2009 >>>
::: Art Video Screening, Curators Jonas Nilsson & Eva Olsson at LOOP Videoart, International Festival & Fair for Videoart, Barcelona, Spain, 2009
::: Urban Jealousy, The 1st International Roaming Biennial of Tehran, Berlin 20 Nov. 2008 – 7 Dec. 2008, >>>
::: Urban Jealousy, The 1st International Roaming Biennial of Tehran, Curated by Serhat Koksal and Amirali Ghasemi, Istanbul, Turkey, 2008
::: Art Video Screening, Örebro, Sweden, April 2008
::: Art Outside ~ Making the revolution happen, Austin TX USA, March 2008
::: Galleri 54, Göteborg, December 2006
::: One Minute Film Festival, Toronto, CA, November 2006


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Spirituality, whether in the form of classical religion or fringe occultism, often fails to provide any fulfillment to the seeker. I think this is because it largely consists of seeking meaning in symbols, images, names, deities, or words, but these things are empty vessels which merely point to something else or remain empty. The whole experience is often little more than a process of aesthetic seduction by evocative images, or ominous-sounding words (often foreign), with nothing behind the aesthetic seduction.
Many try to relate to God, but if we're assuming God or something like it is real, people end up relating to a mere image of God instead of God's objective reality, which is quite distinct. If God is real, then s/he is far too expansive to be summed up by one thought. It's questionable if a person could even actually think of God in a single thought without being untrue to what God is, and relating to God requires a very different approach than merely thinking of him/her/it.
Sometimes the images/symbols/names/deities/words point to other images/symbols/names/deities/words (vessels). This leads the seeker through a "conversion career" of moving from one thing to another, each conversion acting as a sugar high that later leaves an aching vacuum requiring another conversion. (I've also seen people do this with leftist groups, suggesting a similar problem about the fetishistically theoretical nature of the groups.) Despite the cycling of vessels, significance lies ever elsewhere.
This conversion career can be done by changing religions or ideologies (ideologies also have many buzzwords to obsess over). However, a conversion career can also take place within a religion or ideology, with the seeker obsessing over different internal parts of it. A fundamentalist Christian fanatic could switch up which Bible verse they are currently fixated on, and feel the transition from one verse to another as some kind of God-sent revelation. Actually I am almost positive this is a common phenomenon.
Switching vessels is not the problem, though. The real problem is investing in vessels at all. If a seeker sticks with one vessel consistently, then they are still trying to find substance in something which won't provide any, because the fountain of spirit is always the Self. Again the seeker is caught in a vicious cycle, like quicksand, because they invest themselves more and more deeply in the empty vessel. They (again) find (brief) fulfillment in each increase of devotion, and then come up choking and empty-handed, frustrated and unfulfilled, proportionally to the extent of their emotional investment or devotion. What they put in, they hope to get back out in more than a momentary way, but they don't.
Again, the fountain of spirit is not the vessel but the Self that assigns the vessel significance. Possibly spirit is to be found in this emotional investment, this assignment of significance, this act of Self pouring into something else. But maybe the rough truth is that a life of devotion to symbolic vessels is not the way to do this, and is just not a fulfilling or even spiritual life at all. So what is?
There are two ways as far as I can tell to reach the divine state. The first is sensory. It can involve anything from ritual to meditation to learning to sex to drugs. You don't even need to be extreme in the last case; a few beers or cigarettes achieves the eternal now, for me personally anyway. Socializing is a curious combination of symbolic-and-sensory, because you enjoy the sights and sounds of other people but also invest significance into them as we might a vessel. (Of course people are actually real living entities but they are still entirely independently of your own willing, the import of which will be explained later.) Learning and studying philosophy are a similar combination-type – they are aesthetic because you discover the beauty of patterns in the world, and also you learn something potentially useful for whatever your life mission is.
I have come to be rather dismissive of the sensory approach, for reasons similar to why I don't currently involve myself with god-names or words. I suspect it is a temporary high, devoid of substance. To be sure, the divine state is often fleeting and impermanent even in the best of situations. You try to carry it with you as long as you can. But what we really need is something which at least performs a little better, something not reminiscent of "spirituality's" vicious cycle of investiture and withdrawal. For the sensory is identical: once you attune yourself to it and seek your fulfillment through it, it owns you. You will always seek to increase the intensity without the increases ever offering what you are truly looking for.
Hegel was right, and so by extension I suppose Marx too. Thelema is right, and the Temple of Set is right, and above all Nietzsche was right. The only spiritual path I have ever found actually creates a genuine moment of value-added (but which is not merely a moment) is when spirit steps down from its pedestal and digs its hands into the materials of Earth. The expression and manifestation of Self in an external object. Accomplishment. Labor. Work. Struggle. Art. Where spirit and matter combine.
In modern life this can be difficult. As The Onion wrote, "find the thing you're most passionate about, and do it on nights and weekends for the rest of your life" and went on to drive home the personal effects of forty-hour-a-week slavery. But whatever you do, you must do it with feeling. Do you go to work every day thinking your job is stupid and meaningless? It's okay, so do most people; according to a June 2013 Gallup poll, seven out of ten US workers feel actively disengaged at their jobs.
The key, as you work, is to remain continually mindful (better, emotionally aware) that you labor not for the work itself but for some higher intention, as a means of surviving to accomplish your life's mission. The Thelemites have beautifully reversed Maslow's hierarchy of needs: you can't find meaning if you can't eat, but you might as well not eat if you can't find meaning. They embody this in their pre-meal brief ritual: instead of "saying grace," they call it Saying Will:
What is thy will?
It is my will to eat and to drink.
To what end?
That I may fortify my body thereby.
To what end?
That I may accomplish the Great Work.
It is true that, in order to stay fulfilled in this way, the seeker must keep doing it, making it uncomfortably similar to the previously-rejected methods. The difference, which you can feel, is that instead of feeding an endless recurring hunger with each attempt at fulfillment producing an ever-escalating crisis of panic and desperation, something else happens. As opposed to sensory or symbolic paths, in willpower-based or goal-based paths the seeker begins each round of the hungry cycle already feeling partially full. Rather than filling a vacuum that increase in intensity with every loop, the seeker knows and feels that they are instead already in possession of the foundation of their past achievements and efforts. They now expand and build upon that foundation with further achievement or effort. It is a real process of growth.
Does this mean we must reject all sensory indulgence or ritual or divine symbols? I haven't figured this out yet. The two paths seem vaguely compatible but you will notice them frequently get in each other's way. Of course as spirits are are nonetheless trapped in these meatbag bodies, so I can't just stop eating as a willpower exercise, not more than 1-3 weeks anyway. But the interference of the paths with each other is most commonly experienced as a competition for your time and attention: work or pleasure? So while I'm not sure the sensory life must be abandoned, the time spent on it will probably have to be reduced to pursue the path of effort.
Still – maybe it is right to take it all the way. Imagine if the world was reduced to a shoving match between yourself and some nameless opponent in a dark closet. No sights to see, just you and them. The world pushes you. Do you push back? Do you push back like you mean it? Do you stop reacting and start acting – switch from defense to offense? Are you fighting to win? How far are you willing to go? This is all life really is, this test of your willingness to struggle. So along with the rest, the existentialists were right, too, and we must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Meditation and ritual are gray areas. Ritual is clearly about divine symbols, but perhaps also involves some serious willing, which makes it a possibly useful combination, a way of flexing the spiritual muscle. Meditation is more complicated. In some ways it is more of a mental exercise than spiritual one. The two overlap, yet still should not be confused. It's true that meditation is similar to a physical workout except that it uses and strengthens attention, focus, concentration, and through those things willpower. But then the Buddhist model uses meditation as something like an escape from the world, with Nirvana as the end goal itself, as if clearing your mind and diving into that emptiness is fulfillment, or the seeker's final destination. In this way Buddhists have replaced pouring yourself into vessels with pouring yourself into blankness. You end up trying to invest significance and emotion into it in the same exact way, but once more, it will only ever truly be your attempt to make it mean something and nothing more.
My advice is not to learn discipline, devotion, or your life's purpose through meditation. If you are trying to begin with ritual then I suspect you will become especially caught in the symbolic quicksand. Put them off and revisit them later, or use these things as supplements. Instead, live your life. Try things. Do things. Do work. Test and strengthen yourself against that most difficult gatekeeper of all: cold indifferent matter itself. Live for goals, not gods, though if you are a believer it is the surest way to God.
Above all, your soul only exists when you are using it. Really it is better to think of your soul as a verb, not a noun. It's something you do. Only by living like this does your soul's substance become concentrated enough to possibly endure the wall of death and have a shot at eternity.
"As a waterfall becomes slower and more floating as it plunges, so the great man of action will act with greater calm than could be expected from his violent desire before the deed." — Nietzsche


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Is There a Problem with Your Transmission?
1. Torque Converter – This hydraulic coupling connects the transmission to the engine. The converter's components consist of an impeller, stator, and turbine. Torque is the force that allows a vehicle to accelerate after having stopped. If the torque converter begins to fail, the driver may experience slipping and shuddering of the transmission.
2. Clutches/Bands – They help transmissions shift gears through engaging, disengaging, or rotating. Pistons engage pressurized fluid as bands wrap around the transmission to tighten or loosen with respect to the gear the driver uses.
3. Sensors – These are the transmission control units. They calculate engine speed in order to determine which gear is appropriate. Output and input speed sensors are part of the process. For safety, there is also a neutral and park switch.
4. Valve Bodies - They serve as hydraulic control centers that regulate transmission fluid. Valves can determine the gear ratio by the amount of fluid sent to the clutches. Transmission fluid determines which valves will open or close. Engine speed affects fluid pressure.
5. Transmission Fluid- This is a critical component of the system. Another term is ATF. It provides fluid pressure and acts as a lubricant and cooling agent to prevent the transmission from overheating. Manufactures make transmission fluid from a number of synthetic chemicals and oils. Detergents and rust preservatives are added to help keep the transmission clean. Owners should check their transmission fluid once a month. They should service their transmission every 30,000 to 60,000 miles.
How to Tell When There Are Transmission ProblemsTransmissions, like any mechanical device, will wear out and break down eventually. However, proper care and maintenance can certainly extend their life. If your transmission seems sluggish or is slipping, consider the following warning signs:
-Leaking Fluid – Finding fluid on the ground under your transmission is a sure sign there is a fluid leak. A little fluid in the driveway can lead to serious and expensive problems later on. As mentioned, transmission fluid is crucial for shifting gears. If you can sense a sweet or tart smell, it is time to have your transmission checked. Transmission fluid, unlike motor oil, does not burn up or consume with use. If the fluid level is low, there is almost certainly a leak.
-Fluid Leak Causes - They may be due to a recent disconnect of cooler lines, worn gaskets or seals, bell housing damage, a leaking or loose transmission pan, or a drive shaft that is out of balance.
-The Warning Light Comes On – When the warning light comes on, there is a reason. Sensors are responsible for sensing there is something wrong in the transmission system. Transmission fluid is hotter than usual for some reason. Stop the vehicle and check the engine coolant and transmission fluid level. If the problem persists, take the vehicle to the shop immediately.
-Odd Smells – Transmission fluid that smells burned is an indication something is wrong. Transmission fluid normally smells tart or sweet, and it has a red color. Burned transmission fluid means some part of your transmission is burning as well. Call a certified mechanic that can analyze and fix the problem.
-Odd Sounds – Automatic and manual transmissions always give a warning sign when they are about to malfunction. You might hear a grinding noise or a sluggish feeling when trying to shift gears. All of a sudden, shifting does not feel as smooth. As stated before, have a qualified mechanic look at your transmission.
-Movement Delays – Your transmission was designed to lock into gear whenever you shift. If you shift and experience any hesitation, you may have a worn clutch. When your transmission fails to engage, it becomes more than just a mechanical issue. It can be a safety issue as well.Checking the vehicle's dipstick is one of the easiest ways to determine if there is a transmission problem. It only takes a second, but will reveal if it is hot, discolored, or if the volume is low. Your owner's manual is a good source of information about its location, when to service, and warning signs to look out for. At NeeGMParts.com, we know the value of regular vehicle maintenance. It is the only way to keep your Chevrolet vehicle and engine operating at their maximum levels. As such, we only provide customers with OEM auto parts. We stock Chevy engines, Cobalt Transmissions, and an entire array of accessories. We can also offer customers a great deal on GMC parts and accessories. Give us a call today. We are happy to answer any question or to address any concerns. Our employees are knowledgeable and experienced. We carry the parts you need, and we always endeavor to deliver parts and accessories on time. There is a vast supply of ASE mechanics who are qualified to remove and replace complex units like transmission. They can guarantee that the job will be done right. Your vehicle's health is important. The odds for your own health and safety increase with the right parts and effective repairs.