Ava Spelled Her Name
Dec 17th, 2007 by Sean
She’s done it before for Amy, and tonight she did it for me. She looked at her name printed on a step stool and signed in ASL the letters a-v-a. Then smiled and pointed at herself.
The extraordinarily cool thing about this is that neither Amy nor I have been practicing signing her name with her. She’s been practicing signing letters with us, and she’s been working with her name at school, and she’s clearly linked the two.
Awesome.
4 Responses to “Ava Spelled Her Name”
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Hi Sean,
You sound like a very proud father.
I just wanted to let you know that my family really enjoyed your web page.
My family and I live in Robinson, IL and reciently had a wonderful new addition to our family. Chloe was born on November 28, 2007. She was born with Down Syndrome and we have been doing alot of research and reading about other peoples experiences.
My wife is a special education teacher and Lincoln Grade School and I am a teacher’s aide for the special education prograpm at RHS. Our oldest daughter is almost 13 and loves being a big sister and being at Nuttall.
When I first started as an aide I was lucky to help out in your fathers drivers education class a few times. We also had the wonderful experience of flying with your father when he took us up on my daughter’s birthday a few years ago.
I noticed that Ava not only printed her name but also signed it. We have had several friends suggest using ASL with Chloe. I would appriciate any information or suggestions you and your wife may have.
For that matter I would appriciate any suggestions you have at all. There seems to be so much to learn and worry about right now it is hard to put it all into perspective and it is nice to read about your family.
If you are ever back in Robinson we would love to meet your family.
Thank you,
Don, Carrie, Elise, and Chloe
donjensenphoto (at) netscape.net
Don and family,
Congratulations on the birth of your daughter! Wonderful news. I’m sure Chloe will enrich you and your family in ways you never thought possible.
Believe me, I fully understand and appreciate the overwhelming number of thoughts and emotions that you’re dealing with right now. Be sure to think and feel it all — let it all out: fears, joy, everything. Rest assured that all the highs and lows are natural, and that you’re not alone in those things.
It sounds like Chloe is very fortunate to have come to your family! You and your wife’s experience give you a great advantage, and you’re doing all the right things: getting educated and reaching out to others like you. If you haven’t done so already, make sure you read Amy’s article on DS by clicking here.
Thanks for the kind words. You bet I’m a very proud father! Ava continually amazes me. I was given some great advice early on by another dad with a son with DS: Never underestimate your child. It’s true for every child.
We very highly recommend that you start learning ASL and use it with Chloe. It will also be useful for you and your wife’s professions. We have found the Signing Time videos to be the best educational tools for our family. We also find the ASL Browser by MSU to be useful. You don’t have to be fluent in order for it to be useful for Chloe and the rest of you. I would say I’m about toddler level with my sign language; able to string together a few simple words into toddler sentences. Ava and I are pretty well matched. Amy and Reid are much more fluent. For example, they will communicate to each other using sign language in a noisy room. I should clarify that Ava did not print her name on the step stool. It was pre-printed with her name. It will be a little while yet before she starts writing.
Lots more advice and suggestions to give you, but I won’t overwhelm you at this point. Please continue to post here and I will send you an message so that you have my email address.
How cool that you are already so connected to my family. We’ll definitely look you up when we’re back in Robinson.
Thanks,
Sean
P.S. We love the name Chloe. It was on our list for Ava.
Brings tears of happiness to my eyes…love that little girl!!
Happy New Year to all of you! Love, Sindey
That is so fantastic! Yay Ava!!!!! Cutie girl. I can’t wait to see her again.