From the Mouths of Babes?

For the last few years I have taken great delight in chatting to some very young members of our family.

Times change, and these babies live a distance away, so we don’t see them often enough. However, I do have time to watch and listen, as they try to tell me something.

At other stages in life, increasing problems with hearing, strokes or illness can make verbal communication difficult.

I’ve noticed that one of the last memories to disappear is that for music. My young friends enjoy their nursery rhymes, especially those where they can join in with the actions.

Would it be possible to develop a sign language which is based on what babies already know, and which could be used and understood by everyone?

Just a thought.

Mary Garratt
20 July 2009