For some babies, it is not an object or a need that stimulates them most. For some babies, it is a special person in their lives who seems to excite them more than anything else. If that describes your baby, you may want to consider using a person as your starter sign.

Most of the people in your baby’s life probably have a family title (Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and so on) by which your baby knows them best. There are some people, however, whom your baby may know by an actual name (perhaps a sibling or a cousin). It is natural to want to incorporate signs for these people into your child’s early signing vocabulary. However, it is important to note that names are generally spelled out in American Sign Language. (An illustration of the ASL manual alphabet can be found in Appendix C.) For a baby just learning to sign, however, trying to spell out a name would be a daunting, if not impossible, task. This is where creativity and flexibility will really come in handy. Here are some suggestions for dealing with names:

• Sign the person’s title instead of their name. For example, your baby’s cousin would simply be referred to using the sign for COUSIN.

• Sign the person’s first initial, assuming there aren’t too many people with the same initial in your baby’s social circle.

• Fingerspell short names such as Joe or Ty.

• Make up a sign to represent each individual person. For example, if Aunt Lisa has long hair, then you might make a sign to indicate her hair.

In the end, you may decide that it is better to choose other starter words and hold off on names until your child is a little older and has more signing experience under her belt. If you do choose to demonstrate names to your baby, the way you ultimately handle it is up to you. When you find a method that works for you and your baby, stick with it.