After sign exposure, and if permitted by your child, guide your child’s hands to produce the sign.
Look for & accept your child’s approximated signs so he/she is understood, but continue to sign correctly yourself. If your child makes up a sign for a special object or action, accept it and incorporate that sign into your vocabulary-you can always introduce the actual sign at a later time.
If your child is communicating and is understood without a sign (reaching out for bowl of food or opening mouth wide without signing more, for example), emphasize and encourage the sign but do not demand the use of a sign. It will take time for the signs to take shape, as with speech, though more quickly than the spoken word.
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