From Courtnay: We’ve only been attending Baby Fingers for a couple of months now, but it’s becoming one of Charlie’s favorite classes because she loves the stories and music (and Lora, of course!) so much. It’s been such a valuable tool for us in helping our daughter communicate effectively. She is less frustrated now and watching the confidence she gains each week has been remarkable. Thank you, Lora!

Martie’s Story: When I first began signing with Ayers, I thought I would probably just start doing the basics, such as “eat” and “more.” But as I learned new signs, it became fun to go ahead and sign whatever I was doing while Ayers watched. Every morning, I make coffee or we go to Starbucks. I always sign “coffee.” I always thought, “Why do I care if he knows this sign?” But I went ahead and did it – he seemed interested, and eventually started doing the sign for coffee himself! One morning, it was getting late and I hadn’t had any coffee yet. Ayers and I were just rocking and relaxing, but he kept looking at me and doing a sign. I couldn’t figure out what sign he was doing. A lot of his signs look alike, especially when he first starts using them, though I usually can figure them out through context. With this sign, I was drawing a blank. So as we just continued rocking, he signed this unknown sign, and I told him I was sorry but I wasn’t sure what he was saying. Finally, out of the blue, I said, let’s go to Starbucks and get some coffee. Well, he got really excited and started doing “that” sign again! He was really “talking” to me as if to say, “Yes, Mommy, I was wondering when you were going to get your coffee!”