Friday, January 7, 2011
Inspiration
1:59 PM
(This is in NO way a plug, I seriously just LOVE this woman and what she does, and I think you might too)
My kids and I have been learning and loving American Sign Language thanks to the Signing Time videos. Rachel Coleman, the creator and one of the stars, is a bit of a hero in our house :-)
Recently, I was reading a story about a mother who was furiously training, not for a marathon or the Olympics... but so she can continue to carry her 9 year old daughter who has cerebral palsy and spina bifida.
I was reading that story late at night, and all of a sudden a light bulb came on. I was reading about THE Rachel Coleman. Signing Time's Rachel! Oh my gosh, I suddenly loved her a whole lot more, lol.
I did a search, and discovered that she also has a blog of her own. I was sick at the time, and literally stayed up for HOURS reading it.
This woman truly inspires me as a mother. If you've got some time one day, read about her reunion with the daughter she placed for adoption years ago. Read Leah's story, and how they discovered she was deaf and what their lives have been like since. Read about how Signing Time got started. Read Lucy's story, and how Rachel doesn't let her be confined to a wheel chair. And if you're anything like me, you'll read all the other posts in between that don't seem to be about anything major, and you'll find her mentioning breastfeeding, natural birth, home birth, and more :-)
The world needs more people like this!
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UPDATE10 years ago
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14 comments:
Yay!!! :) Thanks for sharing! The fact that I just finished LOST 6 has me all kinds of emotional... good timing!
Holy crap, no kidding!!!
First off, it's great to see you back on FB! Second, I was so excited when I read this 'cause my 22 month old son & I just watched Rachel Coleman's show for the FIRST time last night on PBS and we both LOVED it! When my husband arrived home I was going on & on about the show. We've been using signs with him from the beginning and I've seen how it's allowed our whole family to be more affective at communicating. Thank you for sharing information about this inspiring woman! Can't wait to pass this along to my husband!
I just started reading your blog and really enjoy your writing and sense of humor. I wanted to comment here because it's relevant to me and I have some thoughts to share.
I find it wonderful that so many families are using sign language with their babies. It's a growing trend that I see so many positives in, from advancing children's language development and easing communication between parents and children, to the opening of people's eyes and minds to the Deaf culture of the US.
I am hearing and my partner is Deaf. Our daughter is hearing, but ASL is her first language. I see firsthand how early she has picked up sign language, and marvel at it's power to allow us to get to know each-other better.
What I wish is that, when learning about baby sign, children and families were also taught about the people and culture from whom they are borrowing the language.
If every family who learned baby sign and lauded its merits kept on signing after their baby started talking, and learned a few more signs along the way, it would open up a whole wide world of communication for Deaf individuals, children and babies.
Just my two cents. Stepping off soap box! :)
She is such a huge inspiration t ome too! My daughter has spina bifida and when I told most people I wanted to be able to carry her everywhere with me, and needed to learn how to do it, I got a lot of interesting looks. Then I ran in to the article about Rachel and it was just the reassurance I needed! I LOVE it!
We're big fans of Rachel at our house too. My husband and I are hearing, and we have 3 children, 2 of whom are deaf. The Signing Time series has been so helpful for our family to learn ASL, not to mention, a whole new lifestyle and culture, as Amanda wrote. Yay for signing, and yay for mothers like Rachel going the distance for her kids!
I have seen her songs on nickjr, my son lovessssss it!
You're right... what an inspiration she is!
looks like an olives and applesauce buckle carrier.
Pretty sure thats a Kanga SSC. These are made to hold much older children. What an inspiring story!
amazing and beautiful. I also wanted to say that the mama on her soap box in her comments-Well said. My husband is also non-hearing and I am hearing. How amazing to be able to share signing with everyone to open up worlds to non hearing people. I have never even thought about it like that
Rachel seriously rocks!! Our local Down syndrome group had her perform at our first Awareness Walk this past fall and she'll be coming back next fall. She is an amazing human being and meeting her in person really hits her amazingness home!
Great inspiration! Thank you for a happy blog post full of vanilla pudding that we can all nom on happily. <3
I'm the coordinator for the Rachel concert in Portland, and I'm trying to get ahold of you, but you have no contact buttons. :)
Can you please email me at carissa@signingtimeacademy.com?
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