All about Reuben

Signing pumpkin with pneumonia

Reuben, 3 days after the start of his treatment for pneumonia and on sparkling form today, back at UCLA School, signing away at circle time, excelling in his developmental assessment with his occupational therapist and beyond excited with his speech therapist this evening, saying words such as apple, car, baby, dog and flower.

Looking back to last week, Reuben had an assessment at UCLA school. Entering the small office of Dr L, he looked ominously at the small orange blocks that he was supposed to stack at that moment, just because the Dr told him to. And in true Reuben, defiant style, he was having none of it. The Dr asked "Can he put blocks into a bucket?" which made me smile to myself and I thought, well, Reuben, let's show him what you can do and, speaking softly into his left ear, I say "Reuben, can you count the blocks?" (Kristi: we learnt this task from you, with thanks), and Reuben dutifully, because he'll do anything for his mama, starts to count in sign 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..., placing his signing fingers on the little orange blocks in turn before him. "And if you ask me nicely, Dr L, I'll count to 25 in sign for you too?"

"Can you point to the boy's eyes?" continues Dr L and Reuben takes my index finger and points to the boy's eyes in turn.

"What is this?" he says, pointing to a bird, and Reuben takes my fingers and makes the sign for bird.

Can you put the red circle in the hole and Reuben, with a side smirk, tries to put it in the red square hole.

We all laugh of course whilst Reuben is thinking. I can play you too, Dr Loo!

On reflection, I wonder how many typical kids are asked to perform to cues. I truly understand the importance of these assessments, but we do need to give our kids a little bit of creative leverage too...

I didn't know

I didn't know the meaning of downy

Until I felt your skin at birth

I didn't know you knew all your school friend's names in sign
Until I asked
Nor that you could reach down and pick up a book and stand back up again unsupported
Until you showed me
I didn't know you could jump without aid
Until the music played
I didn't know there were 2 lights on in the car
Until you signed "it's the same"

Nor that you knew the origins of pain

Until you signed ow-wee at a tiny long faded scratch on your hand
I didn't know you knew the signs for cloud, windy, lightning and rain

Until the weather changed

I didn't know you knew about wipers on cars

Until the first rains came today
Nor did I understand the power of "yet"
Until you taught me patience
I didn't know the sweetness of your voice
Until a miracle in June
I didn't know of courage
Until you let me see
Nor did I know of defiance
Until you became a toddler
I didn't know you could tickle yourself
Until you showed me how
I didn't know you felt unconditional love
Until I saw your love for Callum
Nor did I know the best smell in the world

Until I smelt your hair this evening

I didn't know I had it in me

Until you brought it out.

If all these are things I didn't know because I've never asked, seen, heard, touched or smelt, I can only dream of what it is that you will continue to bring to this World and I can only feel emotions cement inside my heart that you are here for great things, Reuben.

Reuben's incredible memory for signs

Windy, clouds - these are words I haven't used (or had to use) since August in the UK and since yesterday was an incredibly windy day so that the garden table parasol finally had to come down, I said the word along with lightning, leaf and other words in our Nature signing vocabularly (Reuben knows every sign I know) and Reuben signed back without hesitation, windy, clouds, lightning, leaf. I find such accurate expression in sign language simply beautiful, most especially since he's not seeing such signs on a daily basis to aid recall, as he would be with other commonly spoken words in a hot desert climate.

Reuben's signing at age 2

Updated with a lovelier ending of his "Now I know song..."

PS I must have deleted his actual "A" to you ASL purists out there but the G in his clip looks like a hybrid anyway.

Hope you enjoy the videos as much as I'm enjoying watching them over and again now that Reuben's in bed and I can't see the live action. Note: You'll see when Reuben signs certain letters such as i, j and y, he uses his opposing hand to help formulate the signs since his little right finger is very bent and he doesn't have the full use of it.




I put together a list of Reuben's signs at 24 months for his teachers at the Early Intervention Programme at UCLA to help them better understand him and to encourage his signing beyond the home. Interesting, since I started the list a couple of weeks ago, I've noticed how much more he's signing in public, today at a photographic exhibition at the Getty, yesterday at Sea World, signing away to everyone who wants to see! How lovely the parallels with your speaking children; his method of delivery may be different, but he still has something to say. What a glorious mix here of wild and sea animals, colours, numbers and letters, salutations and emotions, verbs and adjectives! You can click the image if you want to see further. And how happy for Reuben and me that we're learning a whole new and foreign language together, albeit it's pretty tough keeping up with him. No sooner have I learnt the word from a book or ASLpro online than you're asking for more, more, more!

And so dear Reuben, you love to count to 15 in ASL sign and can recognize all your numbers. You arouse the attention of passersby "Is he really signing?". You talk to yourself in any of your 250 expressive signs and like to sign with either hand and sometimes with both hands at the same time. You often sign the alphabet interjecting words beginning with that letter alongside the alphabet letters. You love our game on the alphabet/numbers mat: "Where's the R? the K? the P? the 7?" scowering each letter and number in turn until you find what I've asked for. And sometimes I feel like shouting the old theatrical adage "It's behind you!". Or the reverse of this game where I'll ask you "What letter/number is this Reuben?" You recognise shapes and numbers no matter what their colour, size or shape. You enjoy your beautiful ABCs book from Hannah & Vivian and imagine them reading it together too.

A beautiful mind: Reuben signs R-E-U-B-E-N

Signing your name! I don't feel it's something I've focused much on, the letters, yes, you love to sign all the letters of the alphabet, you can read my handwritting when I write the letters and somehow last night when I started to sign your name to you, you signed it back at me all the way through. Thanks Erica for Reuben's nameplate gift at birth, his name framed by teddies, which sits on his bedroom wall. I'm sure that's helped! His teacher Gwen who helps me mostly on a strategic level, which direction to take, which schools etc, made a good point this morning. His glasses have really helped him formulate his signs correctly. No longer will he be the boy whom only Mama can "hear". I can't wait to take him to what we're thinking will be his pre-school (for deaf and hard of hearing but otherwise typical kids) when he's 3 at an open day tomorrow and show the teachers how beautifully, and with his whole heart and soul, he loves to sign.

A beautiful mind: numbers

Reuben's been signing his numbers, 1-10 all weekend, picking them up like a ball and throwing them back at me with gusto and yet I hadn't thought to use prompts, books or shapes, I simply thought to say the numbers. So today I opened up some new magnetic numbers and put them on the white board which PT Carrie bought him for his birthday (more on birthday, photos etc later) and called each of the numbers out to Reuben. A few minutes of this and I then played the "Where is the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5?" game, yet each out of sequence, and in response Reuben pointing, itself only a newly learned skill, directly, so assuredly at the correct number each time. Simply beautiful.