Zak's Story

Chatty Hands grew out of a newfound passion to give parents and child caregivers the tools they need to help preverbal children learn how to communicate. This passion was the result of our real life experience.

Our son, Zak, was born in May 2003. His first winter was a tough one, dealing with colds one right after the other, and eventually treating him for asthma. However, we made it through his first year without a single ear infection, which, based upon other children's stories, we thought was a miracle.

Then, at sixteen months old, Zak started getting recurring ear infections. As the infections continued through the winter, his normally mild mannered temperament turned into aggressive behavior.   I knew we were in the stage of temper tantrums because of his age, but I really had no idea what to expect, as he is my first child. During the first six months of 2005, he had double ear infections constantly. He even ruptured his left eardrum two times. Unfortunately, most antibiotics proved ineffective at defeating the infections. In addition to his medical problems, I noticed that his speech development had slowed way down and his temper tantrums became constant, violent, and concerning.

At his two-year check-up, I asked his pediatrician about his temper tantrums, which lead into a conversation about his behavior in general. She referred me to the Early Intervention Program and asked me to take him for a hearing test. The hearing test showed flat line tympanograms, meaning his ears were so filled with fluid he was hearing as if he was under water. That fluid puts pressure on his eardrums making it very uncomfortable, even painful. We immediately scheduled him for the procedure in which they put tubes in his ears to keep the fluid from building again. Meanwhile, at his Early Intervention evaluation, they suggested we teach him American Sign Language (ASL) to reduce some of his frustration of not being able to communicate. My immediate response was, "Zak's not deaf." I had no idea what the benefits were of teaching preverbal children how to communicate in sign, but I was about to find out.

The next day, when Zak was 26 months old, we started learning ASL through any means we could find. Zak picked up the language faster than I did! His desire to communicate was so great! As we learned each sign, we incorporated it into our daily routine, signing and speaking every word we knew. To our amazement, Zak's tantrums suddenly stopped! I was thrilled, relieved, and ECSTATIC when he became the sweet little boy I knew him to be.

Now that he can hear clearly again, his verbal vocabulary is taking off, often accompanied by signs. Zak now knows well over 100 signs and is able to say the words verbally as well. It has become very clear to me that sign language is an important learning tool that most families are not aware of. Instead, families are faced with the frustrations and temper tantrums that have been otherwise dubbed "the terrible twos." However, the terrible twos are just not necessary!