OVERCOMING BARRIERS What is Sign Language Deborah Kent Enslow Elementary an imprint of Enslow Publishers Inc 40 Industrial Road Box 398 Berkeley Heights NJ 07922 USA http www enslow com
Beanca Turner was born deaf but can still communicate with the world around her 4
Chapter 1 Words in Her Hands When most children start kindergarten they already understand about three thousand words For Beanca Turner however learning language was different Beanca was born deaf When her mother and father spoke to her she was not able to hear anything they said Since she did not hear spoken language she did not learn to speak Sometimes she made up hand gestures to mean words such as EAT HOUSE or CAR These hand movements are called home signs Home signs helped Beanca express simple things but she could not ask questions or tell stories When she felt happy she could not tell her family why When she felt sad she could not explain what was wrong 5
