2 minute read
We’ll be signing and singing with you Christian!
How would you feel if you lived in a world where you couldn’t communicate? This was a reality for four-year-old Christian, from Heywood in Rochdale, until his big sister became determined to make the world a more inclusive place.
Christian was born not breathing and needed 24 minutes of resuscitation, which meant his brain was starved of oxygen. As a result, he suffered a brain injury which led him to develop cerebral palsy and to become partially sighted and unable to communicate.
His mum Diane was told he would never walk or talk and would have a poor quality of life but with the help of his sister Jade, Christian is proving them wrong.
Jade, 18, enrolled on a course to learn British Sign Language (BSL) and began to teach her little brother how to communicate using Makaton, a form of sign language that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate.
Jade, who is studying to be a teacher for children with disabilities, set up an online channel ‘Sign Along With Us’ and uploads videos of her and Christian signing new words such as ‘cat’ and ‘dog’ as she wanted their family and friends to be able to communicate with Christian.
She shares these videos on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts as well as videos of them sign-singing to some of their favourite songs.
Since its creation, they have become social media stars with their videos getting millions of views due to the way they are championing sign language to the world and the incredible bond they share.
Jade says: “Christian would watch Mr Tumble, who famously uses Makaton, on repeat and wouldn’t watch any other programme - he loved it. I started thinking that maybe if we used this at home we could communicate with Christian. I booked a course in British Sign Language and started learning Makaton alongside it.
“I started to talk to Christian using sign language and because of his visual impairment I would do the signs hand on hand with him to help his learning. He loved it and would constantly smile when I did it but he wouldn’t do it himself.
“It took me 18 months of signing with him every day before he started doing it and he now signs every day – he has even started to talk to us. I am determined to make a difference to Christian’s life, he keeps on growing and learning every day and we are so proud of him.”
Jade has also integrated Christian’s love for music and has set up a group in her local community where she teaches how to sign along to different songs.
“The response I’ve had on social media has been massive as there are so many more people out there who want to learn how to sign.
“Sign-singing has been a fun and engaging way for Christian to learn and I wanted to bring it to my local community. My dream is for Christian to grow up in a world in which he can speak to whoever he wants where everybody has a basic understanding of sign language.”
