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About Us
Hi, we are Zoe and Elaine, Co founders of Sunshine Sign and Sing
Our Mission
To make children’s key word signing available and widely used across Australia. We want every child to have the opportunity to use this amazing communication tool, in every childcare setting, early learning centre, kindergarten, school, playcentre and home.
“Suppose we had no voice, should we not make signs with the hands and head and rest of the body”
Socrates (5th Century)
How We Started
Knowing first hand the extensive benefits of baby signing, both of us were looking for a baby signing group on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland to attend with our new babies. Considering how huge baby signing is in the U.K. and U.S., we were surprised at the lack of resources and classes in Australia which encouraged us to set up our own baby signing group. We started with just a small parents and babies group in our local community and were overwhelmed by the growth and demand of our business. We struggled to find appropriate child aimed signing resources so decided to create our own. Following lots of support and encouragement by the community and local business’ including AVID Property Group, The University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast Libraries, Cheeky Little Monkeys, AVEO, Johnny Spitz Entertainment and many members who attended our groups, we have grown and expanded to where we are today.
We have attended a number of baby signing, Key Word Sign and Auslan courses. While waiting for further Key Word Signing training (beyond basic) to become available we have worked closely with Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists and Autism Specialists (not ABA) to determine the best key word signs to use and integrate into our sessions, training and resources.We have undertaken comprehensive research on manual signing worldwide, with Zoe having a background in research we make sure to stay up to date on research in all the relevant areas as it is published. The world of gestures, key word sign, Makaton, Simplified signs, Lamh and other manual signing methods is fascinating and we are continuously amazed by the new benefits and uses for signing that is being discovered.
Communication Is Key!
Key word signing is a fantastic communication tool that can be used by the whole community. From being able to communicate with preverbal babies, to reducing frustration of toddlers who can’t quite find the right words, to helping those who have different communication challenges through Autism, anxiety, physical disabilities etc. We have been able to firsthand see the benefits of what we do and are on a mission to spread the word of key word signing Australia wide.
Suitable For Children
There are many organisations out there doing a wonderful job of helping others communicate with key word signing. We feel that for children to engage and want to learn, it has to be fun. We are dedicated to creating beautiful, fun, simple and effective resources to help make key word signing part of your every day, so that children not only are able to gain from the enormous potential of key word signing but actually enjoy it too!
Make It Your Own
Communication is different for everyone and we all have our own unique needs. We have our very own graphic designer and are able to custom make products to suit your individual requirements, please contact us for more information.
Our Resources
Come visit our shop for books, flashcards and much more. There is even a FREE downloadable ‘helpful signs’ poster to get you started on your signing adventure.
We could not have got where we are today without the support of some amazing people and teams and we would like to say a big THANK YOU!
Thank you
Susana Waldron and the team at AVID Property Group, Karen Gawen and her team at the Sunshine Coast Libraries, The University of the Sunshine Coast, Travis & Lilli from the Print Room at the USC, Lisa Versaci and her team at Cheeky Little Monkeys, Richard and Nina from AVEO in Palmview, Johnny Spitz from Johnny Spitz Entertainment, Michelle and Claire from Playgroup Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Playgroup Hub, Duncan Danger from Flaming Egg web design, Lizzie and her team from All About Autism, Amber Porter from RankingCo digital marketing, Sign Planet, Key Word Sign Australia, Deaf Aboriginal Services, Nursery Rhymes123, and of course our loving, patient and understanding families. We love you all and are so grateful for all your help, advice and support over the years!!!