(cheerful piano music begins)
♪ You are the best you the world will see ♪
♪ Come along now and share you with me ♪
♪ Let's learn something new and share feelings too ♪
♪ 'Cause these are the things to do to be the best you ♪
(cheerful piano music continues)
- Hello, friends, and hello, Possum.
- Hi, Auntie L ena. Look what I learned.
- Ooh, is that sign language, Possum?
- Yes, it means 'thank you'.
- How cool. So is this how you say it?
- (gasps) That's right.
- (laughs) Well, thank you for teaching me.
Where did you learn this? - At the library.
Well, they were having a sign language story time.
- Ooh, that sounds like fun.
I'll have to go to one of those.
- Oh, it was awesome.
I didn't know that we could talk
with our paws and our hands. - Yes.
It's one important way that people can communicate
with each other, especially if they aren't able
to hear words that are being spoken aloud.
- Oh, it must be hard to remember all the different signs.
- (laughs) Well, sign language is like any other language.
It takes time and practice to learn.
- Is that why I have so many spelling tests at school?
- (laughs) Yes, spelling helps you to practice reading,
writing, and saying different words.
- Well, do you know any other words in sign language?
- No, but I'd like to learn,
and I know someone who can teach us.
- Who, Auntie Lena? - Miss Cleo.
Let's see what she's up
to today at ChildStrive in Everett.
(magical chime) (cheerful music)
- [Zoe And Miss Cleo] Hello, friends.
- How are you?
We are here today at ChildStrive in Everett.
And my name is Miss Cleo.
I'm here today with my friend- - Zoe.
- Zoe, and today Zoe and I are going to be making-
- [Zoe And Miss Cleo] Berry Blast overnight oats.
- Oh, this is so exciting.
So Zoe, if you were thinking
about a friend who could not hear,
how would you communicate with them?
- Sign language. - Sign language.
And you told me earlier that you have an ice cream man
in your neighborhood who is
deaf. - Deaf.
- Isn't that something? So this is gonna be perfect.
Did you know that sign language can look like
what you're trying to sign?
- No. - Yeah.
For your ice cream man, you could say this is
like a piece of paper.
Can you do a piece of paper?
[Miss Cleo] Piece of paper would have
the list of ingredients.
What are our ingredients? Can you tell me?
- Honey. - Honey.
- [Zoe] Milk. - [Miss Cleo] Milk.
- [Zoe] Seeds. - [Miss Cleo] Seeds.
- [Zoe And Miss Cleo] Yogurt and oats.
- And the most important,
Berry Blast. - Berry Blast.
- Yes. So do you know how to sign honey?
- No. - Honey, you know
if you're eating something sweet and something you enjoy,
sometimes it just kind of dribbles out of your mouth.
So this is an H. Can you make an H with me for our friends?
H. Perfect.
And then there's the honey
dribbling out of our mouth.
So honey to a Y. And what about milk?
Where does milk come from?
- Cows. - Cow.
So you would squeeze the milk from the cow.
Very good. And seeds.
If you have a garden,
you have your seeds and you dribble them.
That is so good. That is a beautiful seed sign.
And what if you're eating yogurt?
Do you eat yogurt with a spoon? Yes.
And you sometimes eat it from a cup,
so you can make your cup, and then you have your spoon,
but your spoon is a Y,
a Y for yogurt.
And so you dip. It's, like, mm, delicious.
And you dip. Delicious.
And then what is our most important ingredient?
- Oats. - Oats.
And did you know that oats doesn't really have a sign?
So you have to spell it
using the ASL alphabet.
So O. - O.
- And you knew a sign. How do you spell oats?
Remember A? - A.
- A-T,
and S.
[Miss Cleo] So we have also Berry Blast. - [Zoe] Berry Blast.
- So this is, like, a tree branch.
And what comes on the tree branch? A lot of berries.
Berries, and then we pick 'em off.
And if you're having a blast, a really good time,
we go blast.
So we're making berry...
Can you make it with me?
Berry? Pull it off.
Blast. So are you ready?
[Miss Cleo] Okay, let's go for it. We have
a teaspoon of honey.
And then we're gonna dump the honey in.
Very good, Zoe.
And we're both gonna make one each for each other.
And then we need to add...
- Milk. - Milk. Very good.
So we have a cup of milk.
And one half for you. Very good.
Do you remember what's next? - Seeds.
- Seeds. And what are those for our friends?
Seeds. - [Zoe] This good?
- [Miss Cleo] Uh-huh, that's perfect.
And then we have
1/8 cup.
So one. And this is eight.
- Oh. - Yeah.
So one and eight. Very good.
So we're going to put that into our milk and our seeds.
[Miss Cleo] And do you remember our yogurt sign? Very good.
And our Y spoon. So this is yogurt.
Yum. And so now we have oats.
You are such a great helper.
Mix everything up.
So you ready to mix things up? Okay, let's mix it up.
You did such a good job.
- This is my favorite part about it.
- [Miss Cleo] Is it? - Just mixing things up.
- Mixing things up.
Well, you did such a wonderful job
putting everything together.
And then, Zoe, we're going to add our berries
after everything is set.
That's why they call it overnight.
We're going to put this
in the refrigerator overnight.
And then we're going to have what when we wake up?
- Berry Blast. - Berry Blast.
- Overnight oats. - Overnight oats.
- And look, can you show our friends?
It's solid.
And now we can add our berries.
[Miss Cleo] Friends, I think this is going to be so good.
What do you think, Zoe?
- [Zoe] I think it'll be delicious.
- Gonna be delicious.
Zoe, do you want some coconut?
Would you like coconut? - A little bit of coconut.
[Zoe] I've never had coconut before.
- [Miss Cleo] You never had coconut before?
Well, this is a perfect time to try it.
And do you wanna add some chocolate chips?
- Oh, yeah. - Okay.
- I love chocolate. - [Miss Cleo] You love chocolate chips.
Ready? Okay. - Mm-hmm.
- That is so good.
Mm. - Mm.
- Do you hear that, friends?
Do you know what our special sign is?
Zoe, can you make the sign for yummy?
If something's really good, what do you normally do?
- Mm. - So delicious.
It is so yummy.
- Thank you. - Thank you. Thank you, Zoe.
It was so nice working with you. And thank you, friends.
We'll see you later.
Bye. - Bye.
- Mm, that looks so- - Oh, yummy.
- (laughs) I knew you'd remember that one.
- Mm-hm. Oh, it did look yummy.
But Auntie Lena, some of the words are hard
to sign with my paws.
Well, I can't move them in the same way
that you move your fingers.
- Oh, Possum. I didn't even think about that.
- Well, it's okay. I can still say them out loud.
- Or you can come up with a whole different way
to say them. - What do you mean?
- I mean that you can come up
with your own language for words.
- Well, I can? - Yes.
Sometimes it's necessary to figure out new
and creative ways to communicate with others.
I know a boy who does this every day.
- Really? Who? - His name is Caleb
and his mom, Chanita Stone, wrote a book about him
called "Caleb Has Something to Say".
- Oh, can we read the story with our friends, Auntie Lena?
- Of course. Let's go to Greenbridge Library and listen.
(magical chime)
- Hi, friends. - Hi, friends.
- I'm Miss Pramila.
- I'm Kingsley. - And today,
we're gonna read this beautiful book
called "Caleb Has Something to Say".
[Miss Pramila] And it is written by Chanita Stone
and illustrated by Vladimir Cebu.
You all set, Kingsley? - Yeah, I'm set.
- All righty, here we go.
My name is Caleb and I am five years old.
While I was being born, my brain got hurt really badly.
The doctors told my mom and dad I would have
to live with something called Cerebral Palsy.
- For me, that means sometimes I will do things differently
[Kingsley] than other kids around me.
One thing that I do differently is how I communicate.
I am nonverbal. That means I do not talk.
- [Miss Pramila] But just because I do not speak my words
does not mean I don't have anything to say.
Right? He looks really determined here, doesn't he?
- [Kingsley] Yeah. When I am happy, you'll know it.
My smile will be so big and wide
that you'll see all of my teeth.
- [Miss Pramila] (laughs) I love that.
Like when my dad comes in from work and says,
"Hey buddy," and he pats my chest.
I get so excited that he's home.
It makes me laugh and giggle.
- [Kingsley] Sometimes I just really need a hug.
I might have a tummy ache, or maybe my body has tightened up
too much and I can't relax.
All of these things can make me feel sad.
- It's just like you and me, isn't it?
- Yeah. - We feel sad sometimes
when things happen.
[Miss Pramila] You'll know I'm sad because
my shoulders slump
and my head hangs low.
I'll whimper a little or maybe even...
- [Kingsley] Wahh, cry out loud.
And my sister always comes to comfort me.
- [Miss Pramila] When it's time for me to eat, you'll know.
I will open and close my mouth, chomping my teeth.
I'll smack my lips to say,
"Hey, I'm ready for something yummy."
(Miss Pramila and Kingsley laughing)
- [Kingsley] And if it hits the spot,
like the cotton candy my TMa gives me,
I'll keep turning my head to you,
letting you know I want more, please.
- Look at this great picture
of the cotton candy right there.
And look at this giraffe.
I'm just gonna gonna show- - That giraffe's tall.
- Our friends.
That giraffe is really tall.
Look at that. - And that's lots
of cotton candy. - Isn't that beautiful?
[Miss Pramila] Just like you, there are times
that I don't feel like talking or I just need a break.
And when that happens,
I may turn my head away like this.
- [Kingsley] And if you don't get the picture,
then I just close my eyes like this.
- That seems pretty clear. - Yep.
- People will think I'm sleeping, but not my mom.
She says, "Caleb, I know you are awake."
And she's right.
- [Kingsley] My mom also knows when I am tired.
When she picks me up, I melt right into her arms.
She kisses my forehead as she rocks me
and hums the most beautiful tune.
- [Miss Pramila] That's so beautiful.
I start to have big and deep yawns just like that.
My eyes begin to blink slower
and slower.
- [Kingsley] And before I know it,
I'm having sweet, sweet dreams.
- The end. That was great, wasn't it?
- Yeah. - Did you like it?
- I really liked it. It was fun.
- What'd you like the most about it?
- Mm, that he communicated
in a different way from other people.
- It's just a different way of talking.
Just like a different language.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Well, that was so lovely.
I hope our friends enjoyed it at home.
Thanks so much, friends.
- Bye, friends. - Bye.
- Possum, do you remember how Caleb let his family know
when he's ready for something yummy to eat?
- Oh, I do. He chomps his teeth and smacks his lips.
- And turns his head to say, "More, please."
- (laughs) Now I know two new ways to say yummy.
- See, Possum. You can always find ways to communicate.
Caleb doesn't talk or sign, but he still uses his face
and body to express himself.
- Oh, I'm so glad that Caleb's mom wrote that story.
- Me too. - Maybe for the words
I can't sign with my paw in sign language,
I'll draw them instead. - That's a great idea, Possum.
Art is another way to communicate.
- Hmm. Do you think that Caleb likes art?
- Well, why don't we find out from his mom, Miss Chanita?
Let's go back to ChildStrive
and learn what she's making today.
- Hi friends, I'm Miss Chanita,
and I'm here at ChildStrive in Everett.
I'm the author of "Caleb Has Something to Say,"
and I think you read this book today.
It's about my son, Caleb,
and all the different ways that he communicates.
I wanna share with you about it,
and maybe we can do an art project together while I do that.
[Miss Chanita] So today we're going to do a rainbow.
Rainbows have so many different colors.
We have purple, blue, red,
orange, green and yellow.
And they represent so many different things,
and they may even make you feel so many different feelings.
So let's talk about them.
To do this project, you'll need some paper.
You'll need some paint brushes.
Get you a cup of water so you can clean your brushes.
A napkin and a pallet to put your paint on.
Let's get started.
So I think I'm gonna start with orange,
because I wore it today.
It's my favorite color, and it gives me a special feeling.
Orange makes me feel so confident.
It makes me feel excited,
and it makes me feel ready for the day.
I have a picture I wanna show you in my book.
This is my son, Caleb, and I feel like in this picture
he's excited to share something with you.
On this page, it reads, just because I do not speak my words
doesn't mean I don't have anything to say.
How do you think Caleb communicates? I'm going to tell you.
Let's get the rest of our colors out.
So Caleb is what you would call
a non-speaking or non-verbal child.
That means he doesn't use words to speak.
Well, how does he tell you things, Miss Chanita?
We watch Caleb's body language.
We watch his facial expressions,
and we listen when he vocalizes.
People can communicate in a lot of different ways.
Caleb uses his body, some people use sign language,
and some people even use assistive communication devices,
[Miss Chanita] things like buttons where they can prerecord
phrases or commands to let the people around them
know what they want.
All right, we have our colors out,
and I'm gonna make a very simple rainbow,
because Miss Chanita is a writer, not an artist.
But I encourage you to get your imagination out,
and make the best rainbow that you can make
and use whatever you have.
So I'm gonna start with my brush.
Let's start with blue.
Now blue, to me,
is a very calming color.
You think of water.
You might think a little bit about rain.
Caleb, who actually really likes to paint,
he has a picture in my book where he gets really sad,
and you wanna know how we know he's sad?
How he communicates it with us?
His shoulders slump, his head hangs low,
and he might even cry a little bit.
And that's how he communicates with us that,
"Hey, I'm feeling sad.
I'm not feeling my best right now."
Let's clean our brush. (cheery music)
The exact opposite of sad is excitement.
When I think of excitement,
[Miss Chanita]I think of the color yellow.
There's a page in my book where Caleb gets really excited
because his dad came home from work.
I think his dad is one of his favorite people.
His dad comes in the house, and Caleb gets so excited
he starts to smile and giggle,
and his dad pats his chest and says, "Hi, buddy."
And that makes him so excited.
What color makes you really excited?
(bright music continues)
Is it yellow like me?
Or maybe this is actually Caleb's favorite color. Green.
Green represents a lot of things in our family.
Not only is it Caleb's favorite color,
but it's also the color in the month of March.
Well, what's special about the month of March?
It's CP Awareness Month.
That's actually Caleb's diagnosis, Cerebral Palsy.
[Miss Chanita] And in March we wear green.
I mean, a lot of green.
We even have green hair.
[Miss Chanita] When you think of green,
how does it make you feel?
Does it remind you of a special place or a special person?
All right, let's go over to red.
If I had to ask Caleb what red means to him,
I think that he would share with me about his TMa.
His TMa is what you may call a grandma or a nana.
She's my mom, and they have so much fun together,
and red is her favorite color.
She actually wears it a lot.
So maybe when Caleb thinks about her,
he thinks about the color red.
I forgot a color. I didn't do purple.
I think purple reminds me of something royal or festive,
maybe, like, a special event or a holiday.
I'm thinking of an illustration in my book.
And I'll show you, actually. It seems pretty festive.
Our friends and family are there.
But if you see Caleb right here in the corner,
does he look festive or excited to be there?
He's actually looking away.
Do you know what Caleb is communicating right here?
That he is overstimulated and he doesn't wanna talk.
And the way he communicates that is looking away.
And if you push it and you ignore his cues,
he'll do this.
He'll close his eyes and ignore you.
Some might think that's rude, but that's how he communicate,
and we all communicate in very different ways.
So let's add my last color,
purple, to our rainbow.
I'm gonna try to fit it right here in the middle.
I'm sure you all did a wonderful job.
(bright music continues)
I hope you enjoyed painting with me today
and learning about my book "Caleb Has Something to Say"
and all the different ways that we can communicate
our feelings and our thoughts.
I hope that you like tying the colors together with emotions
and really think about what they mean to you
and what they make you feel like.
I hope you have a very orange and happy rest of your day.
See you soon.
(cheery music)
- It's time for Movement Minute.
(Possum bounces)
- Hello, friends. - Hello, friends.
And welcome to Movement Minute.
My name is Coach Alicia from Rainier Health and Fitness.
And this is- - Coach Mayra.
- And today we are gonna do a partner pushup.
- First thing, we're gonna bring our hands
down to the ground on our knees,
and then both you and your partner
are gonna come all the way down to touch the ground up,
reach and clap, down,
reach and clap.
One more. Down, reach and clap.
- Let's go one step further.
I want you to come up on your toes.
From here, it's the same thing.
You're gonna lower your body to the floor.
Come up, clap. Down again.
Clap. You can do one more.
Come on. Down and up.
Clap. - Whew.
- That was fun. Thanks, Mayra.
And thank you for joining us for Movement Minute.
See you next time. - Oh, today was so fun.
I can't wait to show Mama Possum all the new signs I learned
and tell her about Caleb's story.
- You should show the librarian
at the next sign language story time too.
- Oh, yeah. Do you want to come with me?
- Well, is it on the usual day?
- Mm-hm. Saturday. - (laughs) I'd love to go.
If you keep practicing your signs
like you do your spelling, maybe even you'll get
to lead story time someday.
- Oh, that would be A-W-E-S-O-M-E.
Awesome. (laughs)
I should learn the sign for awesome.
- That's a good idea. You'll have to show me when you do.
- Oh, I will. Thank you, Auntie Lena.
- You're welcome, Possum.
And friends, thank you for taking the time to look,
listen and learn with us today.
Remember, you are the best you that the world will ever see.
- Bye for now. - Bye-Bye.
(cheerful music)
Please stay tuned after the credits
for Auntie Lena's Parent Tip.
(cheerful music continues)
- [Narrator] Brought to you by Public Health,
reminding you to keep your family's protection strong
with updated COVID vaccines.
Resources and information available
at kingcounty.gov/vaccine.
(cheery music)
- As caring adults who take care of little ones
each and every day, we learn to pick up on the unique ways
that they express their feelings and wants.
Maybe your child can't help but jump when they're excited.
Maybe they furrow their brows when they're angry,
or they may simply tell you, "I'm mad."
There are many different ways that children communicate
as they learn new tools and develop new skills
to share with others.
And like Possum discovers, for some children,
that doesn't include saying anything out loud at all.
Whether your child uses sign language,
communicates through their body gestures,
or expresses themself with art,
it's important to recognize when your little learner
is trying to tell you something,
and work with them to discover the communication style
that is best suited to their needs.
By sharing stories such as Caleb's,
your child will begin to understand that not all children
may communicate in the same way that they do.
And even more importantly, they'll build a willingness
to learn how they can help others
to be their best selves.