Making Words by Hand

Missy Keast is a natural-born storyteller.

Sitting in her sunlit kitchen with her 1-year-old daughter, Spring, wriggling on her lap, the former actress beams when she describes the feeling she gets when she connects with an audience.

Keast, 41, became smitten with performing at a young age. At 11, at her parents’ urging, she gave an impromptu performance of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” at her uncle’s 25th birthday party.

The fact that Keast was born deaf didn’t deter her. The fact that she was signing her story wasn’t an obstacle, either.

“People really connected. I fell in love with that response,” Keast said. “The best part is when children are engaged in the story and are so immersed. That’s my passion.”

These days, this stay-at-home mother of two from Tempe, Ariz., is sharing stories and connecting with hearing and deaf audiences alike on a much larger scale.

Combining her acting experience with her American Sign Language teaching background, Keast and her husband, Dave Victorson, launched a video production company a year ago. Based in Tempe, their American Sign Language DVDs range from finger spelling and numbering to ASL storytelling videos of children’s classics. Their “Teaching Signs for Baby Minds” series has become a hit.

Teaching babies to sign

Keast, aided by an interpreter, said because she has a sister who’s also deaf, she was fortunate to grow up in a household that was well-versed in ASL: Her family knew how to sign by the time she arrived as the youngest of five children.

Keast’s ASL videos are not being snatched up only by families looking to communicate with loved ones who are unable to hear. The videos, she said, also have become popular with hearing parents looking to communicate more efficiently with their newborns.

This trend of preverbal communication is growing, Keast said.

“Children can sign to communicate their needs and feelings well before they can voice,” Keast said, explaining that while babies’ vocal cords may not be developed, infants still have the innate skills to move their hands. She said ASL helps to remove that barrier of frustration of not being understood for parent and child.

Keast’s “Teaching Signs for Baby Minds” series (which also includes flash cards) comes in three parts: “Everyday Signs,” which teaches about 50 basic-needs signs such as mealtime, bedtime and family signs; “Concepts and Combinations,” which tackles more advanced topics such as colors, numbers and simple directions; and “Dictionary and Alphabet,” which continues with 150 additional signs and name spellings.

“It’s important for people to learn from a native user,” Keast said, explaining her language is more than meets the eye. “ASL has its own grammatical features, facial expressions and gestures,” she said.

Bilingual babies

Keast’s and Victorson’s older daughter, Sage, now 3, is proof that a baby can become bilingual at an early age.

Keast began signing with Sage when she was a newborn - at 6 months, she signed “bird” - while her hearing father helped her with English.

“She is fluent in English and ASL. It’s beautiful to see her little hands moving,” Keast said proudly.

Keast still takes time out to tell stories to children in person. Once a month, she can be found mesmerizing a group of youngsters with her readings at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, which also carries her DVDs.

When Keast performs, she takes center stage; she doesn’t sign the story for another speaker. The English interpreter stands off to the side, translating Keast’s ASL.

Keast said she enjoys the children’s inquisitiveness and the creativity they show when trying to communicate with her.

“Some children invent their own signs during the storytelling to communicate with me. It’s really an awesome experience.”

For more information on “Teaching Signs for Baby Minds,” visit www.sfibaby.com.