Fred Ball Speaking on Business Each weekday on KSL Radio 1160, Fred Ball of Zions Bank highlights a Utah business -- from small home based businesses to large Utah based corporations. Access the latest "Speaking on Business" report below. More info on Speaking on Business

Signing Time! -- January 31, 2006

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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.

I recently learned about a new children's television program produced right here in Salt Lake City, and now airing on public television stations around the country.

What began in 2002 as a video/DVD series called "Signing Time!" has sparked a national phenomenon by making sign language accessible to children of all ages and abilities, both hearing and deaf. The company has doubled in size every year since its inception and received national attention for its educational and entertainment value.

"Signing Time!" stars three local residents — Rachel de Azevedo Coleman, her daughter, Leah, and nephew, Alex Brown. With music, colorful animation and the help of a frog named Hopkins, the trio teaches viewers American Sign Language.

I watched a segment of "Signing Time!" in which Rachel introduces signs associated with family and feelings. She shows children the sign for "home," touching the corner of her mouth and then her cheek, and explains, "Home is where you eat and where you sleep." Alex, Leah and other children and parents repeat the signs to reinforce the ideas.

"Signing Time!" is an entertaining program that engages the visual, audio and tactile senses. Rachel learned sign language after discovering her daughter Leah was born deaf. As she taught sign language to Leah, the family was astonished at how quickly Leah's sign language vocabulary grew. About the same time, Rachel's sister, Emilie de Azevedo Brown, began teaching sign language to her infant son Alex. Before he was a year old, Alex could communicate with his parents with signs such as "milk, please."

Rachel and Emilie collaborated to create "Signing Time!" and have since produced 13 video/DVD features. Rachel, a singer and songwriter, co-writes the music with her father, musician Lex de Azevedo.

This month, "Signing Time!" was picked up by public television stations throughout the country. In Utah, the show airs Mondays on KUEN at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.

For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.

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