ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A St. Augustine mother hopes a now-viral moment between her baby and her parents who are deaf will inspire other parents to sign their children up for sign language classes.
Mara McCullough is baby Jane’s mom. Both of McCullough’s parents are deaf.
She said Jane loves watching her grandparents communicate.
McCullough posted videos of Jane and her grandparents on TikTok, which have gained millions of views.
The viral moment showed the baby babbling and trying to communicate in sign language with her grandparents.
“She’s starting to show us that she’s trying to communicate and use the language, so it’s been really cool,” McCullough said.
McCullough said she did not expect the videos to gain that much attention.
Jane hasn’t fully mastered the art of signing yet, but when her mother signs “water” or “outside,” it makes Jane’s face light up.
“She’s still just babbling in sign language so there’s no correct signs yet, that’ll probably come in a few months,” McCullough said. “She’s showing us that she’s starting to understand it.”
When Jane’s granddad started communicating with her, McCullough said he would calm the almost 6-month-old down.
“When she’s in a cranky mood, he’ll take her outside and walk around and she calms down immediately,” McCullough said.
Karen Lewis-Hannah, a sign language tutor, said her heart bubbles over with love when seeing children learn to use sign language.
Lewis-Hannah runs a traveling sign language camp and said that teaching children, hearing or not, sign language will benefit them.
“There’s no wasting time when you’re teaching children. They’re like sponges so you want to get right in there,” Lewis-Hannah said.
McCullough said she hopes sharing the video will spread a message to others.
“I think it’s opening people’s eyes to the beauty of sign language and how babies are so smart and able to communicate with you at such an early age,” McCullough said.
She also hoped the videos would bring more awareness to the community of people who are deaf and have hearing loss.