Auslan Key Word Signing lessons & resources

Why use Key Word Signing (using Auslan signs)?

Who is it for?

Auslan Keyword Signing assists those:

  1. with a hearing impairment,
  2. with a disability that affects their communication, and
  3. children with language delays.

Some key signs to practice

Here is a short informal video to highlight some of the keywords we are going through in our series.

Auslan Signs to try

Here are some keywords in Auslan to practice with yourself or the children you support.

All our videos use Key Word Signing, with the key signs in Auslan. Australian Auslan is the language of our Deaf Community that has its own unique linguistic structure.

What is the difference between Key Word Signing and Auslan?

Well in Key Word Signing, we are talking (because we are telling someone’s story) and signing the keywords. With Auslan, you are signing without speaking and the structure is direct.

For example, in Key Word Signing we would sign and say “what is your name?” In Auslan, we would sign “Your name what?”.

Visit our Key Word Signing (KWS) resource page to learn more.

We have enough funding to have KWS video read-along videos of our books. Please click on the link for each book to find the KWS videos:

About your Key Word Sign teacher

Massiel Barros-Torning
I studied signed English and then moved on to Auslan in my 20s. Last year was inspired by the number of early childhood teachers attending a refresher course in our community for Auslan run by a local Deaf Teacher. I’m a teacher and facilitator involved in ICT Education, as well as areas involving music, language, Spanish, HSIE (society and culture). Some days I feel like the grown-up version of my inner child. Because I enjoy learning through play. And as a lifelong learner, I hope to play for a very long time.

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