Bacup toddler scoops top award to find the brightest baby (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Bacup toddler scoops top award to find the brightest baby

10:30am Wednesday 23rd March 2011 in Rossendale By Jon Livesey, Reporter

TALENTED Isabella goes through her paces with mum Andrea

A TALENTED toddler has been confirmed as one of the country’s brightest babies after scooping a top prize in recognition of her sign language skills.

Isabella Grace Gledhill started attending classes when she was just a few weeks old, and made her first sign, ‘mummy’, when she was nine-months-old.

Now aged 13 months, Isabella, of Bacup, uses a variety of signs to tell her mum exactly what she wants.

She beat more than 200 other babies and toddlers to claim first prize in the Dexter Factor contest, a national search for the country’s most adept young signer.

Andrea Gledhill, Isabella’s mum, said they regularly attend signing classes in Rawtenstall and Todmorden.

“She loves coming to classes each week learning new signs,” she said.

“She picked it up quite quickly and is using her signs to tell me what she wants. I am so proud that she has won.”

The TalkFirst programme uses British Sign Language (BSL) signs alongside speech to encourage infants to communicate and promote language development.

It helps to reduce frustration, bring on speech, encourages bonding and improves the quality of communication between parent and child.

Babies and parents learn signs through Dexter, a signing puppet.

It is a growing trend in the Valley, which is one of only a handful of places across the country to offer classes.

The national competition, which was launched by TalkFirst in January, invited babies and toddlers to submit a film of them signing at least one of 172 BSL signs.

Susan Broxton, who is Isabella’s local TalkFirst tutor, said: “I am really pleased that Isabella has won the competition.”