A hearing mother is addressing online criticism after revealing that she sometimes “turns off her voice” to help her baby learn sign language — a practice she uses to ensure her daughter can communicate with her deaf father.
On Nov. 3, Courtney, who runs the TikTok account Our Signed World with her husband Zach, shared a video where she tells her 7-month-old daughter, Landon, in sign language, “I’m turning off my voice so we can practice signing because dada is deaf.” The clip shows her teaching Landon several color signs before heading out to meet a friend and pick up her older daughter from school — all while refraining from using spoken words.
In follow-up videos, Courtney responded to comments questioning whether it’s too early to teach sign language to an infant. One viewer claimed, “At this age kid’s brain is not able to make hands do signs. Too early.” Courtney countered by explaining that her older daughter began signing multiple words at just 8 months old.
“Babies can’t talk yet — so does that mean we shouldn’t talk to them until they can talk?” she asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”
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She elaborated that her husband is completely deaf and doesn’t speak English or read lips. “It’s important for me, as his wife and partner, and as the mother of my children, to teach them how to have a conversation with their father using his language — which is voice off,” she said. “If he only spoke Spanish, and I only spoke Spanish, I would choose to use Spanish so my children could learn Spanish to speak to their father.”
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Courtney and Zach met in high school, began dating soon after, and married following Zach’s proposal three years later. They welcomed their first child, Madi, in 2020, and their second, Landon, earlier this year.
The couple frequently shares glimpses of their family life across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, where their combined audience of more than 2 million followers tunes in to see how they navigate life as a Deaf and hearing household.
