News

August 1, 2025 | IN Together Magazine | BY AVID | 3 min read 

As the common proverb goes, it takes a village to raise a child. Sometimes that’s grandparents sharing the load with day care duties, sometimes it’s friends subbing in for babysitting duties, and sometimes it’s just a shop assistant interacting with your little one. 

Getting help from others is essential to ensure the needs of a baby are met and they have the chance to thrive. Key word sign (KWS) experts, Elaine Stigwood and Zoe Wadsworth from Sunshine, Sign & Sing may not be people you’ll ever meet in real life, but they should be part of that village. 

As the creators of a very popular KWS program and even an Australian Baby Signing app, Elaine and Zoe are passionate about providing children with the skills to communicate their basic wants and needs, and for parents to understand them.

Not to be confused with Auslan, KWS is a communication tool that uses signs derived from Auslan, gestures, and facial expressions alongside speech. It can be used as an alternative to speech by pre-speaking babies or anyone with communication barriers.

Providing infants and children with the skills to communicate their needs is a key part of Sunshine, Sign & Sing’s ethos.

“KWS education at an early age is incredibly important. Children know what they want and need at a very early age, and KWS is a simple but effective tool that can be used as early as 6 months old,” Elaine said.

AVID Property Group has been a proud partner of Sunshine, Sign & Sing since 2019 and have supported the organisation through some of their most exciting and far-reaching initiatives.

“AVID have been with us since the very beginning and have been instrumental in growing and promoting our business. From the initial community grant to our latest app development project, AVID have helped us assist potentially thousands of children in developing their communication skills,” Zoe said.

Whilst Elaine and Zoe both see early childhood KWS education as their major target, they emphasise that KWS skills have benefits long into childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

“Children exposed to KWS and baby sign regularly have larger vocabularies and greater language and literacy skills throughout childhood than their peers who didn’t learn these skills. KWS also leads to higher emotional intelligence, resulting in better mental health and empathy into adolescence and adulthood,” said Zoe.

KWS and baby sign aren’t only amazing tools for a child’s development – there are a lot of benefits for parents too.

By helping pre-speaking children communicate their wants and needs, KWS aids in reducing avoidable meltdowns and frustration on both sides. You don’t need to imagine a baby telling you when they are hungry, tired, or hurt, KWS allows them to communicate this clearly and effectively.

Elaine stresses that whilst KWS is an incredible tool for children who are too young to speak or face barriers in communicating through speech, all communication is good communication.

“All children develop at different stages and all have their own preference for communicating. There is simply no right way to communicate, and speech is not the only form. Take the pressure off speech, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly they progress!”

To view Elaine and Zoe in action head to the AVID YouTube page and explore their AVIDEngage video series.