It all began with Grace. She was born with Down Syndrome and Apraxia. When she was a child, she could not speak at all. Out of frustration, Valerie Carter, her mother and former teacher and librarian learned sign language together with Grace. Finally, they could communicate! Valerie then taught Grace’s friends and classmates some signs by making up stories and demonstrating the key words in sign. The children loved learning this way and it was exciting for Grace to interact with others who could now enjoy understanding her. Recognizing that there was a need for engaging interactive learning, Valerie founded GraceSigns in 2013. Its mission statement was straightforward: To build awareness about the abilities of children with special needs, by creating educational software applications that teach reading and Sign Language through story, music and video.

With so many types of people and so many different ways of learning, Valerie knew she needed to make the learning unique and innovative and that technology was the way to go. Since then, three highly reviewed educational applications have been launched and are available on all Apple and Android mobile devices worldwide. All apps are 100% free with no in-app purchase and no advertisements. These apps are safe, fun AND instructive and feature individuals of all abilities as the sign language demonstrators. GraceSigns is focused on inclusion and the importance of accepting the differences in all us.

Look for our new app, Sign Me A Song, to be released in early 2024.