In case you missed it, a photo of a kid supposedly making the American Sign Language (ASL) symbol for “Help” while he sits in Santa’s lap has been making the rounds online, which makes sense. It’s the perfect mixture of cute and hilarious.
We taught our baby sign language. This is the sign for "help." You're welcome. pic.twitter.com/i6NkxBf4KP
— 🌈Dr. Frizzle (@Swilua) December 5, 2017
Kerry Spencer, a professor at Stevenson University, told Today that she taught both her children to use ASL when they were young in order to help them communicate. When her son Samuel was placed on Santa’s lap twelve years ago, he made the sign for “Help,” but Spencer didn’t notice until she saw the photo. Posting the photo online has since become an annual holiday tradition, but this is the first year Spencer chose to post it to Twitter.
People were duly impressed.
Oh what a sweet boy but that is hysterical !
— Missy (@MichelleDelNigr) December 7, 2017
This is the best Santa picture ever and would be on my wall year round 😂😂😂
— 🖤🦄Zombie Unicorn🧟♀️🖤 (@chronicfinders) December 10, 2017
TOO funny!! Love it!! 💗
— Christine Morley (@ychristiney) December 11, 2017
But other people felt that need to point out that young Samuel was not, in fact, making the sign for “Help,” which is done by placing a fist thumbs up in an open palm and raising both hands.
Which sign variant is this? BSL and ASL are a bit different (thumb up fist on palm upwards flat hand). I think the left hand might be moving away? Maybe I'm overthinking this…
— James Alex Gibson (@JamesAGibson) December 6, 2017
Looks like "cake" not "help"
— Isaak Doreo (@IsaakDoreo) December 14, 2017
LOL I think you are seeing what you want to see. Cute picture, but it simply looks like he is touching one hand with another. No secret message, symbolism, or "sign." LOL
— S. Rice ♊️ Proverbs 21:20 #KAG #Brexit #WalkAway (@enfield1014) December 11, 2017
Looks like he’s signing “cookie” to me.
— livingthelife (@caroline_ramey) December 11, 2017
Spencer responded by saying that children often “mispronounce” signs as they often do with spoken words, but she had seen her son make the sign before and she knew exactly what he was trying to say.
It's ASL baby sign; like with spoken language certain words are "mispronounced" by babies learning them.
— 🌈Dr. Frizzle (@Swilua) December 6, 2017
As someone on Facebook just said: Babies trying to say "fork" sometimes say "fuck." His thumb is the wrong direction. But it's close enough I knew exactly what he was signing. 😂
— 🌈Dr. Frizzle (@Swilua) December 8, 2017
“It is the sign he always made when he needed help,” she told Today.
She also tweeted the correct sign for “Help” to avoid confusion.
Here's the actual sign. So no one is confused. 😂 pic.twitter.com/np2tOkWgqY
— 🌈Dr. Frizzle (@Swilua) December 8, 2017
So what’s really going on here? Is a mom just trying to grab a bit of viral fame using an old photo, or is a kid, who certainly looks distressed, actually trying to signal for help?
We only know two things for sure.
- That kid is adorable
- Mall Santas are scary
H/T Today