He was born prematurely, at 32 weeks, and is struggling to communicate. He seems to be bright but he still can't speak even though he's about to turn three.

But seeing the gestures of the sign interpreters in the daily ACT government press conference seems to calm him down.

The interpreters of Auslan, the sign language most deaf people in Australia use, are Charlie's heroes. Some might call them Charlie's angels.

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"He loves them. He loves people talking," his mother said. " He mimics them and mimicry at that age is good."

He doesn't understand what they are saying - after all, which adult easily understands a phrase like "infectious in the community"?

But Charlie's mother thinks the interpreters show him signs are a good way of communicating. He has started to copy them, not with the complicated phrases but with mask-wearing and simpler concepts.

"He's engrossed by them," Charlie's mother, Jessica, says.

"It feels like people are talking to him. He gets very excited and his arms start flapping. We've noticed that he perks up.

"He has no idea what they are talking about but he has got in his head now that signs mean something, and, hopefully, he can grow up to make the connections."

It is not certain exactly what is going on with Charlie. He is clearly a very lovable kid but his premature birth slowed his learning. His mum says he is very good at problem solving - like working out how to turn on children's TV.

There is a diagnosis of some deafness in one ear, but he can hear sound. He knows when people are talking or the TV is on, for example. He has to wait until November for further tests.

His speech may well develop but "in the worst-case scenario", as his mother puts it, "he will know that it's OK to be using signs".

COVID has not helped his development. Charlie has speech therapy and music therapy but it has to be on a video link because of the lockdown - and no two-year-old takes easily to a video link at the best of times.

"It's hard to communicate with smaller people," his mother who works at a childcare centre, says. "But it is what it is."

The mother has an infectious enthusiasm and an upbeat attitude.

She and her husband and Charlie's speech therapist are now teaching him signs - the signs for giraffe and lion are early ones.

Charlie is not slow on the uptake and has developed a sign for food - he bunches his fingers up and touches his chin. It seems to be communication which is the issue rather than thought.

"He wants to tell people things but because he can't verbalise, he gets frustrated," his mum says.

"We are trying to teach him signs so he's not getting frustrated."

The signers are helping in ways they may not even imagine. One small boy may well grow up grateful.

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