SIGN with your BABY™
Supporting Research

There is a growing body of research documenting the
benefits of using sign language with hearing children.

Signs with Hearing Babies of Hearing Parents
As Joseph Garcia began working as an Interpreter in the late 1970's, he noticed that hearing babies of deaf parents could communicate their needs and desires at a much earlier age than children of hearing parents. Joseph began to research the use of American Sign Language with hearing babies of hearing parents at Alaska Pacific University in 1987. His thesis research showed that babies who are exposed to signs regularly and consistently at six to seven months of age can begin expressive communication by their eighth or ninth month.

After graduating, Garcia focused on creating a practical system for hearing parents to use sign language with their preverbal babies. He published his first book on the subject, Toddler Talk, in 1994. As Garcia began his doctoral studies in adult learning and education, he expanded and revised his program, which is now known as SIGN with your BABY™.

Drs. Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn conducted a longitudinal study funded by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development. The study showed that babies who used symbolic gestures understood more words, had larger vocabularies, and engaged in more sophisticated play than non-signing babies. Parents of the signing babies in the study noted decreased frustration, increased communication, and enriched parent-infant bonding. Signing babies also displayed an increased interest in books.

Acredolo and Goodwyn revisited the families in the original study when the children were seven and eight years old. The children who signed as babies had a mean IQ of 114 compared to the non-signing control group's mean IQ of 102.

You can read about these findings in the following articles available online:

Goodwyn, S.W., Acredolo, L. P. & Brown, C. (2000). Impact of Symbolic Gesturing on Early Language Development. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 24, 81-103.

Acredolo, L. P., & Goodwyn, S.W. (July 2000). The long-term impact of symbolic gesturing during infancy on IQ at age 8. Paper presented at the meetings of the International Society for Infant Studies, Brighton, UK.

Another study by Acredolo and Goodwyn shows that signing babies engage in more joint attention episodes than their non-signing peers. Joint attention happens when a baby directs an adult's attention to something he or she is interested in. A child who is more skilled in initiating joint attention episodes can help accelerate his or her verbal language development. The findings in this study helps to explain why signing babies tend to start to talk earlier their non-signing peers.

Brie Moore, Linda Acredolo, & Susan Goodwyn (April 2001). Symbolic gesturing and joint attention: Partners in facilitating verbal development. Paper presented at the Biennial Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development.

Language Learning at Early Ages
Dr. Rachel Mayberry, director of the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, at McGill University in Montreal, has found, through years of extensive study with both hearing and deaf children, conclusive evidence that there exists a critical period in childhood development related to learning language. Her studies have shown that children who are not exposed to language at an early age are permanently impaired when attempting to learn other languages later in life.

CBC News Online (2002). "Linguistic ability linked to early exposure to language: Cdn. study". [Listen]

Mayberry, R. (1998). "The critical period for language acquisition and the deaf child's language comprehension: A psycholinguistic approach." Bulletin d'Audiophonologie: Annales Scientifiques de L'Universite de Franche-Comte, 15, 349-358.

Mayberry, R. I. (1994). "The importance of childhood to language acquisition: Insights from American Sign Language." In J.C. Goodman & H.C. Nusbaum (Eds.), The Development of Speech Perception: The Transition from Speech Sounds to Words, 57-90.

Signs with Hearing Babies of Deaf Parents
In the two studies cited below, hearing babies exposed to both ASL and English were able to communicate more complex messages through the use of signs than they could verbally.

Griffith, P.L. (1985). Mode-switching and mode-finding in a hearing child of deaf parents. Sign Language Studies, 48, 195-222.

Wilbur, R. and Jones, M. (1974). Some aspects of the acquisition of American Sign Language and English by three hearing children of deaf parents. In La Galy, Fox, & Bruck (Eds.), Papers from the Tenth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, 742-749.

Signing in Preschool and Pre-K Environments
Dr. Kimberlee Whaley started a longitudinal study in November 1999 to research the use of ASL signs with preverbal babies in a preschool environment. After her pilot study conducted at Ohio State's A. Sophie Rogers Infant-Toddler Laboratory School, she noted "It is so much easier for our teachers to work with 12-month olds who can sign that they want their bottle, rather than just cry and have us try to figure out what they want. This is a great way for infants to express their needs before they can verbalize them."

Marilyn Daniels, a professor of speech communication at Penn State University, has found that hearing students in pre-kindergarten classes who receive instruction in both English and ASL score significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than hearing students in classes with no sign instruction. Her studies demonstrate that adding visual and kinesthetic elements to verbal communication helps enhance a preschool child's vocabulary, spelling and reading skills.

Daniels, M. (October, 1994a). The effects of sign language on hearing children's language development. Communication Education, 43, 291-298.

Daniels, M. (1996b). Seeing language: The effect over time of sign language on vocabulary development in early childhood education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.

Daniels, M. (2001). Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children's Literacy. Westport, Connecticut: Bergin and Garvey.

Other researchers have found evidence that sign language supports early literacy skills.

Felzer, L. (1998). A Multisensory Reading Program That Really Works. Teaching and Change, 5, 169-183.

Wilson, R., Teague, J., and Teague, M. (1985). The Use of Signing and Fingerspelling to Improve Spelling Performance with Hearing Children. Reading Psychology, 4, 267-273.

Hafer, J. (1986). Signing For Reading Success. Washington D.C.: Clerc Books, Gallaudet University Press.

Koehler, L., and Loyd, L. (September 1986). Using Fingerspelling/Manual Signs to Facilitate Reading and Spelling. Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. (4'th Cardiff Wales).

Signs and Children with Special Needs
For decades, speech language professionals have used signs simultaneously with speech in treating children who are slow to develop verbal communication. Using Sign Language has also proven to be a successful intervention with children with special-needs including down-syndrome, and autism. Some relevant references and resources follow:

Apraxia of Speech
Square PA, (1994) Treatment Approaches For Developmental Apraxia Of Speech. Clinical Communications Disorders, 4(3):151-61.

Sharon Gretz: Using Sign Language With Children Who Have Apraxia of Speech: Availabe online at http://www.apraxia-kids.org/topics/sign.html.

Autism
Stephen M. Edelson, Ph.D., from the Center for the Study of Autism, Salem, Oregon writes:

"Many aberrant behaviors associated with autism and other developmental disabilities, such as aggression, tantrumming, self-injury, anxiety, and depression, are often attributed to an inability to communicate to others. Signed Speech may, at the very least, allow the person to communicate using signs and may stimulate verbal language skills. When teaching a person to use sign language, another possible benefit may be the facilitation of their attentiveness to social gestures of others as well as of themselves."

Dr. Edelson's article is available online at http://www.autism.org/sign.html.

Down Syndrome
Donovan, Claire S-LP, (1998) Teaching Sign Language, Disability Solutions, Volume 2, Issue 5, January/February 1998. Available online at http://www.teleport.com/~dsolns/volume2-5.htm

Miller J F, Sedey A, Miolo G, Rosin M, Murray-Branch J (1992) Vocabulary acquisition in young children with Down syndrome: Speech and sign Paper presented at the 9th World Congress of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Mental Deficiency. Queensland Australia August 1992.

Gibbs, E.D., Springer, A.S., Cooley, S.C. & Aloisio, S. (November, 1991). Early use of total communication: Patterns across eleven children with Down Syndrome. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Early Childhood Conference on Children with Special Needs, St. Louis, MO.

Reading Disabilities
Blackburn, D., Vonvillian, J., and Ashby, R. (January 1984). Manual Communication as an Alternative Mode of Language Instruction for Children with Severe Reading Disabilities. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 15, 22-31.

Carney, J., Cioffi, G., and Raymond, W. (Spring 1985). Using Sign Language For Teaching Sight Words. Teaching Exceptional Children. 214-217.

Vernon, M., Coley, J., Hafer, J., and Dubois, J. (April 1980). Using Sign Language to Remediate Severe Reading Problems. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 13, 215-218.

Sensenig, L., Topf, B., and Mazeika, E. (June 1989). Sign Language Facilitation of Reading with Students Classified as Trainable Mentally Handicapped. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 121-125.

Children in Hospital Settings
Hall, SS Weatherly KS, (1989) Using sign language with tracheotomized infants and children, Pediatric Nurse, Jul-Aug: 15(4): 362-7. Available online at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2587090&dopt=Abstract.

Conclusion
This is a small collection of the growing amount of research on signing with hearing babies. As you can see, the use of sign language has proven to be beneficial for children in a wide variety of settings. Sign language is now being adopted into early childhood curricula because it helps reduce frustration for infants and lower incidences of biting. And signs like STOP, GENTLE, and SHARE help toddlers learn how to play together more cooperatively.

As the use of sign language with young children gains popularity, we encourage researchers to continue to investigate the impact signing has on children's linguistic, cognitive and social development. As dedicated parents and educators, we here at Northlight Communications are willing to contribute our resources toward this end.

If you are aware of any studies that should be added to this list, or want to pursue new research in this area, we invite you to contact us at your earliest convenience.

http://www.sign2me.com/science.htm

UCB Parents Advice about Babies

Baby Sign Language

Advice and recommendations from the UCB Parents mailing list. This page is brought to you by UC Berkeley Parents Network

Back to Advice about Babies
Related page: Sign language lessons

 Teaching baby to sign

 ASL vs. baby sign

 Local baby sign classes

Teaching baby to sign

Hi, I'm thinking of taking advantage of the proximity of a sign language teacher and having her teach me and possibly my baby to sign. I'd heard that they can learn simple sign at six months, well before they start to speak. Then I started wondering if that might be a problem later -- that is, would it delay his verbal development because he can already make himself understood by signing? Does anyone have any relevant experience with this? Heather

re: Signing and baby -- read Seeing Voices by Oliver Sacks. He thinks humans may have first commicated by sign and that verbal communication came as a result of a need to do other things with our hands. In any case I really, really doubt that teaching your baby sign could hurt in any way. Have fun. Margy

This is to the mom who asked about signing and her 6-month old and whether it would inhibit his verbal language development. There is a great book called "Baby Signs" by Acredolo and Goodwyn. They are psychologists who have studied using primitive signs with infants (hearing, normally developing babies) to actually enhance their communication skills. Infants begin to use nonverbal gestures on their own. The authors encourage parents to become intuned with these gestrues and to encourage them to foster communciation before children have verbal communication. Also, there are many "bilingual" children -- hearing children born to parents who have hearing impairments learn sign and spoken language. I think it's a great idea to expose your son. Have fun and good luck. Bonnie

teaching your child to sign will not delay speech development. May even enhance it. Your baby is exposed to language all day from everyone and presumably you are speaking to her while your signing as well. There is a plethora of literature which shows that teaching your baby to sign improves behavior (deaf children experience a different or milder form of the terrible twos. the behavior which is related to frustration is diminished because they can be understood) I have been signing to my 11 month old for a while now. I label things like shoes bath diaper etc when were putting them on. I ask her what she wants and if she's finished. she signs want all the time looking at anything and everything I want it I want it I want it. she just recently begun to sign finished when were eating and once when I was trying to get her into the bath in the kitchen sink. Gross motor movements are easier to achieve long before articulation will ever be. Babies are already signaling you and signing to you with gestures facial expressions etc. All your doing is modifying those gestures to a common one that everyone can understand. Its fun (if your happy and you know it sign it to me HAPPY) it promotes bonding and understanding and trust etc etc

obviously I am a strong proponent. The one critisism I have is in the wave to teach baby sign many books have come out with made up signs. Some of them appear to be the same or similar to ASL but many are just completely made up. The premise being this gesture is easier then the reAl gesture. Don't worry about that your baby will make a successful approximation. what ever he does is close enough. he'll get better as his motor skills mature, in the mean time you know what he's trying to say and eventually so will everyone else. If your going to teach your child sign teach him American Sign Language. Why woudn't you want your child to be bilingual? You can buy picture dictionarys in any book store,theres CD roms sign disc's sesame street and other children books in sign.

I love to see my daughter sign. I'm proud of her and it makes me happy that I can understand and fulfill her desire. And less crying less tantrumming sounds good to me too! - Kim, Local Special Education consultant, Certified Behavior Analyst.

There is actually a very lively on-line discussion going on right now among developmental psycholinguists about the pros and cons of teaching signs to babies. The consensus seems to be that there can be absolutely no harm in teaching babies to sign, whether you use ASL or so-called "baby signs" (look for the book by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn). Babies do seem to be capable of acquiring what psychologists call "symbolic gesturing" earlier than they can actually speak, and it seems to be fun and rewarding for both them and their parents to have a simple way to communicate early on. There is even some anecdotal evidence that suggests that language acquisition *may* be a little bit enhanced (NOT very much if at all) in the kids who use signs. But this has NOT been tested and should absolutely not affect your decision -- it's just an interesting possibility.

Paraphrasing a psychologist named Adele Abrahamsen, the things to remember are these:

1) make sure that signs are an option that you can use if you and

your child enjoy using them, not a necessity or an obligation

2) don't feel as if you need to teach (or use) a huge vocabulary

of signs -- if you have the energy to work with just a few, that's

fine.

3) don't be surprised or worried if it takes your child a while to

pick up the signs you have decided to try, especially if you start

early (9 or 10 months, as opposed to 11 or 12 months, when their

comprehension and their motor skills are more developed). Even

Deaf kids learning ASL tend to think their parents are nuts at

first! You'll have the best luck if you start with gestures that

are already familiar to your child, such as the spider gesture

from the eensy-weensy spider song -- it may be easier for your

child to get the point than if you start with ASL signs.

4) again, don't expect to make a super-baby! Do this for fun and

possible enhanced communication NOT for linguistic genius.

Good luck -- and have fun! Lauren

Hello, this very week there has been a discussion of baby signing on the child language development mailing list. The short answer: However unintuitive it may seem, the empirical research shows that teaching babies signs actually (slightly) improves their later language skills; but the main benefit should be seen as gaining the fun of communicating ideas with each other before they (the babies) can enunciate.

the web site where you can get catch discussions of child language learning is http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/info-childes.html Joyce

Look for a book by Linda Acredolo. It might be called "How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby can Talk: Building a Bridge with Baby Signs", or maybe she simplified the title since I saw an excerpt before it was published, and perhaps it's now simply called "Baby Signs". She is a professor at UC Davis who has done extensive research on what is often called "baby gesturing". I don't know if it's exactly the same as what might be taught through ASL, but it's geared specifically towards the motor skills of young babies. Her research has also shown that it actually ENHANCES rather than hinders verbal language development. Basically, babies get excited early on about being able to communicate and see a one-to-one correspondance with "words" (which you say verbally along with the sign) and things that they see or want. Lots of other reasons for the positive impacts of baby signs as well......

I used only a few of the recommended "signs" with my first son, starting when he was under a year old, but even that little bit was GREAT. We started with "request" signs (like thumb to mouth with a tilting up motion for "drink/bottle", and fingers of one hand tapping the opposite palm for "more" - which he continued to enthusiastically use even after he used the words as well). These seemed to SIGNIFICANTLY reduce his frustration because he was able to communicate his needs at an earlier age. We also used some simple "object" and "descriptor" signs. He's just over 4 years old now, a nd teachers often comment that he's "very verbal". Don't know if I can credit the signing, but it certainly didn't hurt him !!!!

If you can't find the book, you can contact the professor: Linda Acredolo, Psychology Dept., Univ. of California, Davis, CA 95616 --Gail

While we we're visiting my in-laws in Southern California in December, we came across an article about baby signs (specifically the book by Acredolo and Goodwyn). We've always been sensitive to Bevan's ways of communicating, and now that he is nearly one we've noticed that he really WANTS to talk to us on a more complex level than crying because he's hungry, tired, dirty, whatever. We tried out some of the suggestions in the book (finding signs for "more," "dog," etc.) Bevan took to it almost immediately (it did take some work)and it's wonderful to see how proud he is of himself. He can now direct the volume of his meals and we can successfully respond to his desires. It's one of the best things happening in our lives right now. I can't say enough about it. I don't think that you really have to buy the book or use ASL, though...any signs work...watch what your baby does in response to things (especially things you do and see every day...mealtimes, family pets...). Babies will find the signs that best trigger the words for them. And the pride and satisfaction your entire family will feel is much more important that what specific signs are used. Heather

ASL vs. baby sign

I'm interested in teaching my baby sign language, and have looked through the Acredolo book (as well as the on line advice here) about the subject. However, I wonder why teach a baby made-up signs when ASL is a real language and might be useful in the future. Is there any reason? Does anyone have experience teaching ASL to their baby? What is the best ASL book/dictionary for me to use with a seven-month-old baby? Thanks. Carolyn

This reply is from my sister, who has 4 year old twins, one of whom is deaf.

"I have a deaf son who is now 4 and a half. We began teaching him ASL at age 6.5 months when it was confirmed that he was deaf. He and his twin sister (hearing) are now fluent (for 4 year olds). I cannot think of a reason why you would want to teach your baby made-up signs rather than ASL. Unless the made-up signs are easier, which I can't really imagine, because as you stated ASL is a complete language. For example, it is very easy to sign "the car is being driven" in ASL. It only requires one hand-shape and one movement. Note there are some geographic differences even with ASL (e.g., the sign for "cracker" is different in different parts of the U.S.). I would recommend getting a catalogue from Gallaudet University's bookstore at 800 Florida Avenue, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 for resources (video tapes, books). There are other companies such as Harris Communications, which you can probably find on the internet. I applaud your initiative! Babies can learn to sign much more readily than they can learn to speak. Much frustration between parent and child is alleviated when there is early communication." Fran

Not sure why some baby sign languages are based on ASL or not (I think its because the "invented" ones were more intuitive and easier for babies to use) but I did teach my daughter ASL. I used a book by Joseph Garcia called Sign With Your Baby : How to Communicate With Infants Before They Can Speak. I started at nine months and it took awhile, but by 11 months, she was signing. It was great, and I will do it with the next one too! hilary

An excellent book (not really a dictionary, but it functions as such) is Signs for Me...Basic Sign Vocabulary for Children, Parents & Teachers by Ben Bahan and Joe Dannis...available from Dawn Sign Press phone [phone] website is www.dawnsign.com I like this book so much for so many reasons....It is separated into sections: verbs, adjectives/feelings, adjectives/opposites, nouns/people.....etc. etc., so it is very easy to look up what you want. It also has a very clear picture (drawing) of the meaning of the sign, as well as a drawing of a person signing the concept....It is very user friendly, and was developed with love and respect for ASL as well as with tremendous background knowledge of language acquisition.. It can also be used as a coloring book when baby gets older!! Enjoy. Nancy

Garcia's book, "Sign to Your Baby" is based on ASL. Some signs are slightly altered in an attempt to adapt to make it easier for small, less motor-skilled hands to be able to make the sign, but they are very similar to official ASL signs. His book provides a selection of signs to get you started. We've enjoyed using his book to teach signs to our baby -we started about 7-8 months. Elizabeth

I started teaching my now three year old son ASL when he was around eleven months old because he was not vocalizing like he should due to medical problems he had since birth. The type of ASL that we taught him were based on real signs however were slightly modified so that they would be easy for babies to use. There were also some signs that we used with my son that were real ASL signs that are very easy to sign and remember. Everyday words that a child might use, like "more" and "eat". These are very simple. I have not found a good book (for me and my son that is) yet to do this although there are many out there that might be good for you. I suggest you check out Barnes and Noble on line..they have a ton of them. I mostly found words from many sources (books, pamphlets, magazines) and just used them as I felt that he could utilize them. As he got older, I started teaching him signs that were harder to remember and learn. Sometimes I notice that he starts to make up his own signs which also not a bad thing because I feel that he is still communicating with me. My son is not deaf but he is not talking yet either so this works out for both of us. He is vocalizing more words now and he is expected to talk one day although it might take time. I hope this helps.

Just to let you know..some of the books that I use with him now are"Signing for Kids" by Mickey Flodin, and one called "My First Book of Sign Language" by Joan Holub.

I agree one should go with ASL. There is a great kit with video for parents based on ASL by a guy called Garcia. The kit is about $49.00 but it is an excellent tool. There is also a web site they have to connect parents. You'll find the kit or the book in book stores, on line or at Women's Health Center on N. California in Walnut Creek. Good luck with signing. I think it is a wonderful idea and a tool for communicating with your baby and toddler. Ksenija

Local baby sign classes

March 2002

Does anyone know of a class in the Berkeley area on using sign language to communicate with your pre-verbal baby? I read a book about it, but found it hard to learn the signs from a book, and would like to get the chance to practice them. I looked at the web page but it only lists classes that were held last year. I called Habitot--their baby signing instructor left and they won't be having any more classes. El Cerrito Community Center isn't having any, either.

I know that there is a baby sign language class taught in North Berkeley near Solano Avenue. The instructor's name is Jeff and he also teaches music (Jingle Jamboree). I took his music class but not the sign class. Jeff's phone number is [phone]. As a side note, sign language with your baby really does work. I chose two signs to ''teach'' our daughter. At 16 months, she just used her first sign to communicate with me. It's very exciting! Shoshana

If you find that there are not classes in the near future and you want to learn right away because of your baby's age, you can purchase a video (which I found very helpful) at the Sign-to-me website: http://www.sign2me.com/ There are also about 12 minutes of streaming video available on the site that show you babies signing. It'll be bring tears to your eyes to see babies who can't talk yet tell you what they want or need in signs! anonymous

Wow -- what a great gift this was for our family! As a pediatric physical therapist, I had used sign language for many years to communicate with many of my ''non-verbal'' clients. I had attended UC DAvis, where I had a psychology professor by the name of Linda Acredolo, PhD. At the time, she was doing her thesis on ''baby sign language'', which I found fascinating. After the birth of my first child, I began using signs with her as I related to the more common aspects of her day -- began this at about 7 mos. of age. By 10 months of age, she had a few signs -- for ''dog'', ''more'' . By just over a year (about 14 mos.?), she had at least 15-20 signs. This didn't delay her speech, only augmented it, as she started talking at a very young age. We are all fortunate enough to have some great resources in our backyard! Dr. Acredolo wrote a book called ''Baby signs'', which may be the book to which you are refferring; however, one of the biggest points she makes in the book is NOT to teach your child traditional ASL signs, as they may be too difficult for the child to do fine-motor wise. Make up your own simple gestures for common things in your baby's life an he/she will modify them from there. The object is to communicate with your child rather than teaching ASL, per se. It is a wonderful gift! A couple of years ago, I went to a seminar at Cal that was dedicated to brain development in children. Dr. Acredolo was a keynote speaker that day, as was Dr. Marian Diamond, who wrote a book called Magic Trees of the Mind:How to nurture your child's creativity, intelligence, and healthy emotions. Dr. Diamond is a professor from Cal who has done extensive research into brain development. She has a section about Dr. Acredolo's methods in her book. Good luck, and have fun! People were always in awe of what my tiny daughter was telling me with her hands before she could even speak! Best of all, it formed a closer bond between us. Trish

You don't need a class and you don't need to learn the signs out of a book --- you can just make them up! You might want your child to learn American Sign Language, but unless you are a native speaker, the chances that your child will learn it are very, very small. And anyway, the point of baby sign language is to communicate with your baby early and many real signs are too hard! I used some signs with both my girls. I tried to use the ASL sign for dog (slap leg and snap fingers) but it was too hard. We ended up sticking our tongues out and panting. This was very easy and they loved to do it whenever we saw or heard a dog. Just make up easy-to-remember signs for things that your baby is interested in --- oh, and ``more'' comes in very handy --- we used the index finger of one hand pointing into the palm of the other. Both of my girls phased out their signs as they learned to say the words, so they were only signing for a few months. So, I say, just have fun with this early, fleeting way of communicating with your baby. susan

2001

Last summer my playgroup took a sign language class through El Cerrito Community Center. It was called signing with your baby. I can't remember the instructers name but I know he also teaches a music class in the berkeley area and has a son named Miguel. Maybe someone else will know how to get in touch with him. It was a great class. He suggested a book called signing with your baby. It come as a book or a book and video. Barnes and nobles sells it. I also wanted to teach my daughter another language by doing ASL but she converted a lot of her signs to what they have in the baby sign book. So now I figure as long as her and I can communicate I don't care where the signs came from. We have also made up a few of our own signs. melinda

Classes that have appeared in the Announcements & Events Digest:

 Piedmont Community Center Mother Support Group 420-3075 "Baby sign language" (Feb 2001)

 Women's Health Center Mother's Support Groups in Walnut Creek "Signing with Your Baby" (April 2001)

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http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/babies/signing.html

Baby sign language

Baby sign language has become a popular phenomenon to parents around the world in recent years. Research has proven that teaching babies to sign increases their IQ and enables them to talk at an earlier age than those who don't. Sign language helps to tear down the barriers of silence and opens new worlds of communication between a parent and a child.

As a hearing-impaired mother at the vibrant age of 21, I worried about the frustrations of not being able to understand my child. I began to teach him sign language at an early age of eight months. The results were spectacular. There is nothing like a mother's feeling of having the ability to look into the window of a child's mind with a simple gesture or two.

Linda Acredolo, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis, began studying the phenomenon 15 years ago when she observed her one-year-old daughter using spontaneous gestures. After years of research, Acredolo found that the benefits of teaching babies sign language were overwhelming.

“The signing babies were ahead of the pack at almost every measure at every age. They were learning to comprehend language faster. They were learning to talk faster. They were putting words together faster and doing better on the infant IQ tests at two years,” says Linda.

As the result of her research, Linda and her research partner, Susan Goodwyn, wrote the book “Baby Signs” to help parents learn how to better communicate with their child. The popular book includes sign language that is very similar to the American Sign Language, the type of language used in the deaf community. Yet, Acredolo encourages parents to keep the signs simple. “Just make up something on the spot if you want. It is not realistic for parents to teach their babies American Sign Language because it puts up a barrier if babies have to learn specific signs. This is just transitional.”

Yet, some professors do not agree with Acredolo's teaching of sign language that is not an exact language of ASL. Marilyn Davis of Penn State University thinks “Baby Signs” introduces a good idea, but believes it is wrong to teach a baby an entirely new language. Daniels, an associate professor of speech communications has done years of research on sign language for children without disabilities. Her work was encouraged by the results that hearing children of deaf parents often had better than average vocabularies. “Why not teach the child a legitimate sign from a legitimate recognized language?” says Daniels. In her research, Daniels has used American Sign Language along with spoken language in kindergarten classes. The children who learned to sign scored 20 percent higher on year-end vocabulary tests than children who didn't.

My son is now 17 months old and has learned over 30 different signs ranging from “cookie” to “bath”. His signs are now starting to fade and being replaced by his own sweet voice. I no longer worry about the frustrations of communication between us. Sign language has helped us to break down that barrier of silence and create an exciting world of learning that never ceases.

Author's name omitted by request

Title: Baby sign language
Description: Baby Sign Language has become a popular phenomenon all across the world as more researchers find it increases their IQ.

Copyright 2001 by PageWise, Inc.

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