Did you know that babies are communicating their wants and needs before they reach twelve months of age? Yes, babies are “talking,” not through verbal speech, but via sign language. Babies have always waved bye-bye and mimicked their parents’ hand motions to “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” However, parents are now teaching their babies a litany of other “signs” and they are using these to communicate with their babies before their babies can talk.
Sign language has long been an alternative for deaf children and those who are hard of hearing. However, in the 1980s, important research on the use of sign language and the subsequent verbal language development of those infants provided a new perspective on the use of sign language with hearing babies. Linda P. Acredolo, Ph.D., Susan W. Goodwyn, Ph.D., and Catherine A. Brown, M.A. conducted research made possible by a grant from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development. Their study showed that the parents of signing babies had less frustration, better communication, and a stronger parent-child bond with their infants than parents of non-signing babies. The study also demonstrated that signing babies had larger vocabularies and performed better on intelligence tests. This — and similar studies — sparked a widespread interest in using sign language with hearing babies.
Why Use Sign Language with a Hearing Baby?
Parents are often unaware of the advances their pre-talking babies have made in language development. One advantage of baby signs is that your baby can show you, before she talks, how much she’s already figured out.
Lora Heller, founding director of Baby Fingers, LLC and author of the Baby Fingers series, including Teaching Your Baby to Sign (Sterling Publishers), says there is an immediate benefit to teaching your hearing baby sign language. “By teaching babies ASL [American Sign Language],” Heller explains, “you are focusing on language. Your child has an actual language he has learned to communicate with before he can speak.”
Parents, who have tried out sign language programs, report that their babies are able to communicate before they can talk. This tends to eliminate the frustration that often occurs between pre-verbal babies and their parents. For instance, if Baby signs “bananas,” her parent won’t have to go through a number of futile attempts at figuring out what Baby actually wants. No need to point to the raisins… the Cheerios… the toy TV clicker… before figuring out that Baby really wants the bananas. Ultimately, both parent and child are more content. They can experience the joy of communicating with language before Baby has the ability to produce speech.
Does Signing Delay Speech?
Some parents fear that sign language will delay speech development. Even if babies don’t have the coordination to articulate their thoughts completely in words, they have the motor ability to sign. Parents report decreased frustration, and within a short period of learning signs, many of these non-verbal children begin using words to communicate the same concepts.
In their book Baby Signs: How to Talk to Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk (Contemporary Books), Linda Acredolo, Ph.D. and Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D. explain, “Your child will automatically sense when this time [the time for speech] has come and will eagerly conquer the verbal vocabulary he needs. Using baby signs does not inhibit a child’s motivation to talk. It makes children even more eager to master the words that will enable them to expand their social network.”
Many children continue to use signs even after learning to speak for emphasis, clarity, or when their emotions won’t allow for speech.
Lora Heller asserts, “There are several times when signing becomes extremely useful for the ‘talking’ child. Children have the ability to express themselves when they’re too upset to talk.” Or it may simply be impossible to get the words out. Heller recalls her son signing “More pizza please, Mommy” with a mouth full.
ASL versus Personal Signs
Should parents make up signs with their babies or practice strict accordance to American Sign Language (ASL)? Experts do not always agree. Acredolo and Goodwyn encourage creating signs, while Joseph Garcia (creator of the “Sign with Your Baby” program and one of the earliest researchers on the subject) sticks strictly to ASL.
Lora Heller agrees with Garcia. At Baby Fingers (Heller’s sign language program), families learn ASL because Heller believes that babies should be exposed to a “real” language. “I am an advocate for the use of ASL. I recommend using this because people outside of your family will use it.”
When Should You Start?
Heller says that babies can start understanding sign language as early as three to four months, and often begin signing at around seven to eight months. Many moms begin signing before their babies are capable of producing the signs themselves. It’s important to know that your baby is learning just by watching you. As soon as she is ready, she will begin to sign herself and, therefore, begin communicating through language.
Most parents report that taking classes makes learning sign language easy and fun. Parents can check with local hospitals, pediatricians, and obstetricians to see if classes are available in their local area.
Additional Resources for Parents:
Books:
Baby Fingers™ All Day Long: Teaching your Baby to Sign, by Lora Heller (Sterling, 2008)
Baby Signs: How to Talk to Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk, by Linda Acredolo, Ph.D. and Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D. (Contemporary Books: 3rd ed., 2009)
Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children’s Literacy, by Marilyn Daniels (Bergin & Garvey, 2000)
DVDs and CDs:
Sign2Me Early Learning, Li’L Pick Me Up! Fun Songs for Learning American Sign Language with Enhanced Music CD and Download for Activity Guide Book (audio CD, 2009)
My Baby Signs® DVD Series (www.babysignstoo.com)
Online Resources:
Baby Signs Too www.babysignstoo.com (Official website for Baby Signs authors Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn)
Signing with Your Baby www.signingbaby.com
Sign2Me www.sign2me.com
Myrna Beth Haskell is an award-winning author, columnist, and feature writer. Her work has appeared in national and regional publications across the U.S., as well as internationally. To learn more, visit www.myrnahaskell.com.