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Signing with your baby
We feel very passionate about the benefits of
signing with your baby. I will never forget Becky's first signs,
long before she could speak. For most children, the motor skills
develop far faster than verbal skills, and signing helps the child learn
to speak more quickly also. Many people have told me they worry that
signing to the baby will keep the baby from speaking, because they'll just
use sign language instead. We found that to be only a sad myth, and
very far from the truth. Becky did not hear any English until 10
months of age, but she was speaking more words than we could count by 18
months of age. Her signing vocabulary developed much earlier, and
she was able to tell us if she wanted water, milk, more food, or sleep.
Don't worry at all though if your baby isn't vocalizing any words by the
age of 18 months. Every child develops these skills at their own
pace and it is nothing to worry about. My mom said I wasn't saying much
of anything until after the age of 2, but I caught up pretty quickly after
that with the other kids. No matter what, signing will never hurt
the child's development process. All your signing can do is help
communication, and any communication is good whether it is speaking or
signing.
Our favorite sources of information when we
were learning to sign were the ASL
Browser (I could easily look up the signs in the baby books and then
read/sign at the same time) and the Signing Time
videos (if you can only afford one or two of them I would recommend the
first video as a 1st choice, and the second video as my 2nd choice, though
all of them are wonderful). We discovered that many of the signing
videos and baby books teach made-up signs rather than real sign language
(and most of them were very boring to watch too), so I felt I could trust
the Signing Time videos because the creator of the videos has a deaf little
girl who is a big part of the videos too. I personally felt it was
important to teach Becky the correct signs because that will enable her
to communicate better with hearing impaired children and adults.
The videos are so much fun to watch, and the songs are wonderful and teach
wonderful life lessons as well. Once your children are finished using
the videos I think they would make a wonderful gift for another family
member who has young children, or consider donating them to your local
library so the entire community can benefit.
Baby Sign Language FAQ (from the Signing Time web site):
How early can I start to sign with my child?
Start signing now! You can sign "milk" to your newborn when it's time
to nurse or time for a bottle. Sign "sleep" at nap and bedtimes. Take your
baby's hands and help them sign "more" in-between each spoonful. This will
help integrate signs into your daily routine. Soon the repetition and reinforcement
will occur naturally as your infant grows. It will also help your infant
realize that crying is not the only way of communicating.
My child is already talking. Why should they learn ASL?
Learning a second language is fun and has many developmental benefits.
ASL stimulates learning through different senses. Sign language is a blessing
for children that are "visual", "spatial" or "tactile learners." Learning
a second language raises your child's IQ. One in ten Americans have some
degree of hearing loss. Knowing a few signs can give your child the confidence
to engage and interact with a deaf child rather than both children feeling
awkward and helpless.
Will learning signs delay my child's speech?
Many parents fear that signing will delay or further delay speech.
Our experience has been the opposite. If your goal is communication, then
signing will meet that communication need much earlier than speech. "When
we found out Leah was deaf, many people warned us to be careful with signing.
They said, 'If she gets too comfortable signing, she will never speak.'
Their intentions were good, but they were absolutely wrong. Luckily, we
first gave Leah a complete language in signs, only then was she able to
take time to work on the skill of labeling those signs through her speech.
English is a language. American Sign Language is a language. Spanish is
a language. But speech, it is a skill...and Leah is a little chatterbox!"
I don't have time to learn and teach my child sign.
Parenting can be very overwhelming because there never seems to be
enough time. This is why we created Signing Timeit does the work for you!
Do I have to become fluent in ASL?
No, you don't. We are providing parenting tools for communication through
the use of ASL. I think you will be surprised how useful it is to learn
even a few signs. The Signing Time series teaches more than 75 signs and
exposes you to over a hundred.
If fluency is your goal, ASL, like any second language, takes time and
practice. (I have been signing for five years and I'm still learning) Surrounding
yourself with others that are fluent will really boost your skills and
your confidence.
If you are interested in learning more, check out your Community Education
Programs and Community Center for the Deaf. Many Jr. High Schools, High
Schools, Community Colleges and Universities now include ASL in their curriculum.
There are sign language interpreting programs all across the country.
Why do you use ASL and not made up signs?
Since you are going to take the time to teach and reinforce signs,
it makes sense to use signs that are part of a living language. Hearing
children that start out as "baby signers" can comfortably transition into
communication with deaf children.
My child does not do the signs correctly. Is that okay?
Most children adapt signs to whatever they are physically able to do.
As their fine motor skills develop further, their signs will also develop.
This is very similar to the pattern in speech development; "Da-da" suddenly
becomes "Daddy" or "Dad" or in Leah's case, "Aaron!" (LOL)
How soon will my child start to sign?
It really depends on when you start. If you start signing with your
newborn, they may not reciprocate until 8-14 months old. If you start with
your 2 year old, they may respond immediately or it may take a couple of
months. If your child has physical, mental or developmental delays, take
that into consideration. My daughter Lucy had no words and no signs and
showed no interest in communication for two long years. Her doctors did
not expect that to change. We didn't give up, we continued exposing her
to sign and speech, and suddenly she had a language explosion in speech
AND sign!
My child can hear. Why should they learn American Sign Language (ASL)?
Most children are not developmentally ready to speak until approximately
2 years of age. Babies are developmentally able to communicate with signs
as early as 8-10 months of age. The inability to communicate causes frustration
and tantrums. Sign language is a wonderful tool that allows even very small
children to express themselves. Most parents that sign with their babies
talk about an unexplainable bond that is felt when their child communicates
so early!
I have heard that signing helps with tantrums and "The Terrible Twos"?
Many tantrums and the "Terrible Twos" are about frustration and communication.
There is less frustration when your child can communicate. The typical
child's motor skills develop far faster than their verbal skills.
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