Baby-Toddler sign language

We had a great time signing with both of our babies who have turned out to have advanced verbal skills. There are lots of methods, but we allowed family signs to develop naturally rather than using ASL or other systems.

I think its a great Idea.. My brother and sister inlaw have tought my 2 year old niece to do this.. its great in todays society because so many def people and it helps in school.. She learned this faster then speaking.

Its a good motivation skill.. My sister inlaw is a teacher so Im sure that helps

I have never tried it, but I think it would be a good skill for everyone to learn.

I don't understand why anybody would be against it. When children are young and have such a hard time articulating, this would be a fantastic tool to communicate wants and needs. I DO think that it should be taught in conjuntion with speaking so that sign language doesn't take the place of verbal language.

I am a strong supporter of teaching babies to sign. I started when my daughter was about nine months old. I didn't think she was "getting" it and I remember how excited I was when she signed "more" one morning at breakfast to let me know she wanted more strawberries. We taught her a number of other functional signs (please, thank you, eat, drink, etc.) and then expanded her "vocabulary" as she got older and became more cognitively aware. I think it really helped us to avoid a lot of tantrums early on because she had a way to communicate with us and now, even though she is using full sentences and never seems to stop talking, she still intertwines many signs with words. I am pregnant right now and definitely plan on using signs again with my next baby!

i always wanted to learn,the local hospital has classes, but ever time i got around to it, my child at the time had already learned to talk. but now my eldest comes home from kindigarten learning sign language. i will look at the sites so i can finally tech all of my kids!

You are really hitting on some topics near and dear to my heart! Again, as a Speech and Language Pathologist, I can tell you that using sign language facilitates language development. It provides additional means for your child to comprehend what you are saying and it allows your child to communicate with you before their mouths have coordinated the ability to produce words. It DOES NOT prevent or slow down the development of speech - it facilitates it. It's great that you are researching ways to facilitate your child's language development. I encourage you to check on the American Speech-Language Hearing Association website for additional resources on language development and the use of sign-language with babies and toddlers. www.asha.org

I really think it is helpful for most children. I didn't know anything about sign language, but the letters, when my oldest daughter was born. As she got older I taught her the letters. When I learned ASL she learned some with me. I think she was about 6 or 7 at the time. She's 15 now.

When my second child was born he didn't verbalize hardly at all. He was very frustrated and so were we. So when he was somewhere between 6 and 10 months old I started teaching him what I thought he needed: more, eat and drink. He did his own version of "more," but that one word helped out tremendously. He's 3 now and I didn't think he remembered anything, but one day when he was being stubborn he wouldn't talk to me and signed "more!"

My third child, a girl, was always so patient and easy to please that I didn't feel the need to teach her any sign language. I think I tried once or twice, but she was totally uninterested so I didn't push her. She'll be 22 months this week.

I'm pregnant with my forth and as I read your article I was thinking that it would be cool to teach the three youngest to sign. I think it's a great skill to have. My oldest can help and it'll help refresh her memory of the signs she's forgotten. I still try signing to her now and she sometimes looks at me like I'm crazy!

Thanks for this... sorry for the long comment. I got carried away!

Not a problem Petula.... I like to write about things that are affecting my life now and see how other people are thinking about the same types of topics...

I really like signing and signing is something that everyone should learn... there is nothing more shaming in trying to talk to someone who is deaf, mute or both... It makes me feel like I have failed not being able to converse even just the basic with a person like this... I think that sign language should be taugh as a second language in college and high school... just like spanish and french classes..

i would have loved to do this, and had planned on it with lillie (now 4). i was too tired, though, to do it. maybe on the next one, if we choose to have one more!!

I totally agree with you David.

It is so easy to do! And, when the child begins to learn verbal language the sign language drops off. I did it with my son and LOVED IT. I have done research on it as well. It is great. I have an article about it at: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977353568