Baby Sign Language
When Little Skeptic Girl was a baby, she had a speech delay. When she was 15 months old she had a few words, including “daddy” and “doggie” which hilariously sounded identical. But by the time she was 18 months old, she had lost most of those words, while her little contemporaries in playgroup became increasingly chatty. Since she understood everything we said to her, the doctor didn’t feel there was much of an issue. He adopted a “wait and see, she’ll catch up” philosophy. I, however, became quite concerned. She couldn’t, or wouldn’t, talk, and yet she got very frustrated when I didn’t respond to her needs. How could I possibly communicate with her when she wouldn’t talk to me?
Hmm, I thought, what about sign language? I’d heard a little about babies who had learned signs, so I looked it up on the internet. I bought a DVD of introductory signs for babies, and in a few short days, 18-month-old LSG knew about 10 signs. Suddenly, she could tell me if she wanted food or milk, she could let me know if she wanted more, and she could use her manners by signing “please” and “thank you”. I was elated, and very relieved. She didn’t communicate quite like the other babies in playgroup, but she could communicate! Suddenly there was hope that she would learn to talk someday. Six months later, Little Skeptic Girl, at 24 months, had about 15 words, but she had many, many signs. Then, by the time she was 26 months old, she suddenly could talk in long, complicated sentences, and had given the signs up. The doctor was right, she did catch up with her peers. But in the meantime she could sign to me, and we could understand one another.
(Signing Time DVD: $21.99 plus shipping and handling. Ability to understand your toddler: Priceless.)
So, what’s the science behind this baby sign language stuff? Should you teach the average hearing child sign language? When should you start? Is it important to say the word as you sign? How do you get started?
All these questions (and more!) are answered in a recent article by Gwen Dewar over at the excellent Parenting Science website. She points out that what I taught LSG wasn’t actually a full-blown language, it was more a handful of symbolic gestures. These types of gestures come naturally to babies, and can be acquired quite easily:
For example, most babies will spontaneously begin pointing between 9 and 12 months. This is a major breakthrough in communication. The baby learns that she can make her wishes known by making eye contact and then shifting the direction of your gaze. By pointing, babies can make requests (i.e., “Give me that toy.”) They can also ask questions (“What is that?”) and make comments (“Look at that!”)
So pointing–and symbolic gestures, too–can help babies communicate without words. This has obvious, immediate benefits: It’s easier to figure out what your baby wants.
She goes on to say that, in addition to reducing the level of frustration in the household, teaching a baby sign language may actually be beneficial:
Babies who are encouraged to use gestures may find it easier to learn new words. The evidence? Some is circumstantial. Meredith Rowe and her colleagues tracked a group of American babies from the age of 14 months. They found that the more a baby used gestures at 14 months, the bigger his spoken vocabulary was at 36 months (Rowe et al 2008).
Dewar adds that babies as young as six months can begin to learn gestures, and the best way to start is to mimic gestures you see your baby make:
After reading the scientific literature, I suspect that the best way is to pay close attention to your baby and discover what signs he might invent on his own. Your baby may be gesturing and signing already.
In fact, Linda Acredolo’s research on baby sign language was inspired by the spontaneous signing of her baby daughter. Acredolo and her baby were visiting a doctor’s office where there was a fish tank. When the baby saw the fish, she began puffing air out of her cheeks. Acredolo couldn’t figure out the connection until later that night, when she and the baby were engaged in their regular bedtime ritual of blowing on the fish toys that hung from a mobile above the crib (Acredolo and Goodwyn 1998).
So I think it makes sense to build on what your baby is already doing naturally. And then you can add your own gestures and signs. You might invent these yourself, or borrow ideas from somebody else’s baby sign language lexicon.
And she stresses that you should always say the word that coincides with the sign:
And keep in mind: Whenever you use a sign, be sure to speak the word(s) that go with it. The idea isn’t to replace spoken language, but rather to supplement it.
This article, like all the articles on Parenting Science, has a long list of references so you can check out the science behind the subject.
Try it for yourself. Use the sign for milk every time you nurse your baby. Pinch pretend whiskers every time the cat goes by. Or watch your baby’s gestures carefully, maybe she can teach you something.
Dash Said,
June 12, 2009 @ 12:16 am
An eerily similar experience here, our little skeptic had a speech production problem and invented her own language full of weird made-up compound words and sounds. We used natural signs and it was brilliant. We’ve started straight away with number 2, and while she has no words at 13 months she has 4 signs that she uses appropriately. It’s great.
Timothy Mills Said,
June 12, 2009 @ 1:33 am
Anecdotally, I have to agree with you. Regardless of what you call it – language, “set of symbolic gestures”, etc – there are tangible benefits to being able to communicate earlier with you child than you would otherwise. My little ape doesn’t have any appreciable spoken-language delay, but even she was able to communicate important concepts (mostly food-related) far earlier via signs than words.
I have heard, from colleagues whose specialty is closer to the topic (I’m a linguist, but don’t study child language acquisition), that the “bilingual advantage” (the cognitive benefits to people of growing up bilingual) does not work the same in “bimodal bilingualism”. That is, kids who know two spoken languages have more of an advantage than kids who know a spoken and a gestural language. I don’t know the research first-hand, though, so I can’t give more details.
Kristin Said,
June 12, 2009 @ 4:58 am
I did research into baby sign language when I was pregnant with my first. Despite cries from our family and friends that our son would never learn to talk if he could sign, we started teaching him when he was a year old. He picked it up incredibly quickly and it was a lifesaver for me! at 18 months he started talking more, and now at 2, he won’t shut up. One thing we did find when he was learning to talk was that we needed to distinguish between “whats the sign for” and “how do you say” when trying to get him to verbalize his needs. I’m pregnant with my second now, and plan on starting the signing even earlier.
Sweetie Said,
June 12, 2009 @ 5:59 am
The other thing to remember is that some people fear that teaching toddlers to sign will delay the onset of actual speech. But this is usually based on anecdotal evidence, not rational studies.
From: http://smartbabysignlanguage.blogspot.com/2008/11/will-baby-sign-delay-speech-development.html
“In 1999, Dr. Kimberlee Whaley published the results of her study of hearing infants communicating with sign language in an Ohio State laboratory daycare… The study found that learning baby sign did not slow the children’s speech.”
teacherninja Said,
June 12, 2009 @ 6:39 am
We used this with our baby (now 6) early on and she picked up a few–but essential signs–that just made everything easier. She used the “more” sign to usually indicate food, the “finished” sign and others. I think it was the reason we had very few temper tantrums. Even when she could talk, she would still do a few automatically, like “thank you.” I remember getting her ice cream once, after she could talk, and she signed thank you to the lady behind the counter. “Aw, is she deaf?” Then she spoke up, “No! Thant’s just how I say thanks!”
Julie Said,
June 12, 2009 @ 9:43 am
Our daycare center uses the signs. Our son hasn’t learned any of them, but at one, he can say a few words and he babbles incessantly. He doesn’t point, either, but he has his own set of gestures that work pretty effectively. He also will not do that “sooo big” baby trick. He’s just not into the sign thing at all.
I think the idea of “delay” is interesting, when some kids just do things a little differently. My husband’s mother was a speech teacher. She gave my husband a test when he was little to see how he was developing. He scored borderline retarded. A week later he was speaking in full sentences. He graduated from an Ivy League school.
Stacy Said,
June 12, 2009 @ 10:47 am
Sign has been used for decades with those suffering a severe speech issue. I grew up seeing my aunt and uncle and cousin sign with my other cousin who has a severe case of cerebral palsy and could not speak for a long time, and who know still has a significant “accent” that requires some practice on the part of the listener to understand. It is my understanding that introducing sign before kids can speak works because the neural development in the brain typically focuses on the gross muscle required for sign before the fine motor required to produce clear speech. I think the language center in the brain may also develop after the center used for symbol recognition, hence simple nouns being functional early.
My son was taught basic sign very early. He was resistant to use it, despite giving indications he understood and could even replicate it. At 18 months I stated requiring he use “milk” (which we knew he was capable of) before nursing, and he stubbornly opted to wean instead. By age 2.5 he started inventing his own signs (like poking a finger into a fist for “ice cream cone” – ah, the tribulations of a toddler inventing his own symbols!), and when we were lucky we’d figure them out and adopt them, but often, we were left just as baffled as before.
He’s 3.5 now and still not using English effectively. He’s got the intonation and tonalities down, he babbles at us constantly and even quotes/sings along with movies. But the consonants aren’t there, and he often “invents” words. For “more” he has persistently tried to use “siu”, for “mom” he uses “da-deh” or “da” for short, “dad” is “guy”, “cat” is “Autumn” (the name of our feline slow and dumb enough for him to pester), flying vehicles real and imaginary are “coo” (truncated “helicopter”? Maybe?). He does have “real” words as well – car, movie, TV, down, home, ball, no, etc. (”Yes” he only signs, though he will verbalize “uh huh”.) He seems to understand the value of speaking to communicate. He doesn’t seem to agree with our opinion that using ENGLISH to speak is necessarily the best option.
With his speech being as spotty as it is, I can’t imagine the kind of frustrated we’d all be if he didn’t have sign.
Stacy Said,
June 12, 2009 @ 10:51 am
*who now still has
*He was resistant to using it
*18 months I started requiring
Some day I will learn to proofread
Timothy Mills Said,
June 16, 2009 @ 2:22 am
It’s important to note that, even if there *were* a spoken-language delay associated with using signs, that isn’t necessarily a reason to avoid them. After all, I understand that spoken-language bilingual kids can be a little slower at acquiring words in either of their languages than monolingual kids; but the evidence shows that they may ultimately have some cognitive advantages over monolingual kids (as I mentioned above).
In other words, early delays don’t necessarily translate into a meaningful disadvantage for kids.
Of course, if there is no such delay for sign language, the issue is moot.
A cute anecdote (not related to the empirical merits of signing):
We had a delightful period when my daughter was learning animal sounds (before she really had words as such), and she was also learning basic signs. She kind of mangled the gesture for drink so it looked just like the gesture she made for elephant (miming having a trunk). We only knew the difference because the cup gesture had no sound, and the elephant gesture had a sort of roar accompanying it.
Now (at 20 months), she’s pretty much exclusively verbal rather than gestural, except for the more universal gestures like pointing and waving goodbye.