Hugh Akston Posted November 11, 2013 Posted November 11, 2013 My daughter is doing something I find quite fascinating with my granddaughter (20 months). She is teaching her sign language. She just sent me a video showing my granddaughter making the signs for tree, baby, dog and milk. I think that could help alleviate the frustration of a child unable to communicate verbally? Anyone else have experience with this?
meeri Posted November 11, 2013 Posted November 11, 2013 That's interesting. I remember the baby in the movie 'Meet the Fockers' knew sign language and I always wondered whether there's truth in it. It would be great to see this video if you don't mind sharing it?
Wesley Posted November 11, 2013 Posted November 11, 2013 There still is a "pre-sign" stage. However, as I understand it a baby can be signing around 8 months of age if you start teaching signs at 6 months. It would take until about a year for the first basic words and actual communication of 2-3 word sentences around 2 years. It can be highly variable, but you could theoretically get a year extra or something of communication with the child by teaching signs.
meeri Posted November 12, 2013 Posted November 12, 2013 I'm wondering how much value teaching sign language adds vs being open and empathetic to the baby's needs? I would think every baby has some way of communicating what they need and want, whether you teach them sign language or not. Or does sign language significantly improve the communication?
Wesley Posted November 12, 2013 Posted November 12, 2013 I'm wondering how much value teaching sign language adds vs being open and empathetic to the baby's needs? I would think every baby has some way of communicating what they need and want, whether you teach them sign language or not. Or does sign language significantly improve the communication? I am sure one could be empathetic and figure out the child's needs in other ways. However, it also can be very difficult, especially for new parents who are trying to go through the checklist of a baby crying every time and figure out what things mean while working most of the day. Adding ways to communicate I would think would only help improve communication and empathy with a better communication of needs and to allow needs to be communicated more quickly. There is a good chance that it was done when parents do not spend a ton of time with their kids to learn the signs and want to expedite communication, but now I am going off into theory land. I can see no negatives with improving communication, or even giving the child a sign to figure out the meaning of as a mental and motor challenge.
meeri Posted November 12, 2013 Posted November 12, 2013 I am sure one could be empathetic and figure out the child's needs in other ways. However, it also can be very difficult, especially for new parents who are trying to go through the checklist of a baby crying every time and figure out what things mean while working most of the day. Adding ways to communicate I would think would only help improve communication and empathy with a better communication of needs and to allow needs to be communicated more quickly. There is a good chance that it was done when parents do not spend a ton of time with their kids to learn the signs and want to expedite communication, but now I am going off into theory land. I can see no negatives with improving communication, or even giving the child a sign to figure out the meaning of as a mental and motor challenge. Right, it's certainly fascinating. It seems like it would be fun for the baby too. But I'm just guessing. It would be interesting to hear from parents who have tried it.
stigskog Posted November 12, 2013 Posted November 12, 2013 I recommend the books "how babies talk" - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0452281733 and "teach your baby to read" - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0757001858 both fascinating. We followed the "teach your baby to read", and whilst I am unsure about the long term benefits vs disadvantages, it was an incredible experience to see what small babies are capable of.
tasmlab Posted November 13, 2013 Posted November 13, 2013 Our 2 year old wasn't talking much, so we enlisted a speech counselor*. As part of the therapy/lessons, she taught her a few signs that were helpful. "More" and "all done" are the ones most frequently used and it did end some frustration my daughter was having. Now about six months later, she's talking a lot and still signs "more" and "all done" but says them too. I don't have any massive opinion either way, but this was helpful for my family. We did have a 'teach your baby to sign' video, but they taught words like "dinosaur" and "duck" which didn't make any sense to me since the most important communications were day to day stuff like "can I have more food" or "I want water". * Free from the state! What's a principled ancap to do...
aeonicentity Posted November 22, 2013 Posted November 22, 2013 My nephew has deveopmental difficulties which prevented him from speaking cogently until recently. We taught him to sign (and several other of my nieces and nephews) in 'baby talk'. Often children can sign more effectively than speak because verbal control is more difficult than physical. Signs like 'milk' and 'food' 'please' and 'thankyou' are intentionally simple for little children to grasp, and a couple of my nieces grew up saying please with signs before saying please verbally. In fact, its really cute, she'll ask for things in sign because she knows its 'cute' and she'll get more out of it! Sign is VERY good for babies. Try the serries of videos called "Signing Time". Lots of singing, and social lessons in signlanguage for babies.
LanceD Posted November 30, 2013 Posted November 30, 2013 My wife is fluent in sign language from her work with developmentally disabled children. She taught our son signing from day one. It definitely helped him to communicate for years as it developed further and faster then speech. Cool thing is now he's 8 and still remembers signs and is interested in learning more. Overall it was a really great, useful and stimulating thing to do.
MysterionMuffles Posted December 4, 2013 Posted December 4, 2013 Oh that is a very cool idea! I think any form of communication, whether verbal or physical, can be helpful to bridge the gap between the guessing game of what a baby wants or needs. Seems logical since language is harder to acquire and babies already learn how to point at what they want or shake their heads in refusal, it only makes sense that they could learn sign much faster than speaking.
James Dean Posted April 22, 2014 Posted April 22, 2014 My mother is an ASL interpreter, so she taught me sign language as a baby and I've been fluent ever since. It's really useful to know with all the deaf people where I live.
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