SageMother

Parents all know there are wide variations in verbal ability among children, both special needs and not. There are those who speak but cannot be understood all the way to those who simply will not use their vocal chords. I have also noticed that Disney has introduced "Baby's First Signs", a DVD for teaching sign language at an early age.

On one hand I think this is a great move. Sign language can take care of communication frustrations experienced by younger children that have no physical or developmental challenges. On the other hand I have run into parents who are horrified by the option being provided so early in life.

Do you think it is a good idea to introduce sign language to all children? Would you rather have special needs children make the effort to learn to verbalize even if they have difficulty?

mommy4

Wow that is a hard one. I can only speak from the special needs side. For kids with special needs I think it is a great idea only if they are nonverbal. I work with 4 nonverbal boys and am working on teaching them to sign. It is amazing the reduction of behaviors when the learn the most basic of signs (eat, sleep, bathoom, etc) Makes a world of difference when they can comunicate with you.

tater03

I know parents that have done this with their child and she not only learned to sign fast but it didn't stop her from communicating verbally on schedule with her age. I know my son learned the basics in kindergarten and I actually thought it was a great idea.
I also have a friend whose child in not verbally communicating yet and they cannot seem to find the reason why. Really no reason for why he isn't yet. But they have also started teaching him to learn sign language.

happy2bg33k

There's a whole lot of research that supports providing non-verbal children with an alternative language, be it ASL, a different version of sign or a PECS system. Firstly, from a neurological standpoint it has been shown that a language system can help to stimulate the language center of the brain and make it more susceptible (if you will) to learning other languages and even ease the transition to speech if that's a possibility. Secondly, from a parental and educator standpoint it may ease some of the behavioral symptoms a child shows due to the frustration of not being understood or having others speak for them. For any non-verbal child it would be a very good idea to have an augmentative communication evaluation done. They are often done by specially trained speech professionals who can help parents decide what type of system and/or device will help a child communicate to the best of his ability.

1sttimemom

When I first found out I was expecting one of the first things I purchased was baby signing books. A few years ago I met a child who was signing....and I just thought that was the most amazing thing he wanted "more" strawberries. I have just started a couple weeks ago with my 5 month old...just the basics....Mom, Dad, eat, change(diaper), all done
He still doesn't grasp the full meaning of all the signs but he sure lights up to the Mommy and Daddy signs! I think he knows....now just to get him to sign back to me.
I will keep you posted on his progress...remember he is still only 5 1/2 months old and they usually don't start to sign untill they are about 6-8 months.

SageMother

I have a feeling that as time goes on, the ability to communicate before the ability to speak is fully developed, will reveal more about the human mind than we know at this time. For special needs children, their ability to communicate with other will raise their life chances significantly.

Tom

I definitely agree Sage.

I bought a few books, that I guess overall might be considered cognitive development-oriented ... Teach Your Baby to Read, Teach Your Baby Math ... I know signing is covered in one of them as well. I'll definitely be posting back my experiences.

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mamab

I think anything you can do to help your baby communicate with you to let you know their needs, the better. We didn't do signing with our kids, but that's just because we didn't hear of it. My neice is learning at daycare, and it's helped because she doesn't talk clearly yet. She's 2, but still doesn't communicate well enough to be understood. If she signs "more drink" we know what she wants, and it helps eliminate some of her frustration about not being understood, and lessens the number of tantrums because she didn't get what she wanted.

daddyofone

as far as non special needs children and families just keep in mind that advanced communication can be great and fun just stay on top of verbal skills. I know a few children that have learned a few signs and grunts and by the time they are 4ish that is all they know. if they can get anything they want by signing and grunting than why would they need to work on speech. if ugh means juice than why learn to say juice please? I guess it all falls into the parents follow through, Dont give up just because you can communicate. I have a friend in Germany that has a son that is 5 and can completely understand german to a 5 year old capacity, but everytime he signs or grunts they give him what he wants.... I hope one day he forms the words he needs to succeed in society.

mmynedshlp

Hello,
I just wanted to say my first son i did everything with. had himlisten to music while in the womb and used sign while talking with him. He could read before the age of the three and because i talked while I signed he spoke way before other kids. he couldnt figure out potty training though until he had a little brother who learned it before he did. You see he had to be using both sides of his brain for him to catch on to it and as long as he was he learned it real fast. he could not learn anything by just speach alone.
I didnt all the things with my 2nd son he learned from his bigger brother. There was never any sign language involved. He did have a speach problem and many of his words were unclear but later began to speak better than his brother.
my youngest, my daughter, I am just starting to teach sign language with her. Boy am I wishing I had I started earlier than 3. She still can not talk but one word requests. Let me tell you what i noticed. When i use sign language with her and say the word too. She does not sign the word but guess what?
She remembers it and not only that uses it. When we first started signing with her she asked her first question it was a three word sentance. She only starts talking better with us when we are signing because we slacked off for awhile thinking wow this is great she is doing better and as we slacked so did she. I dont know if its a brain thing or an interaction thing or what. Maybe its just more exciting when we use our hands for her to learn the words or maybe its stimulating the part her brain but it works and i wouldnt knock it.
We also do not reward our child for NOT trying to say something. She has to attempt to say her word and when she accomplishes it for awhile we move onto two words. she is rewarded for trying for now even if it doesnt come out clear we work on it till it is clear. We are now at "some juice please"
All my children's hearing tests have come out fine.
I am a true believer in starting sign as early as possible and only seen signs of it being bad when it was going to be bad or worse without it.