by Shannon Lawrence

Created on: September 09, 2008

Babies know what they want, but they can't tell us what it is. They are born with needs, eventually developing desires, but language development lags far behind. Infant sign language is the perfect way for babies to communicate their needs and wants to their parents or caregivers. It is just a way of focusing language that they are already using, such as reaching, nodding or pointing. The fact that they do learn to point at something and grunt long before they can actually voice their desires should tell us that physical signs are more natural for babies.

Anyone who has seen a baby or toddler throwing a tantrum because they can't voice what it is they want knows just how at odds their needs can be with their actual abilities to convey those same needs. Teaching a baby how to communicate non-verbally gives them the ability to talk to their parents, and it helps save that frustration from running over into a tantrum.

If a caregiver is teaching sign language correctly, there should be no delay in verbal speech related to signing. If a parent stands there and mutely teaches signs, of course a child is not going to learn to speak until later. However, if a parent pairs signs with the spoken word and frequently talks to their child, they will learn how to speak without delay. Children learn by observation. By openly communicating with them, they will learn to speak. Signing saves the frustration associated with not being able to verbalize what it is they wish to convey, thus taking some of the stress, anger and frustration out of the communication process.

I have experienced early sign language in two different ways, all beneficial. My first experience with it actually involved signing with children with communication and social delays, mostly autism. We were saved dealing with many meltdowns once an autistic child could communicate via sign language. Verbal language often followed, but sign language stayed a strong and trustworthy way to communicate with these children.

Having seen and experienced this success, I decided to try it with my own children. I didn't start until my son was about nine months old, but he quickly picked up on signs at that age and we were able to calmly figure out what it was he was asking for. The more signs he learned, the easier it seemed to be for him to pick up more. Eventually, he began saying the words aloud when signing them until the day came where he mostly spoke and rarely signed. Sign language was set aside once he knew how to speak, but up until that time it had been an invaluable tool, both in learning and in daily dynamics and interactions.

Having seen it myself, I feel that infant sign language not only does not cause speech delays, but that it may also build the framework for successful verbal communication in the future. I strongly feel that any delays parents may see have more to do with them using sign language as a replacement for teaching verbal communication to their children, rather than a side-by-side venture.

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