by Tina Lehman

Created on: January 31, 2008

Teaching my daughter to use sign language was something that I was intent on doing. I researched it on-line, bought books, and downloaded a lot of different resources. I anxiously awaited for her to turn six months old, the age at which most people recommended we begin. I started with simple signs like "drink" and "hungry" and "more." I got blank stares for weeks before giving up. On a whim when she was about a year old I began using signs again, and was surprised when she caught on quickly. Within a few weeks we had approximately 20 signs and we were both thrilled at our new ability to communicate with one another.

When we began
In my experience, trying to begin too early will result in parental frustration. Six months, for most babies, is far too early to process what is going on. I would wait closer to 9 or 10 months, and even then don't expect too much. It wasn't until about 11 or 12 months that our daughter caught on quickly.

How we began
Begin by introducing signs for basic needs. Food and drink are good ones. Each time you introduce food or drink, or ask your baby if that's what they want, do the sign. If you like, you can go on-line to learn the official signs for each of the words you will be teaching. However, there is nothing that says you can't make your own up. We had many standard signs we used, but many were also things we invented or that morphed significantly from their original appearance. What is important is consistency.

How we reinforced
We used the signs repeatedly and casually. We didn't ask her to repeat the signs after us, we simply made the gesture each time we used the word.

Which signs we used
Food and drink (or hungry and thirsty) were the first signs we used. After we got those down, we got a little more specific and taught her signs like 'milk' versus 'juice.' Some other signs we used a lot were: more, all done, book, bath, mommy, daddy, light, and bed. We had others that we used less frequently.

How using signs helped us
Before we used signs, we sometimes had very little clue as to what our daughter wanted. She would frequently be upset and we didn't know why. Once she began to communicate her needs she became more content and less frustrated. As far as delaying her verbal communication, there is really no way of knowing whether using signs made her 'lazy.' I honestly don't think it did. By 18 months she was speaking in full sentences, and at two now, and is developing verbal skills that have replaced her signs.

Aside from being a lot of fun, signing served a great function in our family. It gave a way for my daughter to communicate her needs before she was able to express them verbally. In fact, we have already begun to introduce signs to my 11 month old son. Interestingly, my two year old daughter still recognizes them and loves 'talking' to her brother.

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