Benefits of using sign language with your baby
Studies have shown that babies who are taught sign language will start to speak sooner with larger vocabularies, score higher on IQ tests, experience decreased frustration and engage in more high-level play activities. Adding sign language “to a baby’s repertoire not only leads to better communication; it also speeds up the process of learning to talk, stimulates intellectual development, enhances self-esteem and strengthens the bond between parent and infant,” assert psychologists, Drs. Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn, professors at the University of California, Davis.
Data gathered by Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn has been utilized to prove that using sign language with hearing babies helps to “smooth out” communication between parents and children by reducing the frustration that is caused by not being able to express their needs. Their research also works hard to disprove the myth that teaching sign language to babies will delay the development of language. Babies who are successful in communicating their needs through sign language are even more motivated to talk after such victories are achieved. Dr. Acredelo says, “Just as crawling encourages children to walk, signing nudges them to take the next step.”
County Speech founder and retired professor of Communicative Disorders at SDSU, Dr. Ed Thile, confirms the benefits of using baby sign language. "Through the use of sign language," he states, "babies have a stronger command of verbal language and begin speaking at an earlier age. This is due to the integration of more learning modalities; sign language incorporates visual, auditory and tactile stimulation."
Dr. Thile has been involved in years of research studying the effects utilizing sign language as a method of communication during early development. He learned that because babies typically have the motor skills, cognitive abilities and memory to recognize, recall and produce basic signs by the age of 9 months. County Speech has been teaching baby sign language courses since 1998. |
