That’s right! I am starting a documentary as I prepare for my son’s arrival. I will take you through the process of teaching an infant and (as he grows) a toddler to use sign language to communicate before they are able to speak!

I have worked with people using american sign language for many years.  To see the language development for those children using signing at an early age is phenomenal.  I have had years of experience watching many different children and understand how working with them in language development can improve their educational success.  Signing with your child is one of the best tools to use and is so much fun.  I signed with my own children when they were a little bit older, and I wish I would have started sooner.   They are starting now with their young 5 and 6 moth old babies.

Deborah Parrish M.S.

Well, it’s finally happened, I had my new little baby boy. We named him Ben. He was born tues, june 3rd and weighed 9lbs 1oz, 21 1/2 ” long. They say only 4% of women actually have their babies on their due date, and now I’m part of that statistic. It has been a great first week. It’s taking a little adjusting to three children, but overall we’re all doing great.

A lot of you have already heard that we are going to be filming me teaching Ben to use baby sign language right from the beginning. I think this will be so helpful to parents. It makes a big difference if you can watch someone in the process. I’m also excited that I will be able to document all of the stages and steps to have as a reference.

I would love for any of you that have already started teaching your children to use baby sign language to comment on the blog and share your stories. And for those of you that are planning on teaching your children, this will be a great place to ask questions and get support.

I look forward to hearing from you all!

Andrea Ploehn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(October 2007)

This article is about the usage of sign language to communicate with infants and toddlers.
Contents

1. Development
2. Purpose
3. Vocabulary
4. Need-based
5. Highly motivating

1. Development

In the United States, teaching sign language to non-signing families to communicate with their hearing infants and toddlers was developed by Linda Acredolo, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and Susan Goodwyn, professor of psychology at California State University, Stanislaus.[citation needed] Their research began in 1982, and produced a 1985 article in Human Development titled “Symbolic gesturing in language development: A case study.”

Joseph Garcia, an ASL interpreter and a leading proponent of use of ASL in communicating with infants and toddlers, began with his graduate thesis in 1986, an analysis of the role sign language could play early childhood language acquisition. His research indicated that babies who are exposed to signs regularly and consistently at six to seven months of age can begin using signs effectively by the eighth or ninth month.

2. Purpose

These proponents believe that while infants and toddlers have a desire to communicate their needs and wishes, they lack the ability to do so clearly because the production of speech, which requires coordinating the lips, tongue, breath, and vocal cords simultaneously, lags behind cognitive ability in the first months and years of life.[citation needed] This gap between desire to communicate and ability often leads to frustration and tantrums.[citation needed] Proponents believe that hand-eye coordination is possible in advance of the acquisition of verbal skills, and that infants can learn to express their needs using simple signs for common words such as “eat”, “sleep”, “more”, “hug”, “play”, “cookie”, “teddy bear”, etc., before they are able to produce understandable speech.

3. Vocabulary
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Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (October 2007)

Proponents have identified two main categories of words used, those which are “need-based” and those which are “highly motivating”.

4. Need-based

Need-based signs include such signs as “drink”, “food”, “sleepy”, “hot”/”cold”, “change me”, etc. “Drink” or “thirst” can be expressed by mimicking drinking out of a bottle. “Eating” could be expressed by making a similar motion, or by rubbing one’s stomach.

5. Highly motivating

Highly motivating signs focuses on items of interest or entertainment to the child, such as signs for “doggy”, “toy”, “friend”, etc. A parent can encourage growth in the child’s vocabulary by teaching them signs for items that the child desires and seeks out.