Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
START THE ADVENTURE!
BABY SIGN LANGUAGE HAS BEEN featured everywhere from the news to the movies. But if you're picking up this book, it's likely you want to know more about it than these sound bites and clips offer. You may be wondering whether there is an official "language" called baby sign language and what exactly it means and when to use it. Or you may want to be able to communicate with your baby better but worry that if you sign with your child, she might not talk.
This chapter takes a look at what baby sign language is, its origin, why it works, and what myths might be out there about it. It explains what it can do for you and for your baby, as well as what it won't do.
WHAT IS BABY SIGN LANGUAGE?
We all use language to understand what is said to us (receptive language) and to express ourselves (expressive language). Language is how we communicate with others using words, signs, or writing. Language includes the types of words we use (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs), how many words we use, how we put the words together to form thoughts, and so on. Speech is how we pronounce words and show the language we have acquired.
Believe it or not, before babies can speak, they have a language of their own, communicating with others by using grunts, visual cues, and gestures. Babies naturally point at things they want, wave with their hands to say goodbye, and clap to show excitement. These are all signs. Baby sign language taps into these natural tendencies to gesture with their hands to communicate their needs, wants, and even complex thoughts. You just teach them simple signs for things they want, and they use those to explain to you what they need. It takes a little patience and dedication on Mom and Dad's part, but any baby can do it. And the best part is that it fits right into your daily routine. Just add signs to the conversations and communications you already have with your baby.
Think about how empowering this can be for your baby. Instead of crying and hoping you can guess that she needs her diaper changed or wants to have some applesauce, she can tell you. You don't have to be standing in the grocery store line with a screaming baby wondering whether she is hungry or tired or bored. She can let you know. Baby sign language has the power to stop tantrums and start conversations and create a closer bond with your child.
BENEFITS OF SIGNING WITH YOUR HEARING BABY
Hearing babies who sign with their parents and other caregivers have a unique opportunity to learn to communicate their needs and wants and thoughts long before the average hearing child can. Signing has short-term benefits—reduced frustration and the ability to communicate—that are really important. But it also has long-term benefits—increased vocabulary, IQ, and interest in reading—that will help your child as he grows and matures. What you are doing now will help lay an important foundation for your child's educational mind-set. Signing will help him enjoy learning and develop the necessary skills to learn well.
In addition to the benefits for your child, signing with your baby will help you have a more enjoyable relationship with your child. You will be less stressed out and will be able to understand his specific needs instead of guessing what that cry at 3:00 a.m. means. As your baby grows, you will have less of the "terrible twos" to deal with than other parents. This is because most of these tantrums come from your baby's inability to specifically tell you what he needs. Without this skill, he is left with what he knows—crying. And fewer tantrums are never a bad thing.
A final thing to consider is that even if you are already in tune with your baby, using baby sign language allows your baby to communicate his needs to others who don't have your sixth sense for his needs but who have learned a few basic signs. That is very important for making your baby independent.
