Book Review: Sign with your Baby
I’ve mentioned how much sign language has helped us with TwinkleToes on a number of occasions over on the GlitterGirl and TwinkleToes blog. TwinkleToes has well over 50 signs she uses and she just loves that she can communicate with us.
When I see toddlers who aren’t talking who can’t tell their parents what they want it literally breaks my heart for the little one. The parents start holding things up until the baby reaches for something, and in the meantime everything they hold up that she doesn’t want just puts even more despair in the cry of the little one. They hold up some water, some food, a diaper, a doll - the list goes on. And if the child is hurting, she has no way to tell them that. There is so much frustration, and there doesn’t have to be.
TwinkleToes was signing to ask for something to drink fairly quickly, and the signs for eating and for “more” came closely behind. All within a few weeks of her being placed in our arms. Now she signs if she wants to swing, or slide, or swim, or blow bubbles, or if she wants her doll, or if something hurts. She also points out cars and butterflies and birds and airplanes and flowers and all sorts of other things. She signs when she wants to get down, when she wants help with something, when she wants to go to sleep, when she wants her blankie, when her diaper needs changing, or when she needs to sit on the potty. She can ask for juice or water or milk or cheese or toast or a number of other foods.
And, contrary to what you may think, learning sign language does not slow down speech acquisition. In fact, it can speed it up. The experts tell us that it “wakes up” the communication center of the brain, plus all of the positive reinforcement they get from it gives them incentive to begin talking with their mouth.
The kit I’ve linked to at the top has a book, a DVD, and a quick reference guide. You really need a video to demonstrate how to do the signs, since it’s very hard to show the correct motions in a book. I would recommend watching the instructional part of the video first and then look through the book to see which signs you want to start with. Write them down and then watch the part of the video that shows the signs so you can see how they are done. Once your baby catches on to the first ones you teach then go back and figure out which signs to introduce next and watch the sign part of the video again to see how to do them.
The DVD has great examples for how to introduce the signs. They caution that it can take a while for the baby to catch on and to just keep with it until they catch on, but in our situation both of my girls picked the first sign up and started using it in less than a week.
GlitterGirl was only interested in the main “food” signs and a few “play” signs, but TwinkleToes has taken off with them and our entire family now has a pretty good sign language vocabulary. It is also important that caregivers know the signs as well. Some people make their own signs up, but in our case using the correct sign is important so that others also know what TwinkleToes is saying. I gave the reference guide to our caregiver and used a dry erase marker to circle the signs we’d introduced so she’d have something to go to if she was stumped (although with GlitterGirl around to translate that wasn’t a problem this summer).
As the readers of the GlitterGirl and TwinkleToes blog know, TwinkleToes is finally beginning to master some sounds and put them together into words. Many of the first words she used were those she had been signing, which was great since she wasn’t saying them good enough at first for us to figure out what she was trying to say and the sign helped us to know what she was saying so we could give her positive reinforcement for trying to say it.
And finally, I believe that signing helped (and is helping) with attachment. It helps us meet her needs, and more than her needs, her wants. It gives her a way to communicate with us, even if it’s just to sign about a butterfly or a bee sitting on a flower as we walk by. And that first time that she signed for a drink and we immediately gave her one, the look of pride and joy and relief and happiness on her face that she could ask for something and get it was, well, priceless.
August 28th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Is this the “standard” baby signing language? The daycare I want to use uses baby signs (which I think is great, especially after watching my 18 mo nephew, who has SO much more to say than he can communicate verbally right now!). So, I’d like to learn them, but want to make sure I’m learning/teaching the same ones!
August 28th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Hi RumorQueen
I agree with you completely. My best friend took the signing course and her daughter responded so well, she now trains other moms. I mentioned it as an option to communicate with our adopted daughter during our homestudy process and our social worker loved that idea - once she arrives home to Canada we plan to take the Baby Signing course!
August 28th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
This book uses standard ASL (American Sign Language), except for a few signs that may be too hard for a baby (like for help). In those cases they show you the ASL sign and an optional sign to use instead.
The speech therapist uses these signs and can communicate with her without needing me to translate for her. And our caregiver already knew the basic signs like eat, drink, more, shoes, change, hurt.
August 28th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
We’ve had DD home for almost 2 months. We started using signs - more, eat, drink only - from day 1. She shows no interest is signing and absolutely hates to have us touch her hands. She’ll hold onto our fingers or hands and touches us with her hands when she initiates it, which is a lot, but does NOT like it when we grasp her hand to put food in it (trying to learn to self-feed - also no interest), but just pitches a fit!
On the other hand, she has learned yes and no, with nodding. I would love for her to sign so I don’t have to play 20 questions to find out what she wants, but at least we get a yes/no nod instead of crying.
Some of our friend’s kids took to signing quickly, but our DD isn’t and it’s quite frustrating. I’m not sure I have the patience to keep using the signs for more, eat, drink each time I say the words for the next six months with the hope that she’ll catch on. She does say, MaMa, DaDa, NighNigh (go to sleep), Mmmm (when she wants a bottle). She also knows the cats names.
August 28th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
The Signing Time videos are also a great resource. Catchy music and lots of signs.
August 28th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Waiting2BAmom - if she’s not that interested in food then maybe those signs just aren’t enough motivation for her? Maybe try using the sign for her lovey (if it’s a soft dog or cat or bear then use the sign for those animals, if it’s a blankie then use the sign for blanket), or for a favorite activity?
With GlitterGirl I was using the drink and eat signs and she was just watching, and when my mom came along and said “if you do this then I’ll give you a bite to eat”, then GlitterGirl started doing it. Silly me, I didn’t explain it to her.
With TwinkleToes she didn’t understand enough English yet when we started using the signs so she just figured it out.
August 28th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I just want to confirm that using signs is of great importance to communicate with your child. I received my daughter at 14 months and used signs together with words for almost the first year. The first signs I taught her, were: “diaper” (change diaper), “drink”, “food” and “sleep” (meaning she is tired). These are crucial for a baby to be able to communicate!
IMO it is not necessary to use the official sign languages. You may just as well make up some signs of your own. The important thing is that you and your baby (and family) knows the signs. The kindergarden (when she starts there) most probably don’t know any signs anyway. I taught the staff the most common 4-5 signs that she used, but at that point (after 8-10 months) she had started using the words anyway.
August 28th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
My DD1 also had absolutely no interest in the signs, though we used them whenever possible. She’d watch us, then nod yes or no when we asked something like “Do you want more?” She was an early talker and only AFTER we’d given up signing at all did she suddenly start doing the sign for “more”! (She wasn’t saying more yet, so at least it was helpful!)
We definitely plan on doing this with DD2. We had friends who did signing with their son who is (and I am not exaggerating here) quite literally a genius. He was doing baby signs by the time he was 3 months AND talking in complete setences by a year. I think he is extraordinary in any regard, but the signs definitely helped him advance in his communications early enough to keep him happy.
August 28th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Waiting2BAmom, hang in there, and keep at it. We’ve been home with our daughter for more than four months, and she just last week started using her first signs (more, which she does mostly by clapping, but that’s close enough; all done; and milk). I probably wasn’t as consistent about it for the first few months as I should have been, which might be why it took so long, but I think now she’ll catch on quickly. She’s 13 1/2 months and doesn’t seem all that close to speaking aloud, so I think the signs will really be useful for us.
my anti-spam word is Jiangxi, which is where my DD is from. :)
August 28th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Great shout-out.
Those who don’t want to study/learn/buy DVDs or take a course can ALSO use sign language: just invent your own. Which is how this got started in the first place. As most families use sign language only within their immediate family, no sign is ‘wrong’ if it communicates. Some people find signs easier to remember if they’ve invented the signs themselves–and your baby will also make particular gestures that you can repeat and turn into personal signs.
Whether ASL-style or your own, this is something easy and natural.
August 28th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
I also wanted to comment on how great this has been for us. We received our daughter at 22 months and the only thing she could say was “ma” and “unh” I had read and been practicing with signs before going to China and started right away. Her first signs were “more” and “monkey” She really caught on after we got home and seemed to learn a sign a day. I agree with RQ that it really helps with bonding, not only because you are meeting their needs and their wants but because you get into their world and you have a language together so soon. Also, if you are on their level and making lots of eye contact and touching while doing the signs over and over…you are definitely facilitating bonding. Repetition is the key. Always do the sign with the word and make sure her family and caregivers also know the signs and use them. Our daoughter has been home a year and her speech is coming along but there are a lot of words I still don’t understand (she is cleft lip palate) and so I ask her to “show me” and then I know what she is saying…so I repeat “oh you said “x” and she claps and is proud of herself. She uses over 120 signs. I made a poster for the daycare. One of the books I used was called “talking with your BAby before your baby can talk” It has simple pictures but some of the signs are “baby signs” instead of ASL. You can communicate a lot better with the ASL if your child wants more words…my daughter was always wanting more signs.
Leslie
August 28th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
THANK YOU for writing this. We plan on signing with our children, and have seen the benefits of ASL with my niece and nephew (both who sign regularly). For those of you with toddlers, my niece and nephew love the Signing Time DVDs - they teach sign language and are fun for kids.
August 28th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
RQ? Are you psychic? I logged onto the forum this morning with the intent to ask some questions about which signing books, software, and techniques to use…But ran out of time. This was a total full moon/twighlight zone moment! Thanks for posting this. Our son may have some hearing deficit as well, so I’m looking forward to meeting him at his need in multiple ways.
For those who plan to make up their own signs, be careful that you don’t confuse things if your child’s future daycare or school uses ASL. It might also give them a skill that they can use with the hearing impaired later in life.
August 28th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
RQ, I forgot to post my question above… What DVD’s might you recommend for a baby to watch to help with signing or is that necessary? I saw a few on Amazon, but was a little leary of buying without asking around first. Also, is it too early to introduce signing while still in China or should we wait until we’re home?
August 28th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
We began introducing the signs for eat and drink in China.
Lot’s of people recommend the Signing Times dvd’s, but I haven’t used them.
August 28th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
lovemybulldog and others…our public library has the Signing Time DVDs available to check out. You may want to check if yours does…then you can view a few before buying!
August 28th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Lovemybulldog
Signing time can also be found on some PBS stations. My daughter and her cousins have loved signing time.
August 28th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
As a mother to a bilingual boy (usually takes a little longer when you learn 2 languages at the same time) I have also found it very helpful to use picture-cards. No one of you mention them? For example, in the daycare my son attends they have pictures on the wall for what to wear when they go outside (one for a cap, one for a jacket and one for shoes) and what the days program is and so on. The caretakers also carry a few of the most used ones around their necks so they can use them along with explanations to the kids. This is standard in many daycares in Norhtern Europe.
August 28th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Tomtemor - I’m not sure how picture cards would work?
With sign language I use the sign when I say the word and then they use that sign back when they want to communicate that word to me. Maybe I’m not understanding, but if you use picture cards instead then wouldn’t they have to shuffle through a huge deck of cards to find the one they want to use to communicate something? And what if you are at a restaurant, who will they tell you they want juice instead of water? Do you carry the cards around with you?
August 28th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
I’ve heard SO much about using sign language with babies. Elizabeth is already 15 months old. Is it too late to start with her???
His,
Mrs. U
LID 9-12-05
referral 1-4-07
“Gotcha” Day 2-25-07 for Elizabeth
http://www.makingahouseahome.blogspot.com
August 28th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Just a quick note. I am a fan of signing and don’t think there are really any negatives, but I am not quite as confident as RQ that signing may not sometimes result in a delay in speech acquisition.
We have friends that taught their son a great deal of sign language. Mom was also speaking english while the dad would speak to him exclusively in french. He was very delayed in starting to talk, to the point of going to a SLP for therapy, It seemed to the SLP anyway, that he was relying on the signing and just didnt want to bother with talking. Of course there could be other reasons as well.
Again this is one case and am certainly not trying to discourage anyone from using signing, we are busy teaching our daughter a few signs ourselves. Just pointing out that different outcomes are possible.
August 28th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Add me to the signing crowd! My ds is mildly autistic, and I can tell you that he didn’t talk until late (closer to 2 yrs if I’m remembering rightly)…and signing eased his frustration level CONSIDERABLY! His first sentence was a signed one. :D
For those in the US, I really think that using ASL benefits giving the child a wider audience in terms of who can understand his/her signs, but of course use whatever works best for your child.
We plan on signing with mei-mei or di-di asap!
August 28th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
I used ASL when my daughter, LiLi, first came home. I have had 5 years of Sign Language so I knew it already without having to look anything up but it is very easy to catch on with. I would just say the word and the sign at the same time. Pretty soon it all just clicked and LiLi started to sign all the time. My sister watches LiLi while I am at work and even she would sign to LiLi. Milk and duck (?) was her favorite signs.
I also noticed that LiLi would use the signs when I would read to her. She would love the animal signs and food signs. I would read the same 4 books to her everyday and it all just clicked one day. I forget the names of the other 3 books but her favorite was Goodnight Moon.
As far as her language, she was a little delayed at first but she was from China! You have to remember that even though children at a young age cannot speak they have HEARD the language for all of their young lives and that is what they understand. LiLi was 11 months when I got her and she only heard Chinese. Of course it would make sense that she would be just a little behind at first. She had no idea what we were saying! She only understood Chinese and “practiced” Chinese. I was never worried because she knew what she wanted to say but just couldn’t or was not ready for whatever reason. She would make the same sounds whenever she pointed or “talked” about something. For example, yes was always “Waaa” and no was “booooooo”. She always made the same sounds. That is an important sign. As long as they make the same sound each time, you know there is a connection being made. Vocally, it will come.
I not only did ASL but I also did flash cards with her and read to her ALL the time. I talk to her in the car and point out everything and repeat the names of things. She is now VERY vocal and at the age of 3 1/2 she is reading some words and can spell and write about 15 words.
August 29th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Hi,
I agree sign language is so helpful for baby and parents. I worked 11 years with deaf children and used my sign language skills with my nieces. It was so cute to see my baby niece sign more and eat! I plan on teaching our baby girl sign language too. We are hoping it will help reduce some frustration and help baby feel empowered from the start. Plus, increase her language skills.
August 29th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
just to chime in here - I would also highly recommend teaching baby signs - doesn’t have to be many, just enough to help him/her tell you what they need. It worked for my daughter - in fact when Emma was in daycare at 11 months old, she taught the other kids to use the sign for “more food” - I walked in one day and there were about 6 babies in their high chairs motioning for more! Very cool.
August 29th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
My bio son was labeled autistic when he was 2 years old as he said absolutely nothing but would hum and rock constantly. We started him in an early intervention program and I began to sign with him on the side. Within 2 months, he was signing and saying (I would also say the word as I signed it) well over 100 words. It was truly amazing. We were told and I truly agree, that when he was able to sign the word, it lowered his frustrational level, which then allowed him to communicate verbally. The most important thing for a child is to be understood by his/her parents. Once you can communicate, regardless of the method, your child will relax. My son was declassified as autistic within a year. They stated that he showed autisitic tendancies but there weren’t enough to actually classify him as autistic. By the age of 4, he was reading on a first grade level. He is currently at the top of his class in 7th grade! Not sure if sign had anything to do with it but am willing to believe it helped.
August 29th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
We also used signing with our daughter, and it was very effective. One benefit as kids get older is that you can use the signs to cue them on their manners without embarrassing them (i.e. do the “thank you” sign instead of “tell grandma thank you”)
I also wanted to mention that there are lots of resources on the net — I found all the signs I needed online without buying any books or videos (I think the site was babysigns.com or something like that