Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign.

First off, I want to apologize to my readers for being away for a week. Been handling some stuff that couldn't wait. It's better now, or getting better at the very least. But, hey, starting a change is infinitely more effective than doing nothing!

Today I'd like to talk to you about my experience with American Sign Language and the benefits of teaching it to your child.

Drum roll and disclaimer...

This is all strictly my opinion and experience. Please perform all your own fact checking and make up your own mind! Like a wise man once said, "The problem with information on the Internet is that it can't all be verified", Abraham Lincoln.

Disclaimer, FIN.

My daughter is growing up tri-lingual: English, Persian (Farsi) and sign language. No, I'm not a Tiger Mom, it just happens to be the cultural make up of our family. Well, except sign language, that accessory was optional. I learned sign language when I was a baby (thanks Mom!) and also took it in college for a couple years, so it was a tool that was available to us. 

I am an advocate of teaching your baby sign language for a number of reasons, but I'll discuss those by tackling four of the big misconceptions I've heard of teaching your baby sign language:

1. "Won't it slow their speech development?"
   
   Not at all, in fact, giving them a method of communication that is not limited to the restrictions of an underdeveloped tongue allows them to start learning how communication works, which will accelerate their spoken communication. According to babies-and-sign-language.com, some of the additional benefits include: reduced frustration for the child at not being able to express needs or wants, a better understanding of emotions and how to communicate them, an opportunity for the child to feel satisfied and accomplished, increased creative thinking, increased early literacy skills.
   
2. "Do I have to be fluent in sign language to teach it to her?"
   
   Nope! Learn one sign at a time together with her and practice when they are appropriate. My preference to start was "potty" or the sign for bathroom, but my little one picked up "mommy", "daddy" and "auntie" pretty quick too. "Please" and "thank you" were a couple of my personal favorites and we started with those early, making sure she used them every time we brought her food, or her milk, or a toy or pacifier for her.
   
   Your baby is probably only going to learn one sign at a time anyway, so take that opportunity to do the same (this is how I'm learning Persian at a pace that I pray is keeping up with my daughter...).
   Visit this site for a video dictionary of ASL that is priceless! Find one word a day and practice it all day long. Pretty soon you and your child will be communicating better than you thought possible!
   
3. "How do I know which baby sign book is the best?"
   
   Let me be specific: my daughter is learning American Sign Language - the official language of the American deaf community - what she is not learning is "baby sign".
   
   Just think of how you (I hope) teach your baby to speak You don't want them growing up speaking baby talk, so you teach them English (or the language of choice for your country). Sure, it's going to take them a while to get all the pronunciation correct, but the the goal is proper English (or other primary language - it's harder than I thought to write for an international community!). The same applies to sign language; the goal should be that they can eventually communicate with the deaf in your community, so to achieve that goal you'd have to teach them the proper language of the deaf in your community - in our case, that's American Sign Language. Of course my daughter can't do ALL the signs with 100% dexterity, but she knows what the goal is and she keeps working toward it! With plenty of enthusiastic encouragement from her parents of course...
   
   My point is that there are plenty of resources to learn ASL for free, at the very least enough to empower your child with an additional approach to communication. Meanwhile, a lot of books claim to have the best "baby signs" and are more than happy to take your money in order to teach you how to teach your child signs that will do nothing for them when they are grown up. Don't waste your money - learn the real stuff for free.
   
   If you are a reader in another country, please feel free to list any resources for your culture's sign language in the comments section!
   
4. "I have to start early, right? If they are 2 is it too late?"
   
   To this I say, did you stop learning your language at 2? Of course not! Start as soon as you're comfortable!

If you have any questions about sign language, please visit www.ASLpro.org! This is a free site with a plethora of information.