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SIGN OF THE TIMES
BY USING SIGN LANGUAGE TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR BABY OR TODDLER,
PARENTS CAN TAME TANTRUMS, FOSTER DEVELOPING VERBAL SKILLS AND FIGURE
OUT JUST WHAT ALL THAT POINTING AND GRUNTING REALLY MEANS
For parents, deciphering the wants of a crying child can be a trying task. Does a diaper need to be changed?
Is the baby hungry? Or, is it time for a nap? One way mom and dad can make it easier to determine just what
baby needs is by using sign language.
“90 percent of what we do is non-verbal communication. It comes very
naturally to us,” says Sarah Jernstrom owner and founder of Franklin,
N.J.-based Chatty Hands that specializes in teaching families and caregivers how to use sign language with preverbal children.
According to Jernstrom, babies as young as six months are capable of producing signs. And, she is quick to point out that even if your baby is not signing back to you, the child does have the capacity to understand what you are saying and doing.
“It’s never to early to start,” says Jernstrom. “What’s important is to start at a pace that is comfortable for the parent. It’s imperative to always speak at the same time that you are signing because that is how verbal development is encouraged.”
Jernstrom suggests starting with words that children need to communicate their most basic needs, such as “eat,” “milk” and “more” as well as “mother” and “father.”
In addition, consistency is important, so mom and dad should get in the habit of signing and speaking at the same time. “Parents need to start exposing the child to sign language the same way they are exposing the child to speech.”
Jennifer Gallo of Kennebunk, ME, said she would use the sign for “more” in tandem with the phrase,” Do you want more?” when her son, Owen, started eating cereal at age four months. “I wanted him to be able to tell me when he wanted more,” she said. According to Gallo, her son quickly started using the sign for “more” and even added “please” and “thank you” at six months.
While there has been some debate about how the use of sign language may affect a child’s verbal skills, most experts agree that sign language actually helps in the development of language, rather than hinder it.
“It’s absolutely beneficial,” said Long Island, NY-based speech-language pathologist, Terri Lucks, MA, CCC-SLP and a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. “The earlier you can start teaching a child language, whether it is speech or sign language, the better they will develop that part of their [skill set].”
While Lucks uses modified baby signs in her practice, or signs based on American Sign Language (ASL) but that incorporate gestures that babies already use, Jernstrom uses traditional ASL in her Chatty Hands workshops.
“I absolutely do ASL because of the fine motor skills it develops,” said Jernstrom who also noted that teaching kids ASL means exposing them to a second language. “If there is a deaf child that uses sign language, your child will be able to communicate with them using a vocabulary that is known.”
In addition to fine motor skills and bi-lingual benefits, sign language can also help with those tantrums associated with the terrible twos.
According to Lucks, “as you teach them sign language, it reduces their frustrations because now they can communicate their needs.”
Tracy Rosenhahn of Buffalo, NY, started using sign language with her son, Declan, at age seven months. While he initially did not respond with his own signs, at 10 months of age, he suddenly started using sign language to communicate. Rosenhahn, in turn, noticed a significant difference in her son’s behavior.
“You could tell her wasn’t as frustrated,” said Rosenhahn, who went on to say that at one point Declan was using up to 50 different signs for words as diverse at “milk,” “tickle” and “rhinoceros” his favorite animal. Declan, now two-years-old, still uses “the sign for ‘more’ constantly,” says Rosenhahn.
Parents interested in using sign language can look to a variety of sources to get started. Baby sign language workshops, such as those developed by Jernstrom for Chatty Hands, offer structured workshops for parents, caregivers and therapists. If classes are not available in your area, Lucks recommends sign language videos designed to cater to both kids and parents.
For more information on classes and instructional materials, parents can check out the following resources: www.chattyhands.com, www.signingtime.com, www.babysigns.com, www.sign2me.com.
Parents interested in a quick and easy reference for ASL should visit http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm.
Developed by Michigan State University, the website features both visual and written instruction for American Sign Language.
—Jennifer Carofano
After a decade of subways, bagels and window shopping in New York City,
Jennifer Carofano now lives with her husband and their two cars in sunny Los Angeles.
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