its been proven that baby’s develop language at or around 6 months…so start a little bit before then. Speak and use sign at the same time..makes it easier. BUT PLEASE!!!! DO NOT use the baby einstein videos for baby sign…they are wrong!
If I remember correctly it is 6 months that you can start with the basics and work up. I know I took care of children that had different disabilities preventing them from talking like they needed and I think all the parents started at between 6-12 months on the sign language so that by the time they hit 3 years old they could really say (or sign) what they really needed or wanted so they could attend preschool.
As a parent, your baby’s “first sign” is greeted with as much excitement as your baby’s “first word”. For some parents though, the excitement is short lived as parents wonder what their baby is trying to communicate to them through baby sign language.
There are three steps to interpreting your baby’s signs and these can be broken down as follows:
1. Sign Introduction
When parents introduce baby sign language into their home they generally start with a small number of signs that are a combination of both practical and motivational signs. To understand what your baby is trying to communicate, the first step is to recall what are the baby signs you have introduced into your home. By a process of elimination, see if you can match your baby’s attempt at signing with one of the baby signs that you are using consistently in your home. It is important to remember that the sign language that your baby has created may not 100% resemble the baby signs that you have been using. The reasons for this are highlighted in step 2 and 3.
2. Your Baby’s Physical Capabilities
Your baby’s physical capabilities and motor skills will depend on the age of your baby. When children begin to sign sometimes the sign will be created in reverse. The reason for this is that each time you sign to your baby, your baby actually sees the sign backwards. An example of this was with my neighbour’s child who I taught the baby sign for cat. When he finally signed back to me instead of rubbing his right hand in an upward motion on his left hand (toward his body), Luke was rubbing his right hand on the back of his left away from his body. If you were to look at me demonstrating the sign in a mirror it would look exactly like the way Luke had recreated it. This is something to consider when interpreting your baby’s signs, are they signing it backwards due to their perception of the way the sign was created.
It is also important to note that younger babies may have difficulty in crossing their arms (for signs such as koala bear) or may use all fingers for signs that only involve one finger (for signs such as Dad). For this reason it is important to notice the location of your baby’s hand when illustrating the sign and be aware of what is within your baby’s field of vision, these should provide some clue into what your baby is trying to communicate. This combined with a process of elimination should help identify what your baby’s attempt means.
3. Sign Generalisation
As with spoken language, baby’s who are exposed to baby sign language sometimes use one sign to symbolise many different objects or may use the sign in reference to just one item. An example of this was when Luke who knew the sign for cat, saw a dog in the park one day. His response to this was to sign the word for cat. Luke had identified the dog as a four-legged animal and had assumed that it belonged to the same group as a cat. When a baby begins to speak they may often use one word to represent many different objects. In the case of Luke, it was important to encourage his attempts but to also introduce the sign for dog and later to clarify the differentiation between a dog and cat through stories, friend’s pets and stuffed toys.
In summary, when the moment arrives and your baby begins to sign, please remember to greet your baby’s attempt with enthusiasm and encouragement. Through a process of elimination, you should be able to clarify what your baby is trying to communicate and help reduce frustration for you and your baby. And remember, have fun!
Happy Signing!
Disabled how? My cousins are triplets and they were born disabled. All three are deaf. They made up their own sign language and we all learned together… As they got older, they learned American Sign Language so they could communicate with others.
What kind of disability are we talking about here? Mental? Physical?
While our daughter isn’t hearing impaired, we use sign with her because it is easier for a baby to make a sign than to form a word. We started signing at 5 or 6 months and she signed back to us at around 8 or 9 months. If she were hearing impaired, though, I would have probably started signing from birth. It doesn’t mean you have to be fluent in Sign, just learn a few important words a week and use them EVERY time you say the word. For instance a good beginning word would be “milk.” Every time you feed the baby, say “Are you ready for milk? Here is your milk.” and sign the word each time you say it. A good site that we use for learning new words is http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi
Also, don’t expect baby to make perfect signs (of course!) he’ll make them loosely or sloppy for a while, just like a beginning talker doesn’t speak clearly for months or years.
Disabled or not, the age of six months is the time to really start trying to teach your baby some signs, be it American Sign Language or not. Don’t expect your baby to really sign back to you until around 8 months, and quite possibly more.
If you think about it, unconciously, you will teach your baby some sign language. A usual example is waving bye-bye.
But if you intentionally work at it, you can begin to communicate with your child before he is able to talk.
As an example, our 1yo just started to learn the first of a few signs. We’ve taught him to smack his lips when he wants a drink from his sippy.
well first of all i dont really think deafness is a disability. im a sign language interpreter and im currently working on teaching baby sign.
so that said
most babies will sign around 6 months old but i recommend that you begin to sign to youre child as early as 2 1/2 months children have amazing receptive skills so as soon as they can focus on objects you should sign.
you can use books and flsah cards later on.
try to find some help i dont know where you live but try rid.org
talk to your babies doctor and have them do some test to determine amount of hearing your baby has.
hope i helped.
start teaching them as soon as possible. most babies learn simple signs to communicate even though they hear perfectly well. my niece learned the signs for hungry, etc, so that she could tell her parents what she wanted. she’s perfectly fine with her hearing, but until she started speaking, they needed to know what she needed.
The disabled part is of no matter. Children with multiple disabilities GREATLY benefit from learning signs.
Start now! No age is too young. They may not sign back until they are anywhere from 6mos – 14 months, however, they are still soaking in the visual part when you sign to them.
its been proven that baby’s develop language at or around 6 months…so start a little bit before then. Speak and use sign at the same time..makes it easier. BUT PLEASE!!!! DO NOT use the baby einstein videos for baby sign…they are wrong!
If I remember correctly it is 6 months that you can start with the basics and work up. I know I took care of children that had different disabilities preventing them from talking like they needed and I think all the parents started at between 6-12 months on the sign language so that by the time they hit 3 years old they could really say (or sign) what they really needed or wanted so they could attend preschool.
As a parent, your baby’s “first sign” is greeted with as much excitement as your baby’s “first word”. For some parents though, the excitement is short lived as parents wonder what their baby is trying to communicate to them through baby sign language.
There are three steps to interpreting your baby’s signs and these can be broken down as follows:
– Sign Introduction
– Your Baby’s Physical Capabilities
– Sign Generalisation
1. Sign Introduction
When parents introduce baby sign language into their home they generally start with a small number of signs that are a combination of both practical and motivational signs. To understand what your baby is trying to communicate, the first step is to recall what are the baby signs you have introduced into your home. By a process of elimination, see if you can match your baby’s attempt at signing with one of the baby signs that you are using consistently in your home. It is important to remember that the sign language that your baby has created may not 100% resemble the baby signs that you have been using. The reasons for this are highlighted in step 2 and 3.
2. Your Baby’s Physical Capabilities
Your baby’s physical capabilities and motor skills will depend on the age of your baby. When children begin to sign sometimes the sign will be created in reverse. The reason for this is that each time you sign to your baby, your baby actually sees the sign backwards. An example of this was with my neighbour’s child who I taught the baby sign for cat. When he finally signed back to me instead of rubbing his right hand in an upward motion on his left hand (toward his body), Luke was rubbing his right hand on the back of his left away from his body. If you were to look at me demonstrating the sign in a mirror it would look exactly like the way Luke had recreated it. This is something to consider when interpreting your baby’s signs, are they signing it backwards due to their perception of the way the sign was created.
It is also important to note that younger babies may have difficulty in crossing their arms (for signs such as koala bear) or may use all fingers for signs that only involve one finger (for signs such as Dad). For this reason it is important to notice the location of your baby’s hand when illustrating the sign and be aware of what is within your baby’s field of vision, these should provide some clue into what your baby is trying to communicate. This combined with a process of elimination should help identify what your baby’s attempt means.
3. Sign Generalisation
As with spoken language, baby’s who are exposed to baby sign language sometimes use one sign to symbolise many different objects or may use the sign in reference to just one item. An example of this was when Luke who knew the sign for cat, saw a dog in the park one day. His response to this was to sign the word for cat. Luke had identified the dog as a four-legged animal and had assumed that it belonged to the same group as a cat. When a baby begins to speak they may often use one word to represent many different objects. In the case of Luke, it was important to encourage his attempts but to also introduce the sign for dog and later to clarify the differentiation between a dog and cat through stories, friend’s pets and stuffed toys.
In summary, when the moment arrives and your baby begins to sign, please remember to greet your baby’s attempt with enthusiasm and encouragement. Through a process of elimination, you should be able to clarify what your baby is trying to communicate and help reduce frustration for you and your baby. And remember, have fun!
Happy Signing!
Disabled how? My cousins are triplets and they were born disabled. All three are deaf. They made up their own sign language and we all learned together… As they got older, they learned American Sign Language so they could communicate with others.
What kind of disability are we talking about here? Mental? Physical?
While our daughter isn’t hearing impaired, we use sign with her because it is easier for a baby to make a sign than to form a word. We started signing at 5 or 6 months and she signed back to us at around 8 or 9 months. If she were hearing impaired, though, I would have probably started signing from birth. It doesn’t mean you have to be fluent in Sign, just learn a few important words a week and use them EVERY time you say the word. For instance a good beginning word would be “milk.” Every time you feed the baby, say “Are you ready for milk? Here is your milk.” and sign the word each time you say it. A good site that we use for learning new words is http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi
Also, don’t expect baby to make perfect signs (of course!) he’ll make them loosely or sloppy for a while, just like a beginning talker doesn’t speak clearly for months or years.
Disabled or not, the age of six months is the time to really start trying to teach your baby some signs, be it American Sign Language or not. Don’t expect your baby to really sign back to you until around 8 months, and quite possibly more.
If you think about it, unconciously, you will teach your baby some sign language. A usual example is waving bye-bye.
But if you intentionally work at it, you can begin to communicate with your child before he is able to talk.
As an example, our 1yo just started to learn the first of a few signs. We’ve taught him to smack his lips when he wants a drink from his sippy.
well first of all i dont really think deafness is a disability. im a sign language interpreter and im currently working on teaching baby sign.
so that said
most babies will sign around 6 months old but i recommend that you begin to sign to youre child as early as 2 1/2 months children have amazing receptive skills so as soon as they can focus on objects you should sign.
you can use books and flsah cards later on.
try to find some help i dont know where you live but try rid.org
talk to your babies doctor and have them do some test to determine amount of hearing your baby has.
hope i helped.
start teaching them as soon as possible. most babies learn simple signs to communicate even though they hear perfectly well. my niece learned the signs for hungry, etc, so that she could tell her parents what she wanted. she’s perfectly fine with her hearing, but until she started speaking, they needed to know what she needed.
The disabled part is of no matter. Children with multiple disabilities GREATLY benefit from learning signs.
Start now! No age is too young. They may not sign back until they are anywhere from 6mos – 14 months, however, they are still soaking in the visual part when you sign to them.
Please see:
http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/baby-signs-when-start.html
Has wonderful information on this.
Also for children with disabilities learning sign language and its benefits:
http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/special-needs.html
So glad to hear of your baby’s new journey! S/he is very lucky. 🙂
Good luck. 🙂