Sign Language For Babies – Open Communication Lines Between Your Baby & You!

Sign language for babies helps you and your precious little one to communicate. Let’s face it, when your baby cries, do you instantly know what’s wrong? No of course you don’t, Mothers rarely do. On hearing our baby cry we run through a check list, trying to identify the underlying problem. Teaching your baby sign language would mean that you save valuable time trying to figure out what’s wrong, and that means that you can meet your baby’s need more quickly.

Baby sign language – Making life easier?

Imagine this scenario. Its around 3am, you are woken by your baby crying, as you rub your eyes and stumble sleepily into your babies room, you wonder what on earth could be wrong. He normally sleeps through. You get to your baby and check his nappy, you offer him a drink, you hand him his pacifier, all to no avail. Your baby still won’t settle. You rub a little teething gel onto his gums, ahh that’s the problem. The point is that by now, you and baby are both quite awake.

Wouldn’t it be so much easier, if when you had first entered his room, he could have shown you the basic baby sign language for ‘hurt’ This would have saved time, you could have comforted your baby, used the gel and by now you would both be falling back to sleep.

Many parents believe that teaching baby signing will some how hinder their child’s ability to learn to speak. Researchers disagree with this, a babies ability to actually talk will always be much slower than the ability to learn motor skills, and understand what people are saying to them. Your baby will naturally try to mimic your movements and hand signals, long before he can actually use words to describe what you’re doing.

Baby sign language isn’t just for the hard of hearing!

Dr Joseph Garcia (who is an American child development expert) discovered that babies of deaf parents seemed to be more settled and less demanding than than babies of hearing parents. Babies of deaf parents learned to sign as way of communication with their parents, often getting there needs met a lot quicker.

Although sign language for babies doesn’t fall into place overnight, you will need lots of patience, but experts agree that teaching baby signing isn’t really that hard. The benefits of teaching your baby to sign far outweigh the patience needed to start. Your baby should become less demanding, in turn your life as a mother will become less frustrating (now we could all do with that!)

Experts also agree that baby sign language can help your baby to become more confident and calm, and he will develop with higher levels of self esteem – as the communication lines with their parents are fully open. Parents instead of having to listen to their baby crying in frustration to get what they want, will know exactly what he wants because baby is signing it to them!

Baby signing – A sign of things to come?

Many parents are now turning to baby signing to help them have an easier time with their baby in day to day life. After all if we know what our baby wants, and we can tend to them straight the way, then everyone is happy. Parents normally start teaching their baby signing at around 8 months old, although some babies are known to sign significantly earlier (some as early as 6 months) Signing can be used with your toddler as well.

To learn more about baby sign language, visit me – Julie at: http://www.new-baby-and-beyond.com/baby-sign-language-book.html

I’m Julie, mum of two beautiful but very demanding kids!
After trying for 3 years to get pregnant with my first child, and then knowing nothing about babies when he did come along. I picked up loads of great advice along the way.
I have created my web site to help ease women naturally into motherhood. So grab a cuppa and take a look around my site, dedicated to all the mothers of the world, new and not so new! Motherhood is a joyous occasion, make it the best time in your life!

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A Look at the Complex Spatial Grammar of Russian Sign Language

This comprises the sign language of the deaf community in Russia. This language was used for conveying meaning using hands to show shapes, orientation of the hands, communicating manually and certain patterns using the lips, orientation of arms or body and facial expression to express the thoughts fluidly.

The complex spatial grammar of Russian sign language differs from that of the spoken Russian language and it can be used to discuss any topic, ranging from the simple and concrete to the lofty as well as abstract. There are many types existing in the deaf communities across the country while some of them have no recognition status at all!

They could possibly be richer than the oral language and many linguists who have studied this have found that they are similar in structure to the oral language. The signs are mostly arbitrary and they mostly do not have any visual relationship to the word referred to.

The many unique linguistic features which emerge from the languages’ ability are to produce the meanings in different parts of the visual field simultaneously. Russian sign language does not depend on the oral Russian language nor is it the oral language expressed in action.

This language exploits the unique features of the visual medium because the oral language being linear only one sound can be made or received at a time whereas in this language a whole scene can be taken in at once as it is visual. Several channels of information can be expressed simultaneously. In an occasion where the existence of deaf people are high enough a single deaf sign language is taken up by an entire local community.

Russian sign language necessitates a very brief pause between the terms, signifying the beginning and ending of words especially when you are expressing big sentences using your finger. A sudden slow down because of difficult letter combination may have the reader thinking that you are starting a new word leading to misunderstanding.

Parents of deaf children should introduce the language to the ward as early as possible. The earlier the child is exposed to sign languages and begins to acquire language will result in better development of the ward’s communication skills.

Researchers say that the first six months are the most crucial stage to the development of a child’s language skills. Screening for deafness and partial hearing losses have to be executed on all newborns before they leave the hospital or maximum within the first month of life.

Becoming fully competent in any language a person exposure to that language must begin as early as possible and definitely before school age.

People who generally use Russian sign language avoid long nails or excessive jewellery as it distracts when watching finger spelling.

Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Sign Language for Years. For More Information on Russian Sign Language, Visit His Site at RUSSIAN SIGN LANGUAGEI Will Also Highly Appreciate Your Views On Russian Sign Language At My Blog here

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Teaching Baby Sign Language

Infants or what we call babies are those that fall in the age bracket 0 to 12 months.  During these years, the baby cannot yet talk as adults do.  This is why some parents teach their child baby sign language. 

Baby sign language is a way of communicating to your baby using hand shapes and motion with assigned meanings.  This method uses the American Sign Language.  Teaching the sign language does not mean your child is deaf or mute.  Although your baby can hear, they do not yet have the ability to speak making communication with them difficult. 

Baby sign language was discovered and developed by the research of Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn and Joseph Garcia.  The sign language is composed of hand and finger signs that could mean words such as “hungry”, “sleepy”, and “wet” among others.

Teaching baby sign language is not that difficult to teach and learn.  It is the same as when you are learning a new language by starting with simple words.  Teaching your baby how to make sign can start from six to nine months.  All that is needed is to have hand coordination skills.

When teaching the baby sign language, you should give your complete attention.  Start with the words that is usually done with the baby such as “hungry”, “poop”, “wet”, or “hurt”.  Then use the sign as often as you interact with the baby.  In this way you are connecting the signs with the objects.  When you have taught the basic words and signs, you can now start with other signs that would indicate foods, family, and emotions such as “pain”, “I love you”, “sorry”. 

Remember that your baby is learning so do not get frustrated when he or she cannot get it the first time.  The baby will learn in its own pace so do not pressure him or her or nothing will be learned.  When the baby will make the sign, do not expect it to be the same as yours so when teaching, pay very close attention to the signs the baby is making so you will recognize what he or she wants to convey.

Infant or baby sign language can also be used for children with developmental problems.  Not all children have the same learning pace and sign language can be a key in solving developmental delays.  Moreover, children are taught to express feelings without rage.  This is a good way for them so they can start early in containing their anger by not shouting or hurting anyone. 

Aside from the benefits that the infants can gain, the parents are also able to understand them when they want to say something.  When in a hospital setting, nurses can give the best care immediately to the infant because they can express what they feel.  Caregivers and family members taking care of the baby will not have a difficult time guessing what the baby needs.  Also teachers and assistants in day care centers can provide a new way of teaching children as well.

Visit Choosing Baby Gender for the best tips to help you choose your baby?s gender as well as teaching baby sign language.

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A look at how sign language developed

The origins of American Sign Language (ASL) remain unclear mainly because much of its early development is poorly documented. Signed languages in their premature forms are not preserved. Although researchers can establish the time and the circumstances under which signing was brought to the U.S., still they are not certain about the structure of the languages used by deaf or hearing impaired people before.

In 1779, in his book ‘Observations of a Deaf-Mute’, Pierre Desloges described sign language as used by deaf people in Paris, France. Desloges felt that he had to speak on behalf of deaf people because, at that time, their language was not acknowledged as an official language and therefore it was not used for the education of deaf children. Besides, the descriptions that he provides in the book portray deaf people in France, who naturally use a sign language, which later became known as Old French Sign Language (OFSL). OFSL was used to discuss a broad range of topics, from politics to family and from religion to work. Being transmitted from one generation to another, OFSL had its own syntax and pronunciation and eventually it became recognized by Abbé de L’Epée as appropriate to be used for the education of deaf children.

The contribution of France to the official acceptance of sign language is important not only because it provides us with evidence about its existence, but mainly because the acknowledgement of OFSL was directly related to the development of American Sign Language (ASL) in the United States. The official acceptance of American Sign Language is believed to trace its roots in 1817. Thomas Gallaudet, a pioneer in the education of deaf people and Laurent Clerc, co-founded the first school for deaf people in the United States, at Hartford, Connecticut. While traveling to the States from France, Gallaudet learned the sign language and Clerc learned English. Together, they established what was later acknowledged and certified as the American Sign Language (ASL).

ASL combines hand movements, gestures, body postures facial expressions, and uses visually transmitted sign patterns instead of acoustic sounds. It has its own grammar, sentence order and punctuation rules as well as its own jargon and idiomatic expressions. Besides, factors that affect the variety of usage of ASL are gender, age, and ethnicity.

Today, ASL is broadly used from parents as a means to emphasize on a child’s communication skills. The earlier a child is exposed to sign language, the better vocabulary, reading and spelling skills are developed along with increased IQ scores, and enhanced creativity. Often, a deaf child born to deaf parents acquires ASL naturally, similarly to a hearing child, who picks up spoken language from hearing parents. Yet, deaf children born to hearing parents who are not experienced with ASL are introduced to sign language along with their parents.

I work as a financial and investment advisor but my passion is writing, music and photography. Writing mostly about finance, business and music, being an amateur photographer and a professional dj, I am inspired from life.

Being a strong advocate of simplicity in life, I love my family, my partner and all the people that have stood by me with or without knowing. And I hope that someday, human nature will cease to be greedy and demanding realizing that the more we have the more we want and the more we satisfy our needs the more needs we create. And this is so needless after all.

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Do you know of any good websites to learn some basics in sign language?

I am interested in learning sign language. Do you know of any good websites to learn from? Do you know of any place where I can take a sign language class?
I live about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh. I don’t know of any deaf schools in the area and I’m not sure if any of the local colleges/universities offer a sign language class.
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British Baby Sign Language – an Introduction

So what’s it all about? Baby Sign Language or (Baby Sign) is the method of using sign language to communicate with babies before they can talk. It is 

 

Steadily gaining in popularity worldwide and has many benefits to both the parent and the child.

 

Many people worry about sign language delaying speech but in fact the opposite has been proven to be true. Baby Signing help develop IQ and language skills and many signing babies actually speak earlier and have a wider vocabulary than non signing babies.

 

So how do you sign with your baby?

 

Baby Sign Language is based on the adult form of sign language usually with a bit more flexibility, so signs can be altered to make it easier for little hands to copy. I am writing this article based on British Sign Language.

 

First off there is some extra information that will be useful to you before you begin.

 

*You can start signing with your baby at any age but you will get the best results from about 7 months old, this is because your baby’s memory will be developed enough to store and use the signs effectively.

 

*On average it takes 4-6 weeks for the baby to start to copy the signs back to you so you will need to be patient.

 

*You must be consistent is using the same sign all the time and repetition really is the key to success. You should get other family members and nursery staff to use the same signs too. The more baby sees the sign the quicker he will respond.

 

*Learn the signs yourself in advance so that you will be prepared for when your baby points at something and looks as you with a questioning face, you will be able to show the sign right away.

 

*Say the word while you make the sign, make sure the baby knows what you are talking about – point to the object or person or animal, make sure your baby is looking at the same thing.

 

*Be receptive to your baby’s development, when she is taking an interest in communication and is babbling to you then she will be most open to learning signs.

 

*Make it fun! Use signs in nursery rhymes and action songs, use signs when reading books, make animal noises along with the signs, anything to engage your baby.

 

Ok so on to the signing. It is best to start with signs that are part of your baby’s everyday life, the first three signs that get the best results are;

 

(You can see the video clips for these signs on http://uk.youtube.com/babysignonline)

 

Milk, Eat, More

 

So we will start with those

 

Milk

To make the sign for Milk:

Make fists with both hands and extend your thumbs and little fingers, hold your hands vertically so that your little fingers point downwards and your thumbs point upwards. Hold your hands in front of your body and move them alternatively up and down as if milking a cow.

 

Top Tip: Show your baby her bottle and ask her ‘Do you want your milk’ then do the sign. Say the word ‘Milk’ whilst making the sign a few times before and after giving the bottle. If you are breast feeding make the sign before your baby latches on, and if possible while she is feeding.

 

Eat

To make the sign for Eat:

Take one hand and bunch your fingers towards your thumb and bring your hand up to your mouth and touch your lips with the tips of your fingers and thumb.

 

Top Tip: This sign is for when your baby starts solids. You can ask you baby if he is ready for his dinner and make the sign for eat, take him to his highchair and make the sign again as you feed him.

 

More

To make the sign for More:

Tap the back of one hand with the other hand.

 

Top Tip: This is a sign that gets really good responses as it is so easy to do and baby will quickly realise that she can ask for ‘more food’, ‘more game’, ‘more book’, ‘more tickle’. Try it when you are feeding your baby, pause in between spoonfuls and wait for baby to look at you, then ask ‘Do you want more?’ and make the sign.

 

Obviously it is easier to learn the signs when you can look at a picture or even better still a video dictionary! A lot of Baby Sign companies offer local classes which are a great way to meet other parents and join a group, but if you are too busy or there is no local class near you, you might find learning online is a good option for you.

 

Hopefully this article has stirred some interest in you and you will go on to discover the joys of signing with your baby!

Nicola Smout is a qualified BSL (British Sign Language) Baby Signing Teacher and mum to a 2 year old signing baby boy. She educates people in the joys of Baby Signing and the benefits that Baby Sign can bring to both parent and child.


For more information about signing with your baby visit www.babysignonline.co.uk

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A Look at the Importance of the Baby Sign Language

Baby sign language is a kind of sign language which is used when one wants to communicate with toddlers or infants. It is used since infants or toddlers might not be able to communicate well since they might not be able to speak as they might lack ability to do so.

Speech develops in a toddler only one the co ordination of the lips, breath, tongue and the vocal cords improve. Hence to make communication easy for them the baby sign language was invented which is widely used now. It is seen that babies often find it difficult to communicate and might end up in him. her throwing tantrums that could have been avoided if the child had known the Baby sign language.

It is believed that even though they might not be able to co ordinate well enough to produce speech but they have good hand-eye co ordination. They can be taught baby language and hence might be able to show signs like sleep, eat, more, hug, play, cookie, teddy bear, drink, sleepy etc.The Baby Sign Language is broadly classified into two categories that is the Need based Sign Language and the Highly motivation signs. The need based signs cover all the things that come under the basic needs of a baby.

For instance words like food, drink, sleepy.hot, cold, change me etc come under the Need based signs. The word drink or thirsty can be shown by mimicking drinking out of a glass or a bottle. You could use a similar motion for eating as well, or also by rubbing the stomach. The highly motivating signs include words like toy, friend, doggy etc.

You can also help the child’s vocabulary to grow by showing them signs for various items. There also exists something called the home based baby sign language. The home based sign language is basically developed between the infant and the parents or the caregivers. Besides this there is something called the Indigenous sign language where the vocabulary or the grammar used in a part of some already existing Indigenous sign languages of that particular region.

For instance people who belong to Australia might want to use the Auslan( more commonly known as the Australian Sign Language) or in America the American sign language which is also known as ASL is most commonly used and in Mexico the Mexican sign language (also known as “lengua de señas mexicana”, “Lenguaje de Signos Mexicano” or LSM).This would imply using a standard vocabulary which would also allow people who are not just family members to communicate with the toddler. This way even as the child grows older he/she can continue studying the indigenous sign language.

The Baby sign language was initially developed in the United States of America. It was developed by Linda Acredolo, a professor of psychology at the University of California which is in Davis and by Susan Goodwyn who is also a professor emeritus of psychology at the California State University. They had started research on this subject in the year 1982.In the year 1985 they produced an article in Human development. The article was titled “Symbolic gesturing in language development: A case study.”

Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Sign Language for Years. For More Information on Baby sign language, Visit His Site at BABY SIGN LANGUAGEI Will Also Highly Appreciate Your Views On Baby sign language At My Blog here

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How to Learn With Sign Language Alphabet Charts

Sign language is a means of communication between two people who are deaf. Sign language is also sometimes used by normal people in circumstances where they cannot talk aloud. Sign language differs from country to country. Sometimes sign language also differs from one region to another in the same place.

Sign language is complete in itself. It even has a set of grammar rules to be followed just as in any other language.

Training a person especially if he is a beginner in sign language involves various methods and techniques. Finger spelling is one such technique which uses the fingers to spell alphabets and numbers.

Sign language alphabet chart is another excellent method of learning this language. These charts can be used for the purpose of memorizing alphabets and numbers until you become thorough with them. These charts are versatile and easy to be carried anywhere you want to. You can just roll them up and take them along.

These charts contain all the alphabets and the gestures used to represent them. It is one of the basic things any beginner has to learn in order to master the sign language. A sign language alphabet chart is available in a lot of shops. They can also be printed out from the various internet sites in order to use them for practice.

Schools for the deaf which teach the sign language have these alphabet charts in all their classrooms, especially for the beginners. Sign language alphabet charts put up in these classrooms are mounted on thick boards and laminated in order to ensure longetivity.

Alphabets correspond to the language on which the sign language is based on. For example an English sign language alphabet chart will contain English alphabets, a Spanish chart will contain Spanish alphabets, a French chart will contain French alphabets, etc.

Normally these sign language alphabet charts contain hand positions pertaining to each letter of the alphabet. Sign language practiced in the United States uses the American Manual Alphabet. This makes use of the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Along with this hand positions twenty two in number represents these letters effectively.

If you are using finger spelling to communicate with each other, then getting trained for alphabets is very important. Sign language alphabet charts play a major role here. Just as while learning the normal languages, we teach children with the aid of pictures in charts, beginners in sign languages can also be trained using these charts as an aid.

Once you master the alphabets and learn how to spell them using these hand positions you can move on to the more advanced phrases, gestures and signs of the language. When you spell with your fingers with the help of the sign language alphabet charts, there are a few things you must remember. Bouncing your hands between letters will cause pain in your wrist.

Initially, it is a advisable to go as slow as possible till you pick up speed with practice.

Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Sign Language for Years. For More Information on Sign Language Alphabet Charts, Visit His Site at SIGN LANGUAGE ALPHABET CHARTSI Will Also Highly Appreciate Your Views On Sign Language Alphabet Charts At My Blog here

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