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Home › Articles › Development › Baby Signs

Baby Signs

A Conversation Creating Lasting Bonds

By Nancy Cadjan, Certified Baby Sign Instructor

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How Baby Signing Works
More than 20 years of research shows that children naturally gesture to obtain things they want. Who hasn't seen a baby lift her arms up to be picked up? By tapping in to these natural tendencies and teaching your baby some basic American Sign Language Signs (ASL), you can open a line of communication with your baby and learn her needs, fears and wants.

Some parents worry using signs will slow speech acquisition. Studies conducted during the past 20 years show babies who sign generally speak at the same rates as babies who do not but actually have an easier time learning to communicate. When they begin to speak, they already understand the communication game and generally learn to talk faster once they begin to speak. Additionally, the research shows that babies who sign have a 12 point increase in their IQs. Extended research shows this IQ increase lasts through the child's educational years. Children who sign as babies also have larger vocabularies and greater interest in books. Plus, you get the benefit of being able to communicate with them while they are still learning to talk.

Four Steps to Start
You and your baby don't need to learn a new language. You are just borrowing some basic ASL signs and adding them to your conversations. These signs give your baby a way to communicate back. You can learn as few as five signs or as many as 100 to 300 signs to enrich your relationship.

Here are some basic steps:


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