Babies have important things to say. The tricky part is that they just don’t have the words yet. That leads to frustration and a lot of tears. But don’t worry! There is an easy solution for this – Baby Sign Language! This sign language isn’t as complex as American Sign Language; it just consists of simple signs to signal common words that are important to babies such as “eat”, “sleep”, “play”, “milk”, and “food”. With Baby Sign Language, you can stop the guessing game and finally figure out what is upsetting your infant. By getting rid of the stress and the tears, Baby Sign Language allows parents to forge a close bond with their baby.
Not only does Baby Sign Language help facilitate communication between parents and babies during early stages of development, studies have shown that it can aid in the development of verbal language!
Helping Hands
A study followed a group of infants that used Baby Sign Language and compared them to a group that did not. At two years old, the group that used Baby Sign Language had a developmental advantage of three months over the other group. They had a greater vocabulary and were more easily understood. They said their first words before the group that did not use Baby Sign Language (Acredolo & Goodwin). Symbolic gesturing led to a faster acquisition of verbal language and created a certain sense of ease when it came to communicating.
The benefits of Baby Sign Language don’t just stop once language development has ceased. Studies have shown that children who used Baby Sign Language are usually high-achievers and actually have IQs that are, on average, 8 to 13 points higher than non-signers. This IQ difference was shown to exist even when the groups were tested later in life (Acredolo et. al)
Parents all over the world are loving Baby Sign Language and the ease with which it allows them to communicate with their little ones. And the benefits extend far past just the first few months of your baby’s life. So do yourself and your baby a favor – use Baby Sign Language!
Contributed to by Aarushi Sharma
______________________
Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn (1985). “Symbolic gesturing in language development: A case study.” Human Development, 28, 40-49.
Linda P. Acredolo, L. P., and Susan W. Goodwyn, (July 2000). “The long-term impact of symbolic gesturing during infancy on IQ at age 8.” Paper presented at the meetings of the International Society for Infant Studies, Brighton, UK.