Baby Sign Language - Research and Data

Not sure whether or not you should sign with your baby? Don’t just take our word for it, read what the experts say about teaching baby sign language.

Many people are amazed that babies as young as 6 to 10 months old can learn sign language.  They think, "How can baby sign, when she can't even talk?"  The answer is quite simple.  A baby knows what you are saying long before she is able to speak the words herself.  (Be careful what you say in front of your baby!)  And babies develop the fine muscles in their hands long before they develop the fine muslces in the mouth and tongue required for speech.  Thus, babies are equipped to communicate with you with their hands before they can talk.  So don't underestimate your child.  She will amaze you with what she can say, with her hands!

Knowing how babies sign, we must ask whether or not we should sign with our babies.  The single biggest myth with regard to baby sign language is that teaching it could delay a baby's speach.  We think nothing could be further from the truth.  According to Dr. Michelle Anthony and Dr. Reyna Lindert, by 18 months of age, an average signing child will have learned 94 signs and 105 spoken words.  By contrast, an average non-signing child knows 10 to 50 spoken words.  As noted by Dr. Anthony, "Having worked directly with literally thousands of children, and having carefully studied the language development of hundreds of them for our research, I can say with confidence that signing is not in any way associated with delayed speaking". 

The facts are in. Teaching a baby to sign is both physically and congnitively stimulating for the baby.  Signing furthers a baby’s cognitive development.  As Dr. Laura Dyer notes in her book Look Who’s Talking!, "When you combine signs with words, you stimulate your child’s auditory, visual, and kinesthetic senses.  He hears the spoken word (auditory), observes your gestures and facial expressions (visual), and imitates your physical movements to produces a sign (kinesthetic)".  

In Dancing with Words, Marilyn Daniels states that "Students who receive sign instruction test significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than students in classes not receiving sign instruction. Their superior scores indicate that simultaneously presenting words visually, kinesthetically, and orally enhances a child’s language development". 

Finally, signing babies typically become smarter adults.  This may be in large part to such babies' overall environment.  Nonetheless, the research of Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn, founders of Baby Signs, Inc., shows that signing babies scored higher on standardized language tests than babies who did not sign, and an average of 12 points higher on intelligence tests at 8 years of age. The fact is, teaching baby sign language is good for baby’s brain and overall development!

• Dyer, Laura. (2003) Look Who’s Talking. Minnetonka, MN: Meadowbrook Press.
• Michelle, Anthony and Reyna Lindert. (2005) Signing Smart with Babies and Toddlers. New York: St. Martin’s Press
• Michelle, Anthony and Reyna Lindert. “Research.” Signing Smart. February 9, 2008. http://www.signingsmart.com/research.html.
• Daniels, Marylin. (2000) Dancing with Words. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
• Acredelo, Linda and Susan Goodwyn. (2002) Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.

   

Baby Sign Langauge Home Page
Information on Baby Sign Language Book and Video
How to Succeed in Teaching Baby Sign Language
Sign language and Autism or Other Special Needs