Baby signing goes mainstream

In 2002, with the debut of Signing Time on American Public Television, hearing children across the US were introduced to a fun way of learning ASL. Designed for kids aged one and up, the show has since wrapped its second season and expanded to include Baby Signing Time (for babies aged 3 to 36 months).

Host and cocreator Rachel de Azevedo Coleman originally devised the program as way to enable more children to communicate with people like her daughter Leah, who is deaf (Leah and her cousin Alex, who can hear, also star in the show).

With her lively presenting style, smiling face and beautiful singing voice, singer-actress Coleman is a big part of Signing Time and Baby Signing Time’s appeal. So, too, are the catchy, playful (but never infantile) original songs composed by Coleman and her father, Lex de Azevedo – a renowned composer of film scores.

Two years after Signing Time’s debut, the hit movie Meet The Fockers put baby signing even more firmly on the map. The Ben Stiller comedy features a signing baby as well as Garcia’s Sign With Your Baby book. The real-life baby had actually learned to sign from watching Signing Time.

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How to sign with your baby…