Could signing cause speech delays?

Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the cognitive and emotional benefits of baby signing. Notes Coleman, “Researchers and medical professionals validate the developmental benefits of signing, suggesting that children who sign as babies may benefit from larger vocabularies, better reading skills, and better relationships by reducing frustration and tantrums – all while learning a hands-on second language.”

With their two decades of research in the field, Baby Signs’ Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn have amassed significant data in support of baby signing. Some parents worry that teaching their baby sign language will delay her spoken language acquisition. In fact, Acredolo and Goodwyn’s research has shown the reverse to be true. The psychologists have found that by the age of two, signing babies have significantly larger verbal vocabularies than their non-signing peers. By the time they are three, signing babies’ language skills are more like that of the average four-year-old. Why?

Write Acredolo and Goodwyn, “Babies gain a lot of language knowledge when they are able to actively engage in communication with signs-knowledge that lays a good foundation for learning to talk. And, just as a child who learns to crawl is more, rather than less, motivated to learn to walk, so also a child who learns to sign is more, rather than less, motivated to learn to talk!”

Finally, as Coleman mentions, learning to sign can even help children with learning to read. Signing Time and Baby Signing Time use a multisensory approach – one that Coleman says “encourages dancing, speaking, signing, singing, laughing and sharing what’s in your heart.” Not only is multisensory learning a whole lot of fun, but child experts (such as infant researcher Robert Titzer) attest to its high degree of effectiveness, too.

In March 2008, viewers of the Today Show were wowed by the reading skills of 17-month-old Elizabeth Barrett, who was already a phonetic reader – meaning that she could sound out any word put before her (as the host of the program discovered, even one in cursive script!). Comments Susan Schwartz, clinical director of the Institute for Learning and Academic Achievement at the NYU Child Study Center, “[Elizabeth’s parents] have done a great job giving her a lot of multisensory input – so she sees things, she’s talking about them, she is signing, and she’s using all of those skills together. ” What better advertisement for multisensory learning? And as for signing… Well, it turns out that like Meet The Fockers’ amazing signing baby, Elizabeth had been watching Signing Time.

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