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Sing "What a Wonderful World" in American Sign Language | ASL Song

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Sing and Sign Somewhere Over the Rainbow in Sign Language

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Pharrell's "Happy" in ASL by Deaf Film Camp at CM7

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True Colours (by Artists Against Bullying) ASL

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"Let It Go" in ASL (Amber Zion & Jason Listman)

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1. Gives babies a way to communicate their needs before they can talk

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1. Gives babies a way to communicate their needs before they can talk

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2. Great bonding with your babies as you spend that extra time with them teaching them the signs along with when you use them it is almost like you have a special connection

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2. Great bonding with your babies as you spend that extra time with them teaching them the signs along with when you use them it is almost like you have a special connection

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3. If you teach your child many different words, they could be considered bilingual as sign language is an official language

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3. If you teach your child many different words, they could be considered bilingual as sign language is an official language

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Baby sign language - when babies use modified gestures from American Sign Language - can be an effective communication tool. Teaching and practicing baby sign language also can be fun and give you and your child an opportunity to bond.

Limited research suggests that baby sign language might give a typically developing child a way to communicate several months earlier than those who only use vocal communication. This might help ease frustration between ages 8 months and 2 years - when children begin to know what they want, need and feel but don't necessarily have the verbal skills to express themselves. Children who have developmental delays might benefit, too. Further research is needed, however, to determine if baby sign language promotes advanced language, literacy or cognition.

To begin teaching your child baby sign language, familiarize yourself with signs through books, websites or other sources. To get the most out of your baby sign language experience, keep these tips in mind:

Set realistic expectations. Feel free to start signing with your child at any age - but remember that most children aren't able to communicate with baby sign language until about age 8 months.

Keep signs simple. Start with signs to describe routine requests, activities and objects in your child's life - such as more, drink, eat, mother and father. Choose signs that are of most interest to your child. In addition to using formal signs, encourage meaningful gestures, such as pointing and the hand movements that accompany nursery rhymes.

Make it interactive. Try holding your baby on your lap, with his or her back to your stomach. Embrace your baby's arms and hands to make signs. Use signs while communicating with your baby. To give signs context, try signing while bathing, diapering, feeding or reading to your baby.

Stay patient. Don't get discouraged if your child uses signs incorrectly or doesn't start using them right away. The goal is improved communication and reduced frustration - not perfection. However, avoid accepting indiscriminate movements as signs.

Keep in mind that, as you teach baby sign language, it's important to continue talking to your child. Spoken communication is an important part of your child's speech development.

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Baby sign language - when babies use modified gestures from American Sign Language - can be an effective communication tool. Teaching and practicing baby sign language also can be fun and give you and your child an opportunity to bond.

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4. Signing, itself, strengthens a child's memory as it opens up more pathways of learning as it relates to all the different learning styles. 

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4. Signing, itself, strengthens a child's memory as it opens up more pathways of learning as it relates to all the different learning styles. 

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5. Learning sign language accelerates a child's emotional development and accelerates the process of learning how to speak

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5. Learning sign language accelerates a child's emotional development and accelerates the process of learning how to speak

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6. Improves a child's awareness of their own as well as other people's social signals

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6. Improves a child's awareness of their own as well as other people's social signals

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7. Sign language allows children to form longer more complex sentences as they typically have a larger speaking vocabulary

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7. Sign language allows children to form longer more complex sentences as they typically have a larger speaking vocabulary

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8. Oftentimes learning sign language will improve a child's performance in school 

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8. Oftentimes learning sign language will improve a child's performance in school 

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9. Helps to decrease frustration levels as kid's can be more direct with what they need thus improves the lifestyle of both the parents and children

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9. Helps to decrease frustration levels as kid's can be more direct with what they need thus improves the lifestyle of both the parents and children

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10. Repetition of a lot of the basic concepts in our language such as the ABCs, colors, animals...

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10. Repetition of a lot of the basic concepts in our language such as the ABCs, colors, animals...

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American Sign Language (ASL) has been one of the primary means of communication for the deaf since the early 1800s after Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet helped to develop the language and then went on to establish a university for the deaf. Now, the practice of teaching hearing children sign language is gaining popularity nationwide.

ASL is now classified as a world language, the same as Spanish, French, or any other foreign language. Therefore, if a child speaks sign language, the child is considered bilingual. When children are taught English and ASL together, they are processing language using both sides of the brain. This gives the children two places to recall language from instead of just one.

Research has found that the use of signs and finger spelling will accommodate a wide range of learning styles: "verbal linguistic," kinesthetic" and "interpersonal." Using ASL is the representation of information through seeing, hearing, and movement, and the more pathways that are created in the brain, the stronger the memory.

Babies as young as six to seven months old can remember a sign, according to experts. By eight months, children can begin to sign single words and imitate gestures, and by 24 months, children can sign compound words and full sentences. Many preschools have also begun to teach sign language to their students.

The use of sign language has proven to be beneficial for children in a wide variety of settings. Teaching sign language to preverbal babies has proven to benefit children in their later years. Research shows that sign language speeds up speech development, reduces frustration in young children by giving them a means to express themselves before they know how to talk, increases parent-child bonding, and lets babies communicate vital information, such as if they are hurt or hungry.

Infants who learn sign language also are thought to gain psychological benefits, such as improved confidence and self-esteem. Feelings of anger due to an inability to communicate may not occur as often. Having the ability to sign could be a lifesaver when a child is too flustered to speak clearly.

It has been suggested that learning sign language can delay speech, but this is negated by experts who claim that in fact, it aids speech development. Most baby who can sign speak earlier than babies who do not learn sign language.

Early exposure to signing helps infants to develop their language and reasoning skills. While other s are still crying to get what they want, signing babies are learning how to communicate with words and simple phrases.

Studies show long-term cognitive benefits, including:

+12 IQ point advantage

Accelerated speech and emotional development

Enables children to communicate effectively

Lowers frustration levels

Improves child-parent bonding

Reinforces the learning of educational concepts such as ABC's, animals, and other specific themes

Helps children remember words because there is muscle memory involved, and the more senses involved in learning, the greater memory retention the child will have

Improves attentiveness to social gestures of others as well as of themselves

Larger speaking vocabulary and ability to form longer sentences

Earlier reading and larger reading vocabulary

Better grades in school.

In addition, children who know ASL score 17% higher on standardized tests administered in the younger school years than children who do not know sign language. Bilingualism of any languages (whether signed or spoken) is a great booster for brains. It enriches and enhances children's cognitive processes, leading to higher abstract and creative thinking, better problem-solving skills, greater cognitive flexibility, better listening skills, greater academic achievement, and much more. It also promotes cultural awareness, literacy, and other intellectual benefits.

Another possible benefit of teaching a child to sign may be the facilitation of their attentiveness to social gestures of others as well as of themselves. It has been seen over the years that teaching sign language to children with autism and other developmental disabilities does not interfere with learning to talk. In fact, teaching sign language along with speech has proven to speed up the development of spoken communication abilities.

Parents of hearing children are discovering sign language is beneficial for children in a wide variety of situations. You can reinforce the signs your children learn at preschool by using them at home. The practice of teaching hearing children sign language will continue to gain popularity due to its many, many benefits.

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Benefits of Sign Language for Young Children

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American Sign Language (ASL) has been one of the primary means of communication for the deaf since the early 1800s after Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet helped to develop the language and then went on to establish a university for the deaf. Now, the practice of teaching hearing children sign language is gaining popularity nationwide.