About
What is Baby Sign?
Baby signing is a fantastic way to help your baby to communicate
before they can talk. Babies have an amazing capacity for
learning; they can understand speech and can follow simple
directions before they are ready to speak themselves. Babies
often get very frustrated when they can’t make themselves
understood - and it’s frustrating for parents and care-givers
too!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have something that could
help ease this difficult stage?
Tiny Tots sign could be your answer!
Between the ages of about 9-18 months babies use a combination
of sounds and gestures in an attempt to make themselves understood.
Baby might point or wave hello and bye-bye or shake his/her
head for yes and no. They also love action songs such as Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star; so signing is merely an extension of
this. By introducing extra signs at this stage, a baby’s
communication skills will develop.
How did Tiny Tots Sign develop?
When our son Callum was 6 months old, his dad took him to
baby sign language classes in London. We had decided early
on that we would teach him baby sign, as we knew many friends
who had and who raved about the benefits. I had been teaching
for 8 years in a school with deaf children and had gained
a British Sign Language (BSL) Qualification Level 2, so my
husband was eager to learn too! We were always consistent
when using signs with Callum and were delighted when at 9
months he used his first sign - “milk”. Being
a busy Mum I had neglected to notice that his milk time had
passed and Callum was getting more upset - his sign for milk
made me realise instantly what the problem was! Since then
he has used more and more signs and loves using signs for
animals. He would let me know when he was tired or hungry
or wanted more food! Now he is 2 ½ and a very competent
talker but he still uses some of his favourite signs –
and he loves to sign with his baby brother!
I wanted to start my own Tiny Tots Sign classes in Townsville,
QLD, so that I could share my experiences with others and
to be able to help other families during this often-difficult
time. As my training is in BSL, I have taken a course in Auslan
(Australian Sign) to make sure my Aussie signs are correct!
With my love for signing and for babies and children, Tiny
Tots Sign is a passion!
All about the teacher
Ali Cavanagh gained a Bachelor of Education Degree (Honours)
from Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland in 1996. Since
then she has taught in Glasgow, Sydney and London.
• 8 years signing experience
• 10 years experience as early childhood teacher (3-5
year olds)
• 5 years as Head of an Early Years Unit
What signs are used?
The signs are based on Auslan (the sign language used by the
Australian Deaf community). Some signs are simplified for
tiny hands- milk for example.
Only key words are signed in each song; as babies learn single
words first, before putting them together in a sentence. Therefore
when teaching baby sign, the focus is on single words and
signs. It is important to use the signs with speech.
What experts say
In the book, "Dancing With Words, Signing for Hearing
Children's Literacy", Professor Daniels writes: "
Sign language instruction, with its requisite visual component
creates an increase in brain activity by engaging the visual
cortex and presenting an additional language to the young
learner. The heightened cerebral action occurs in both the
right and left hemispheres of the brain. This increase in
language activity stimulates the development of the brain
by stimulating the formation of more synapses, or connections
among brain cells. (To read more about Dr. Daniels' work visit
www.marilyndaniels.com)
It has been a said that the use of baby sign language may
increase IQ. A study spanning more than eight years, conducted
by Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn (funded by the
National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development)
found that hearing children, who had signed as babies, had
a mean IQ of 114 compared to 102 for non-signers.
Joseph Garcia noticed the potential for baby signing. His
research at Alaska University (1987) found that hearing babies
of deaf parents were able to communicate more easily and far
earlier than similar babies of hearing parents.
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)".
Reference
Daniels Dr Marilyn - Dancing with Words Signing for Hearing
Childrens' Literacy: in Westport CT Publication (2001)
Acredolo LP & Goodwyn SW - The long term impact of symbolic
gesturing during infancy on IQ at age 8: in paper presented
at the meetings of the International Society for Infant Studies
(Brighton UK July 2000)
Garcia Dr Joseph - Joseph Garcia's Complete Guide to Baby
Signing: in Babysigners London (2005)
Dyer, Laura - Look Who’s Talking. Minnetonka, MN: in
Meadowbrook Press. (2003)
Further Reading
Baveier D & Corina DP & Nevilie HJ - Brain &
Language a perspective from sign language: in Neuron Vol 21
pp 275-278 (Cell Press August 1998)
Hafer J - Signing for Reading Success: Washington DC Clerc
Books Gallaudet University Press (1986)
Kokelte S - Hearing Students, Sign Language & Music:
A valuable Combination (1995)
Standley J - The Power of Contingent Music for Infant Hearing:
The Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education
(Spring 2001)
Smith, Cath, Signs Make Sense (Souvenir Press, London 1990)
Ward, Dr Sally, Baby Talk (Arrow Books, London 2004)
B. Moore, L.P. Acredolo & S.W. Goodwyn, ‘Symbolic
gesturing and joint attention: Partners in facilitating verbal
development’
L. Koehler and L. Loyd, ‘Using Finger Spelling/Manual
Signs to Facilitate Reading and Spelling’ Biennial Conference
of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative
Communication (4 th Cardiff Wales, September 1986)
R. Wilson, J. Teague, and M. Teague, ‘The Use of Signing
and Fingerspelling to Improve Spelling Performance with Hearing
Children’ in Reading Psychology, 4, pp. 267-273 (1985)
Apraxia of Speech
S. Gretz, ‘Using Sign Language with Children Who Have
Apraxia of Speech’ www.apraxia-kids.org/topics/sign.html.
Autism
Stephen M. Edelson, PhD Centre for the Study of Autism, Salem,
Oregon
Dr Edelson’s articles is available online at www.autism.org/sign.html
Down Syndrome
J.F. Miller, A. Sedey, G. Miolo, M. Rosin, J. Murray-Branch
‘Vocabulary acquisition in young children with Down
Syndrome: Speech and sign’ in Paper presented at the
9 th World Congress of the International Association for the
Scientific Study of Mental Deficiency (Queensland, Australia,
August 1992)
E.D. Gibbs, A.S. Springer, S.C. Cooley & S. Aloisio ‘Early
use of total communication: Patterns across eleven children
with Down Syndrome’ in Paper presented at the meeting
of the International Early Childhood Conference on Children
with Special Needs (St. Louis, MO, November 1991)
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