The Baby Signing Book: Includes 350 ASL Signs for Babies and Toddlers

Preface

Like many parents who sign with their baby, my initial motivation for teaching my son American Sign Language (ASL) vocabulary was to give him a way to express his wants and needs before he was able to speak. Joshua started signing at 9 months of age, and by the time he was 18 months old, he could use at least 80 words, a combination of spoken words and signs. He was able to communicate his needs and wants. He could request a cookie by signing COOKIE. He could ask for more fruit cocktail by signing FRUIT. He could even ask to have the family minivan cooled down in the middle of a heat wave by pointing to the dashboard and signing COLD WIND -- a better phrase, really, than air conditioner! Joshua's ability to make clear requests using signs delighted my husband and me.

What truly impressed us, though, was Joshua's ability to comment on his world and share his experiences with us. I have a clear memory of one cloudy, chilly, windy, miserable spring day when I took Joshua for a walk and he was able to sign about the weather. We were walking along the streets in a new housing development -- no houses up, but the streets were paved with nothing to block the wind. It was cold! I just wanted to get our walk over with and go home. What brought me back to the moment was when Joshua pulled on my jacket and signed WIND. A few seconds later, he signed CLOUD. He was marveling at the weather -- not simply making a request, but sharing a moment with me. I could tell from his face that it was a remarkable experience for him as well.

I am often asked why I started signing with my children. Before having children, I worked with the Toronto Preschool Speech andLanguage Services. Alongside speech-language pathologists and other professionals, I worked with children with Down syndrome, autism, and other developmental delays. These children had difficulty communicating, and we used sign language and pictures to help facilitate their language development. Our therapy included helping parents learn to use sign language and pictures with their children.

Because of my work, I knew the benefits of using ASL with children who are non-verbal or beginning communicators. Together, we learned to sign songs and nursery rhymes. After years of working with this population, I could not sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Row, Row Your Boat" without signing them.

Because of my work experience, I knew I wanted to sign with my own children. I recognized that if they had an alternative way to communicate before speech developed, I would know what they were thinking, they would present fewer challenging behaviors, and we would just plain have fun. When my son signed FISH at 9 months, I was thrilled. My husband laughed at me and said, "Sara, why are you so excited? You've been teaching others to do this for years!" Quite simply, it is thrilling to see your own children communicate clearly at such an early age.

I am still amazed at what my children have been able to share with us and continue to share with us. At home, we still sign (including fingerspelling) and continue to learn more signs and more ways to use them. Because of this, on a cold January afternoon, I was able to knock on my patio window and sign, NO, STOP! SHOVEL DOWN to my children as they were trying to bury our dog in the snow.

Baby Signing History

We are not the only family to enjoy the pleasures of signing, and Joshua and Sabrina are not the only hearing children to profit from learning how to sign. In the 2004 movie Meet the Fokkers, Ben Stiller's character comments, "Oh yeah, I've heard about this baby signing stuff. This is like cutting edge." Yes, this movie played a part in bringing baby sign language to the public's attention, but the idea of using sign language with hearing children has been around for quite some time. As early as 1867, the American linguist William Dwight Whitney looked at the positive communication abilities of hearing children born to Deaf adults. Interest was revived a century later by a number of researchers, principally Joseph Garcia, an ASL interpreter in Alaska.

Garcia noted that babies born to Deaf members of his community were able to use signs to communicate earlier than babies born to hearing families started to speak, and he began researching what happened when sign language was taught to hearing babies. Garcia's research showed that babies who were exposed to sign language could make signs 5 to 6 months earlier than they could produce spoken words. These results led Garcia to write what would become a landmark resource on the topic of baby sign language, Toddler Talk, which was reprinted in 1999 as Sign with Your Baby. Shortly thereafter, the idea of signing to babies captured the public's imagination.

WeeHands

I first started researching sign language and communication development while studying linguistics at the University of Ottawa and psychology at Carleton University. Later, when I was working with young children with special needs and teaching sign language to their parents, I came across Joseph Garcia's work on baby signing and language development. When my son was born, it made sense for me to sign with him. But Garcia's research also inspired me to teach other families.

WeeHands, a workshop in baby signing, was born in 2001 in my empty dining room. WeeHands has grown to become a complete baby signing program that teaches parents how to use ASL vocabulary with their babies. WeeHands classes focus on language development, providing parents with practical, well-researched strategies to help them teach their babies ASL vocabulary. This work is the foundation of The Baby Signing Book.

How to Use This Book

Your baby is growing and learning about the world from the day he is born. Over the next months and years, you can use this book to guide your family through the world of signing with your baby. You will be shown what, how, where, and when to sign throughout your baby's day -during mealtime, playtime, diaper changing time, and a host of other times. Throughout the book, words that are signed are placed in small capital letters.

Part 1 provides an introduction to signing with babies and young children. The first chapter contains a quick guide to signing the basic knowledge, skills, and strategies you need to get started. Chapter 2 reviews the research that has been conducted on signing, focusing on its immediate and long-term benefits for your child's language and learning development. The remaining chapters in Part 1 are age-specific guides to signing with your baby and toddler, from birth to age 3 and beyond.

Part 2 is a dictionary of more than 350 ASL signs. One of the basics of teaching language skills is to discover what motivates a child and then let him lead the way. Keep this in mind while reading Part 1, and refer to the dictionary in Part 2 to find signs for things and activities your child likes.

Part 3 provides some favorite songs and rhymes you can sign with your child. Don't worry about whether you sound good when you sing. Don't worry if you make mistakes while signing. Have fun signing and singing, and your child will too.

At the back of the book you will find a resource list of other books, videos, and websites that can help you learn additional ASL signs. Keep in mind that the main goal of teaching ASL vocabulary to young children is not to help them become fluent in ASL, although that may be something your family will aim for in the future. The goals are to be able to communicate with your children before they can speak, to reduce their frustration, and to have fun.

Getting Started

Start with a few basic signs, such as EAT, MILK, and MORE, then add new signs when you and your baby are ready. You can sign any number of signs to your baby or toddler, just as we speak an enormous number of words to them. Incorporate signs into your daily routines while playing, singing, and reading. Provide a language-rich environment for your child through signs and speech. Your child will be able to both hear and see what you are communicating.

Your child has been communicating with you from the day he was born, through his smiles, coos, and cries. By signing, you are connecting with him in a special way. Yes, there are benefits to using ASL with babies and toddlers in terms of improved language development, increased vocabularies, and higher intelligence quotients (IQs). But most important, as can be seen in the stories parents have shared with us (see the boxes called "Notes from a Signing Parent" throughout this book), signing with your child lets you into his world from infancy onward.

You'll be amazed at how quickly the years fly by. Put as much emphasis as you can in these early years on playing, signing, and reading; you will create wonderful memories will last your family a lifetime.