Is it a problem that my son would rather sign than speak?

Danica - posted on 12/04/2009

Hey it is so normal, our signing teacher told us that her daughter preferred to talk, so at 15 months stopped signing and would only talk. But her son is 22 months now and still only signing. She said that they will do what is easiest for them, if talking is easier then they will continue, if signing is easier they will sign, but it doesn' t mean they won't talk, it may just be later, but again it should not be much of an issue!
Signing is so fun isn't it, I just love it!

Maci - posted on 11/03/2009

Thank you both, Cherie and Janette! That's really encouraging. Sorry it took so long to get back to check this, though. I can't thank you enough for the support it means a lot to me. It's nice to know that there is always someone near by(online) for support. I wish you both well!





About two weeks after posting this I went to a pre-school for the deaf and blind and they are going to allow my son to start next year(he'll only be 20 months old but with knowing everyone there they mutually agreed he could begin early) to help him with his signing as well as him helping others, they are considering him a KODA(I'm sure you know what that means but in case you do not it's the acronym for Kid's of Deaf Adults) even though his father and myself are both hearing. I can't wait for him to start the school is very close to my heart because of our cousin.

Janette - posted on 10/21/2009

Hello. My husband and I have worked with the Deaf for 15 years, my husband being the one who has worked with them longer. We were interpreters for the Deaf and now live in a Russian speaking country. Signing with your child and then noticing a set back seems perfectly normal to me. I have watched my Deaf friends children sign and learn to talk simultaneously. Any progress is praiseworthy. Don't worry about stats. Just do what you can with your child and watch them grow. My husband and I are teaching our child ASL, English, spoken Russian and Russian sign. He will get it and is. He signs milk right now but will soon pick up more signs as we go on. Keep plugging away. Don't give up. Janette

Cherie - posted on 10/20/2009

Quoting Maci:

Thank you so much, Maria. I thought this may be normal but personally I have never met anyone that has signed with their hearing child, my Aunt has a deaf little girl and she signed at a young age, but she didn't vocalize much at some stages. I was just concerned this may not be normal for a hearing child. I stay quite consistent with Mayson, I typically sign everything I say to him because I would like him to be able to communicate with our cousin. Most sign instructors I speak to tell me not to sign everything to him, that it is too much for him to absorb. May I ask what your opinion on that is? As for what you said about milestones he has started crawling some, so I could assume that is why he has stopped speaking(Babbling) as much. Again, Thank you!

Hi Maci!

I am a hearing parent of a hearing toddler, and my fiance is Deaf.

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with signing everything to your baby, whether or not it's "too much for him to absorb". That would be like saying it's pointless to speak in full sentences to your infant, as it's "too much for them to absorb." Sure, at first they may not understand, but with time and repetition, they will! That's how our children learn. : )

I think it's wonderful that you're teaching your child to sign, particularly since he has a Deaf cousin. I wish I'd been lucky enough to grow up in an ASL rich environment. I started learning when I was in high school, and feel that the language and culture have enriched my life exponentially.

Aside from what Maria has already stated, I thought I'd quote a bit from a website that should hopefully put to rest any remaining anxieties you may have:

"...by 18 months of age, an average signing child will have learned 94 signs and 105 spoken words.  By contrast, an average non-signing child knows 10 to 50 spoken words.  As noted by Dr. Anthony, "Having worked directly with literally thousands of children, and having carefully studied the language development of hundreds of them for our research, I can say with confidence that signing is not in any way associated with delayed speaking". 

The facts are in. Teaching a baby to sign is both physically and congnitively stimulating for the baby.  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)".  

In Dancing with Words, Marilyn Daniels states that "Students who receive sign instruction test significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than students in classes not receiving sign instruction. Their superior scores indicate that simultaneously presenting words visually, kinesthetically, and orally enhances a child’s language development". 

Finally, signing babies typically become smarter adults.  This may be in large part to such babies' overall environment.  Nonetheless, the research of Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn, founders of Baby Signs, Inc., shows that signing babies scored higher on standardized language tests than babies who did not sign, and an average of 12 points higher on intelligence tests at 8 years of age. The fact is, teaching baby sign language is good for baby’s brain and overall development!"  

http://www.yourtalkingbaby.com/index.php...

Maci - posted on 10/07/2009

Thank you so much, Maria. I thought this may be normal but personally I have never met anyone that has signed with their hearing child, my Aunt has a deaf little girl and she signed at a young age, but she didn't vocalize much at some stages. I was just concerned this may not be normal for a hearing child. I stay quite consistent with Mayson, I typically sign everything I say to him because I would like him to be able to communicate with our cousin. Most sign instructors I speak to tell me not to sign everything to him, that it is too much for him to absorb. May I ask what your opinion on that is? As for what you said about milestones he has started crawling some, so I could assume that is why he has stopped speaking(Babbling) as much. Again, Thank you!

Maria - posted on 10/07/2009

I personally wouldn't worry about this. Around this age there are many big milestones being worked on, including now his signing skills, and it isn't uncommon to see children slow or stop all together a skill while they focus their development on newer skills. For example, my daughter right around the 1 year mark stopped signing (she had about 8-10 signs). I was feeling a little perplexed by this, but then right on her birthday she started walking and then a few weeks later resumed signing and was then picking up signs so fast I lost track of how many she was using. As an baby sign instructor, one of the things I coach parents on is how to make sure you stay consistent with their use of sign language to support spoken language. Doing both will support and encourage language use as the child is developmentally able. And rest assured that the research into baby signing has always supported language development.



So, it is my guess is that you are about to see a new milestone, but do follow your gut and trust your maternal instinct...if you feel that something doesn't feel right talk with your doctor.