Does the use of baby sign delay speech development?

What's even scarier is that they aren't letting autistic kids learn sign, because they think that it will stop them learning to speak. My mom works for a bunch of auties as an occupational therapist, and their parents often don't want them to learn things like picture boards or Blissymbolics because they think it will stop them from learning to speak. As though speaking were so important!!

Effectively, they are denying all communication to the child... because atypical communication does not look "normal". I think there are a lot of autistic people who have things to say that nobody will ever hear, because of that kind of narrow-minded approach to communication.
 
I saw your thread.

The answer is NO. My 2 hearing kids ... they succeed so well. they have no problem w/ speech despite their first language is ASL! Believe me. The deaf parent can communicate with the child in sign language, but should allow the child to be exposed to the hearing world as well.

Sqrrl
 
Callista said:
What's even scarier is that they aren't letting autistic kids learn sign, because they think that it will stop them learning to speak. My mom works for a bunch of auties as an occupational therapist, and their parents often don't want them to learn things like picture boards or Blissymbolics because they think it will stop them from learning to speak. As though speaking were so important!!

Effectively, they are denying all communication to the child... because atypical communication does not look "normal". I think there are a lot of autistic people who have things to say that nobody will ever hear, because of that kind of narrow-minded approach to communication.
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You have made a very good point, as the communication needs of the deaf and the communication needs of the autistic have many parallels. Both encounter numerous obstacles with oral only communication, but are able to communicate quite effectively with alternative methods. To deny those alternative methods is to create a handicap out of a disability.
 
This thread is right up my alley. When I first started my ASL education business, this was all I did. I focused on parents with babies and toddler age kids and taught them signs that were REAL ASL. I saw many cases where people used English in conjunction with signs and had incredible results.

Shel, I was the same way when I was a kid. From what I am told, I did not start REALLY speaking until age 3 but that's because of what I was exposed to. If children are exposed many languages at a young age, they will have better language skills.

Also, I have worked with parents of DS children. This was so interesting because these parents were told by doctors that their children would be very limited with communication. After working with them, we proved the doctors wrong and the kids were able to communicate better with their parents and with teachers. I think children are visual learners which makes ASL such a great solution for communication.

I always tell people that teaching your child to sign should not be to replace their first language. It should be used as an ALTERNATIVE option for communication. I have seen many kids go back and forth with their speech and signing OR do both at the same time. My little sister is 2 and I see her do the same thing. My mom can't hear her but I can and it's so neat to watch.
 
I had twin girls (hearing) that were born 1 month premature. I taught them sign language as soon as I could. This resulted in less fustration on their part and mine. Both girls said their first word verbally at 6 months and very quickly picked up speech. They were used in studies done by our local University because they were beyond their peers verbally.

Unfortunately as soon as they learned speech they were no longer interested in sign. I should've encouraged them to stick with it but felt frustrated by hearing outsiders dumbing down sign language which only confused my daughters.

Background info.
My husband is hearing and I was born severe-profoundly deaf. My hearing parents taught me total communication (both sign and oral) Bless their hearts, they believed that I had every right to communicate with both worlds. But now I can honestly say I am mainly oral deaf. My sign language skills are awful especially after not using it for the last 12 years.
 
Ginette said:
I had twin girls (hearing) that were born 1 month premature. I taught them sign language as soon as I could. This resulted in less fustration on their part and mine. Both girls said their first word verbally at 6 months and very quickly picked up speech. They were used in studies done by our local University because they were beyond their peers verbally.

Unfortunately as soon as they learned speech they were no longer interested in sign. I should've encouraged them to stick with it but felt frustrated by hearing outsiders dumbing down sign language which only confused my daughters.

Background info.
My husband is hearing and I was born severe-profoundly deaf. My hearing parents taught me total communication (both sign and oral) Bless their hearts, they believed that I had every right to communicate with both worlds. But now I can honestly say I am mainly oral deaf. My sign language skills are awful especially after not using it for the last 12 years.
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Good for you for exposing your babies to sign from birth! Just wanted to add that many people assume that because a child stops using sign expressively that they are no longer using it receptively, either. That isn't always true, expecially in the case of deaf children. While they may have sufficient oral skills to make themselves understood orally, they may still need it to understand language receptively.
 
Teaching babies to signs and speech for both is great! Which I agree on that. But to some deaf that I know have kids don't speak at all, some do have speech delay. So there a different. It important to use "Both" signs and speech for good developments for a hearing child. Deaf child don't need speech so they use signs. I have seen some deaf who can t use speech to hearing kids and their child delay speech so it always good to use both.
 
Good Point. I agree with you. That's why I want to teach my baby to learn sign language. I don't speak. My fiance will teach my baby how to speak and sign language in same time. My deaf friends who don't use speech and have hearing children. It will cause delay speech development. Some hearing children like to speak than sign languages. It depend on deaf parents are.

GarnetTigerMom said:
Teaching babies to signs and speech for both is great! Which I agree on that. But to some deaf that I know have kids don't speak at all, some do have speech delay. So there a different. It important to use "Both" signs and speech for good developments for a hearing child. Deaf child don't need speech so they use signs. I have seen some deaf who can t use speech to hearing kids and their child delay speech so it always good to use both.
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Pinky678 said:
Good Point. I agree with you. That's why I want to teach my baby to learn sign language. I don't speak. My fiance will teach my baby how to speak and sign language in same time. My deaf friends who don't use speech and have hearing children. It will cause delay speech development. Some hearing children like to speak than sign languages. It depend on deaf parents are.
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yep , I agree with you. No doubt about it! :cool2: :)
 
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