Thank you for your baby sign language seminar. It was the kick we needed to get started with sign language with our 6 month old. It was significantly easier to start than I expected – the signs we hoped to teach our kiddo were all fairly intuitive.
Now, at 15 months, our daughter has a few spoken words. She can say, “mama,” “dada,” and a small handful syllable-combinations that we identify as the names of her sisters, banana, “buh” for ball, “puh” for puppy, “mnnnn” for moon, etc. But there aren’t many.
Because of sign language, her operating vocabulary is much larger. She can get excited about something outside, and we will know if it’s birds, or rain, or wind. She can sign “sister,” “puppy,” and “kitty.” We likely wouldn’t have identified her sounds for her sisters without help from the sign at the same time (or at least not nearly as quickly). She tell us that she wants to read a book, and she expresses her excitement over hats, and bears, and elephants she sees there.
Best of all, she can share more abstract thoughts. She can tell us when she’s hot or cold. She points to the oven and signs “hot” and knows to back away. She can tell us if she’s hungry, or if she wants milk. One of the best, she can tell us that something hurts, and she can show us where.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the sign language encourages her use of her hands to communicate in general, too. She often points to one of us, then pats where she wants us to go (which usually has an implied action, going outside, playing with blocks, etc). Or she’ll pat herself, and point at something else, for something she wants to do. She understands very well that she can communicate with her hands.
Thank you, for the gift of communication with my daughter. I feel privileged to have this language with her in this time while I wait for her spoken words to catch up. –Sonja