Baby sign language

Baby sign language (also baby sign, baby hand signs called; . Scientific Baby Signing ) are gestures through which the nonverbal communication of infants and young children with their parents and other caregivers should be improved.

Concept

Since verbal communication only begins around the age of 12 months and only with time is suitable to express complex content, baby gestures are intended to previous communications or supplementing the notice possibilities of an infant.

Baby sign language is a sign language gestures. Partial gestures are simplified or shortened or taken a different sign language in order to achieve a better discrimination of similar baby sign language or to adapt the gestures of the dexterity of babies. Baby sign language should be introduced already at about seven months.

Baby sign language be taught by being shown in emotionally salient situations parallel to the spoken word. After a certain time the baby or toddler using the baby sign language. A well-known Baby gesture is the Wave, which is taught to young children for goodbye.

Postulated effects

Babies and toddlers have a desire to express their wishes and needs. The hand -eye coordination develops much earlier than the oral motor skills, the ability to express themselves verbally. Babies and small children can use baby sign language and use them for words like " more ", " ball ", " milk ", " apple ", therefore due to the previously developed fine motor skills of the hands. So they get the opportunity with baby sign language to communicate non-verbally.

Baby should therefore sign the baby or the not yet or bad speaking toddler help to express what it wants to see, thinks or feels. This is to assist parents and caregivers to understand the child, and thus contributes to the promotion of parent-child relationship. But are intended to give a sense of security and baby sign language to the child, as it is better understood. To baby sign language therefore alleviate the terrible twos. Proponents of baby sign observed as a side effect to some extent a slightly earlier concept formation and language development as well as an easier start in the reading and writing skills development.

Science

In an article published in 2008 article in the British Psychological Society Gewyneth Doherty - Sneddon has considered the theoretical basis for the growth of this phenomenon and some of the claims of the proponents in detail. Mechthild Kiegelmann has in her in 2009 "The sign - Journal of Language and Culture of the Deaf " issued an assessment from a developmental perspective, published post.

Doherty - Sneddon and Kiegelmann point out that the promotion of children with sign language is not entirely new. Variants were of therapists for speech and language disorders for decades with children who have speech and / or cognitive impairments, are used (ie Clibbens et al., 2002). It is generally accepted that communication - whether cognitive, social, emotional or acting - in the center of the development of the child (eg, Vygotsky, 1978).

A systematic review of the University of Ottawa analyzed 17 studies that were conducted for Baby Signing 1980-2003. Here, there were massive methodological flaws, so no study scientifically based statement or a proof of benefit allowed and the results have been previously determined by the study design.