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Baby talk

1 Sep 2004

Every parent can find it frustrating when their baby cries and they can't quite work out why. Of course, a little parental instinct, common sense and a lot of luck has gone a long way for countless years, but now eager mums, dads and carers are queuing in their thousands for classes in the newly popular means of communication: baby signing.

The technique, originally explored by American child development researcher Joseph Garcia, enables hearing children as young as six months to use simple symbols and gestures to communicate their basic needs and emotions with their parents. If your baby wants his teddy, needs to go to bed or simply feels like telling you he's seen a bird in the sky, there are simple signs with which he can now communicate it to you.

Whether you think it's a fad, a bit of fun or an essential development tool, it looks like baby signing is here to stay, with classes springing up all over the UK and even dictionaries of key signs on sale. Advocates of the system sing signing's benefits, claiming it reduces babies' frustration, strengthens the bond between child and parent and encourages a child to speak earlier than usual. Some even claim that signing leads to a higher than average literacy level and a wider vocabulary.

Musician Sasha Felix created Sing and Sign (www.singandsign.com) after teaching her own daughter basic signing symbols and music with great success. She consulted speech and language therapists and soon her Brighton-based classes were a runaway success. Now new Sing and Sign groups have started up all over the country. Sasha believes that baby signing encourages the development of your baby's speech, and bridges the gap between your baby's first understanding of the meaning of words and gestures, and actual speech.

"The big thing that we push is that it's natural and it's a typical part of speech and language development anyway," she said. "The whole point is that babies already use gestures, and we just expand the range of gestures that they use. They already wave goodbye and raise their arms when they want to be picked up.

"The amazing thing has been how easily the babies have picked the signs up. They are even able to remind their parents of things that happened yesterday."

Liz Attenborough is the manager of the Talk to Your Baby campaign for the National Literacy Trust, an independent charity dedicated to building a literate nation. The Talk to Your Baby campaign aims to encourage parents to talk to their children from birth, to help them become good communicators and enjoy happier and more successful lives.

On baby signing, Liz commented: "In small doses, this seems like another example of good communication. We are looking for any form of communication between babies and their carers and if this improves the process then it's a positive thing."

But, of course, not everyone thinks baby signing is necessary. The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) is concerned that some parents will worry unnecessarily that they are unable to take their child along to classes.

"A structured signing 'programme' is not necessary to enhance the communication development of typically developing children," a spokesman said. "The College is concerned that the use of signing does not replace/take priority over the need for parents to talk to their children."

However, baby signing, this relatively new phenomenon, appears to be having a positive effect on the relationship between carer and child, encouraging them to spend that all-important time together. Your baby may not be able to speak, but he can certainly communicate. It's not something which is essential for all, but, if you are interested in sharing more with your child, understanding his needs and perhaps giving him a head start on speech, then it may be worth seeing if baby signing is for you.

Emma Scott, mother of 17-month-old Tabitha, who joined the classes earlier this year, agrees that signing has had a positive effect on her daughter's development.

"So many friends have said this was a frustrating time for them, but we have a very calm baby," she said. "We're quite passionate about it because it's been so wonderfully rewarding to have our daughter communicate back to us."

(Taken from babyzeen.co.uk; written by Jennifer Bradly)

Tags: Talk To Your Baby