Should I use sign language with my babies?

Question

I am pregnant with twins. I have a progressive hereditary hearing loss, for which I have hearing aids that are helpful to me, I will however one day be deaf. I grew up in a home where we signed. My grandmother and older sister were both profoundly deaf. My sister unfortunately passed away in a car accident years ago, and other than my baby sister whom i have full custody of, we do not speak with my family. I am a french-Canadian and my fiancé is Scottish, so we want the twins to speak both English and french. I want them to learn to sign eventually, as it is part of my roots. I am worried that if I sign with the babies as well as speak, they won't develop the oral languages. Should I sign with my babies once they are born? Will this hinder their oral language development?

Thanks

Answer 1

I think signing right away will be a benefit to them. Every doctor and expert says to sign to little ones even if you are not deaf. It is supposed to give them a sense of being able to tell what they need and make them adapt easier to language later. I know that I learned some signing last year and it was so hard. They will thank you later for the leg up. Also I know you are worried about them lagging in the language part but if it was so bad then there would not be so many baby DVDs out to teach signing to babies. Good luck with the babies.

Answer 2

On the contrary, signing with your baby will not hinder their verbalization.

We signed with our first son and my only regret was that we didn't do it sooner.  Seriously.

Answer 3

I would sign and speak.  There are books & tapes of people who encourage signing for babies.  I do a little sign language with my daughter and we can all hear just fine.  They'll be able to understand long before than can speak.  So signing will give them a way to communicate before they have the ability to speak.  It won't hurt their ability to speak or make it delayed either.  I would keep it simple and consistent as you'll likely have your hands full a lot of the time.  But when they're not full, I'd sign as you talked as much as you are able or willing to do.  Best of luck.   And don't delay on the second language either.  :-)  

Answer 4

The research points in the opposite direction. Like being exposed to more than one spoken language in their first two years, it may slightly delay expressive spoken language, by age three they are likely to have a larger spoken vocabular and use more complex constructions, and they may read better in first grade!

And, of course, it may reduce their (and your) frustration during their toddler days.

Answer 5

There have been studies done that prove that children learn to understand and communicate much earlier with sign it's  a YES from me.

Answer 6

I would speak to them up to a year and throw in some sining.

By the time they reach 3 they might be pretty good at it.

Young children do not have full fine tuned control of there bodies yet.

A lot of people teach the child baby talk, then they have to learn to speak like an adult. Its not Wa Wa anymore its water.

I never did that I taught mine to speak like an adult from day one.

I even talked to her with my head on the belly before she was born. : )

Our Dr, said they can hear you.

Answer 7

Yes! It's a great way of getting them mentally and developmentally ready! We used it with the babies and toddlers at daycare and they loved it!

Answer 8

My husband's father has degenerative hearing loss.  He's probably about 90% deaf at this point.  His current wife is completely deaf and has been since birth.  My husband and his sister were never taught sign language and it would be very useful to them now. Communication is difficult with their father & step-mother.  You can imagine how conversation at Thanksgiving dinner goes.

Another anecdote, I lived across the street from a family that was comprised of a completly deaf mother & father and two kids that had no hearing impairment.  The kids could sign very well and could speak very well.  

My point being that learning sign language would probably be a great benefit to your kids in the future (when you are deaf).  And I do not think it would cause any long term problems with their verbal abilities.  Go ahead and teach them.  It's so much harder to learn a new "language" as an adult.

Answer 9

Signing has many benefits in the areas of language and socialisation, as does being multi-lingual. It will definately not disadvantage them - you will be able to communicate with them before they learn verbal speech, and most babies who learn signing also learn to verbalise earlier then usual.

The only problems that come with children being multi-lingual is that some parents try to teach their children the language used where they are living, which they may not know well themselves. It is therefore VERY important for parents to communicate with their children in whatever language they (the parents) are most comfortable with. It does not matter what language children learn first, as long as they become fluent in a language - others will follow later.