Baby Sign

I was searching the internet recently and came across something called "Baby Sign." I read a little about this topic and became fascinated. Babies are able to physically communicate as young as six to eight months old. This is a long time before a baby is able to speak or begin to express what they want and need through words. It is also said that babies that learn how to sign to express themselves will have an easier time later on in life when it comes to expressing themselves. I thought this was really interesting because when you think of babies, you don't immediately view them as thinking human beings that are aware of their surroundings, wants, and needs. Yes, babies cry when they are hungry or have a dirty diaper, but do they really know why they are crying, or are they just uncomfortable? Well Baby Sign suggests that babies are completely aware of what is going on and that teaching them signs like "no," "eat," "all gone," "drink," "bye-bye," etc., will help them communicate with others exactly what they need.

I also found it interesting to see that baby sign is a fad today. It is growing more and more popular and is helping parents everyday understand their babies better. I was surprised to find out that the concept of baby sign has made it as far as to be on shows as large as Oprah, NBC, ABC, Dateline, etc. I found a website with some clips of babies signing. The url for this site is http://video.yahoo.com/video/search?p=baby+sign+language. Some of the videos are short and don't get into detail but there are one or two that are really interesting to watch. Some other interesting sites to check out are http://www.ksby.com/home/headlines/4636341.html and http://oprahselects.com/oprah-winfrey-show/baby-signing-how-to-talk-with-your-baby-in-american-sign-language/. These two sites deal with the story that was used for the Oprah show and a book that is now being sold that explains baby sign to parents.

I realize that this doesn't directly deal with deaf people because the babies that are learning this are not necessarily deaf. However, it is an interesting aspect of sign language. I've actually seen baby sign up close before and never realized what the parents were doing with the baby until i researched it. I was a lifeguard for years and during the open swim programs, parents would often wait on the side of the pool while their children swam. One time, a woman had a baby with her that looked to be a little less than a year old. I was sitting near them and I heard her ask her husband to hold the baby because she had just done the "sign for eat." I did not think anything of it but i turned around once and saw the baby gesture towards its mouth. To think back on that now is really fascinating. You do not realize how much sign language can be used for until you research it.