Most People think of sign language as it relates to the deaf community. But, it can be taught to pre-verbal babies, with multiple benefits for baby and parent. This, of course, is the basis for our baby sign langauge system. Research also proves that sign language is often beneficial for children with a special need which effects their speech and or social development, such as down syndrome, apraxia or autism.

Signing and Special Needs

A child who learns sign language typically receives great auditory and visual stimulation. Thus, signing with a baby has a great academic impact on the child. This is especially important for those children with special needs. A child may have an impairment that affects his ability to make auditory and visual connections. Sign language can trigger that area of the brain linked to speech and language development, thus helping to expand the child’s vocabulary and enhancing speech development.

If a childs speech development is furthered, so are his social and emotional skills. Children with special needs can be moody and frustrated when communication becomes difficult. This frustration can surface in the form of depression and anger, or even tantrums and aggression. Teaching the child sign language can help break down communication barriers and thus alleviate much of the frustration associated with the same. By expanding his means of communication, the child will be more independent and have greater self esteem and behave in a more socially accepted manner.

Signing and Autism

Autism is a developmental disorder that often involves a delay and impairment in language and social skills and behavior. It is a spectrum disorder, meaning that no two diagnoses are the same, and they each vary in degree and severity. Some children will be able to talk, while some will have no speech whatsoever. Less severe diagnoses include Pervasive Development Disorder or Asperger’s Syndrome. These children often talk normally, but have many of the social problems associated with autism.

The use of sign language as a learning aid for children with special needs has grown consistently since the 1970’s. The primary reason to teach sign language to these children with autism, or similar disorders, is to give them an alternative means of communication. MultipleNumerous studies have shown that these children can learn signing as an effective means of communication. Furthermore, by using sign language, some otherwise mute children acquire speech. Thus, sign language can be a means to augment communication with the hope of full speech development.

There are multiple benefits to teaching sign language to an otherwise mute child. Even if he only acquires a few basic signs, this gives the child a means of expressing his needs in a normal and socially acceptable way. And by learning a conventional language, the child learns to take account of and, eventually, interact with others. Multiple case studies regarding sign language and autistic children demonstrate that, as social awareness increases, frustration and tantrums decrease once sign language is acquired. And, as the child acquires a language, he will acquire those cognitive skills for continued learning, and his disorder will be diminished.

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Filed under: Parenting

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