Transcript Signing with Babies for Communication & Relationship Support

SIGNING WITH BABIES FOR
COMMUNICATION & RELATIONSHIP
SUPPORT
Lisa Keller, M.A. CCC/SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist, Early On Kent ISD & Lowell Area Schools
Independent Certified Instructor for Baby Signs® Programs
OBJECTIVES
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WHAT is signing with babies?
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WHY sign with babies?
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HOW do you sign with babies?
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WHEN do you start?
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WHERE do you sign with babies?
WHAT IS SIGNING WITH BABIES??
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The use of simple signs to
communicate
“…Provides a means of
communicating when the
spoken modality is not fully
developed.” JSLHR, Vol. 47,
173-186- Feb. 2004
“Giving babies a way to
communicate before they can
talk.” Baby Signs® Institute
“Provides babies with signs to
express needs, thoughts and
feelings.” Baby Signs®
Institute
WHY SIGN WITH BABIES?
THE BABY SIGNS® PROGRAM SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH
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Long-term study funded by National Institutes of
Health
Participants: 140+ families beginning when
their babies were 11 months
Signing and non-signing group
 Same in sex, birthorder, tendency to vocalize or
verbalize words, parent’s education level & income
levels
 Assessment
 Standardized language measures at 11, 15, 19, 24, 30
& 36 months
 At age 8 years, WISC-III IQ test
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THE BABY SIGNS® SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
CONT’D.
Results

24 month-olds signers were talking more like 27 or 28
month-olds
 Putting together significantly longer sentences
 36 month-old signers on average were talking like 47
month-olds
 Eight year-old signers scored an average of 12 points higher
in IQ testing
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Conclusion
 The Baby Signs® program helps children develop both
language and cognitive skills
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THE BABY SIGNS® PROGRAM PROVEN
BENEFITS
Reduces frustration and builds trust
 Allows babies to share their worlds
 Strengthens the parent/infant bond
 Reveals how smart babies really are
 Promotes positive emotional development
 Boosts babies’ self-confidence
 Helps babies learn to talk
 Jumpstarts intellectual development
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DR. ELIZABETH BATES, DIRECTOR
CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO
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“It has to do with how easily
one can imitate and reproduce
something with a great big fat
hand as opposed to the mini,
hundreds of delicate muscles
that control the tongue.”
“You can also see somebody
using a hand, which you can’t
do with the tongue.”
The New York Times article,
Before Babies Talk, Signs and
Signals, January 6, 2004.
MORE QUOTES FROM DR. ELIZABETH
BATES…
“It is well established that the more you talk to
babies- and you gesture naturally as you do thatthe higher their vocabularies.”
 “Something that can increase your child’s
vocabulary will increase IQ.”
 “Research shows huge individual differences in
how much adults communicate with children.”
 “… show significant effects probably because a
subset of the parents were not communicating
with their kids as much as they start to when
they enter these programs.”
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WILL SIGNING HINDER THE DEVELOPMENT
OF LANGUAGE?
NO! It helps!
“… gestures enhance rather than hinder language
development” JSLHR, Vol 47, 173-186 Feb 2004
 Studies have shown signing to be useful for
children with Down Syndrome and Autism
 For a bilingual child, “signs help to smooth the
road to understanding and speaking both
languages” Baby Signs® Institute
 (milk) sign=object (milk)=“leche”=“milk”
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WILL SIGNING HINDER LANGUAGE
DEVELOPMENT? CONTINUED…
For late talking toddlers who have good
prognostic indicators as well as toddlers with
pervasive developmental delays and other
language impairments
 Including children with SLI, DS and autism
 Gestures can be used to compensate for spoken
language
 Clinicians may need to train the adults in a
child’s environment to exploit alternative
modalities such as gestures
 JSLHR, Vol 47, 173-186 Feb 2004
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SIGNING AND ATTACHMENT
SUPPORTING THE RELATIONSHIP
BABY SIGNS® INSTITUTE
FORGING BONDS OF LOVE AND AFFECTION THAT CAN LAST A
LIFETIME…
A secure emotional bond with loving parents
during infancy lays the foundation for future
emotional development
 “secure” vs. “insecure” attachment depends on
sensitivity and responsiveness on the part of the
parent; their ability to “read” their baby well and
respond in a timely fashion
 Children fall in love with those who meet their
physical needs, comfort them, protect them,
make them feel loved, understood and respected.
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CONT’D…
Signing helps parents to “read” their baby well
and respond appropriately
 Parents pay closer attention to their child as they
look for them to sign
 There’s really somebody home in there!
 Babies can share their world with their parents
increasing the joy that each takes in the other’s
company
 Successful communication and family
interactions can build the child’s self-esteem
as well as language abilities, JSLHR, Vol 47,
173-186
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3. WHEN DO YOU START?
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BABY SIGNS® INSTITUTE
THREE APPROACHES…
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Birth- 8 months
be patient & persistent
“lag”
8-12 months
see more immediate results
12+ months
babies are likely to sign more quickly
babies may use their signs for a shorter period of time
Any baby or toddler who shows readiness to communicate,
but cannot do so effectively with words, is a candidate for
signing, and, as a parent, you should not feel that it’s too
early or too late to start.
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BABY SIGNS®
DEVELOPMENTAL READINESS
Is your baby beginning to point to things?
 Is your baby bringing toys or objects to you &
looking for a response?
 Is your baby beginning to wave “bye-bye?”
 Is your baby beginning to shake his/her head for
“no” or “yes?”
 Is your baby beginning to take an interest in
picture books?
 Even though your baby knows some words, are
there still important things your baby would like
to talk about but can’t?
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DEVELOPMENTAL READINESS
+ INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES!
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How often you demonstrate the signs you want to
teach
How interested your baby is in communication
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4. HOW DO YOU SIGN WITH BABIES?
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JUST LIKE TEACHING BYE-BYE !
EYES
 HANDS
 VOICE
 FACE
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STEPS TO SUCCESS
Start with just a few
signs, no more than
five.
 SAY the word and the
sign together
 REPEAT the sign and
the word often
 LOOK at baby when
you sign; make sure
baby is looking at you
 HELP baby make the
sign
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HOW TO CHOOSE SIGNS
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Individualized Plan- choose 5 with parents
Match to the child’s interests
 objects, actions and describing words
 words your baby cannot say yet
 words your child does not say clearly
 help in dangerous situations
 Prevent frustration
 Frequently-used words
 Some babies make up their own! Go with it!
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SUGGESTED STARTER SIGNS, BABY
SIGNS® PROGRAM
Animals:
 People:
 Things:
 Mealtime:
 Manners:
 Safety:
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dog, cat, turtle, bunny
mommy, daddy
hat, ball
more, eat, drink, all done
please, thank you
hot, hurt
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WHEN TO TEACH SIGNS
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During daily routines!
Mealtime, bedtime, bathtime, at the park, pets,
getting dressed, etc.
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Reading books
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Singing songs
SIGNING AT HOME
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www.babysigns.com
www.aslpro.com
Books
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I Love You Mommy! (A Little Golden Book)
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Dog, cat, ball (lots of repetition makes this book a good choice!)
Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown)
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Mommy, daddy, eat, more, hat, ball, hot, hurt
Biscuit’s new Trick (Alyssa Satin Capucille)
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Mommy, cat, dog, ball, hat, eat, hot, more
Out and About (A DK “Baby’s World” Book)
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www.signingtimes.com
www.signingsavvy.com
Rabbit, mouse, moon, stars, sleep, hush, mittens, kittens, eat,
brush
Brown Bear, Brown Bear (Bill Martin, Jr.)
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Bear, bird, duck, horse, frog, cat, dog, sheep, fish, children
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REFERENCES
1. Baby Signs How to Talk with Your Baby
Before Your Baby Can Talk, Linda Acredolo, PhD
and Susan Goodwyn, PhD
 2. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing
Research (JSLHR), Vol 47, 173-186 Feb 2004
 3. The Baby Signs® Program: A Helpful Tool
in Bilingual Settings, article by Linda
Acredolo, PhD and Susan Goodwyn, PhD
 4. Keeping the Bough from Breaking;
Signing and Attachment, article by Linda
Acredolo, Ph.D and Co-founder, Baby Signs, Inc.
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REFERENCES CONT’D
5. Before Baby Talk, Signs and Signals,
article from The New York Times January
6, 2004
 6. The Boom in Baby Sign Language, by
David Hochman February 5, 2005 Life
Magazine
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LISA KELLER, M.A. CCC/SLP
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[email protected]
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Kent County Early On
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Lowell Area Schools, Infant-Toddler Program

Independent Certified Baby Signs® Instructor
Baby Signs® Sign, Say & Play Classes
 Baby Signs® Parent Workshops
 Contact me for running these classes for your
program
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