04/10/03: Sign Language

[juju]

I've been doing some reading on parenting lately, and I came across this comment on slashdot. It reads, in part:

The most important thing I can say that won't help you right now is teach the child sign language. Learn some basic sign language (eat, drink, sleep, ouch). Start at around 6 months. By 9 months they will be able to tell you when they are hungry. This is wonderful and simplifies your life.

I find this idea fascinating. Of course. It makes sense -- children learn to move and manipulate their hands long before they're able to speak. And children not being able to speak is a great cause of frustration for early parents, because you have to play the "guessing game". I.E., what's wrong with you this time? If they knew sign language, they could just tell you! And in order for them to tell you what's wrong with them, they don't need to know 1000 signs. Just 3, 4, or 5 signs could be a great relief in "guessing game" situations.

I told Kathy (my wife) about this and she said she knew a friend of the family that had actually done it. We e-mailed the woman and she told us that her child was signing by 5 1/2 months. I found that to be really surprising, as the typical date I see given is around 9 1/2 months. I guess as with anything in child development, it depends on the child.

She also sent us this link (uses quicktime), which seems interesting. Kathy already has a good book on ASL, though, as she learned it herself a while back. So I think we're going to go for it when the time comes. Could be interesting.

Of course, Kathy's still in her first trimester (8 or 9 weeks I think). So all this may be a bit premature as women are supposedly at a higher risk for miscarriage during the first 12 weeks. Everything seems okay so far, though.