Baby sign language enters mainstream

Just a few years ago baby sign language seemed like a novelty, something reserved for precocious toddlers. Think "Meet the Fockers," the movie that had Robert De Niro intensely signing with his genius grandson.

Now signing has become mainstream. More day-care professionals, from in-home providers to educators at large centers, are communicating with children younger than 2 through spoken words in conjunction with hand gestures based loosely on American Sign Language. Parents, too, are embracing sign language for their hearing children.

Steve Adkison said he and his wife, Sydra, learned to sign from their 2-year-old son, Brody.

"My wife and I saw him in his high chair putting his hands together over and over. We thought, 'Why does he keep doing this' "

It turned out Brody was making the sign for "more." He also learned "water" and "please," among others, at his child-care center, Spectrum Station in Kansas City, Mo. Now the family of three does a few basic signs together.

Director Jan Powell introduced infant signing at the center several years ago after reading about it.

"It gives toddlers a way to talk when they can't yet," said Powell, who has almost 20 years of experience in early childhood education. "Before we used sign language, you'd walk in at snack time and there would be a lot of crying. With signing, it's calmer and quieter. The kids and the educators are happier because everyone is getting what they want."

On a recent morning at the center, about 10 toddlers sat down for water at kid-size wooden tables. As they finished the beverages in their sippy cups, they used their hands to communicate. Some tapped the tips of their fingers together for "more," some held up three fingers in a W for "water." Nearly all rubbed their chest in a circular motion for "please."

At first, several Spectrum Station employees were dubious about learning and teaching baby sign language because they were concerned it would slow down verbal skills.

Studies have shown how simultaneously learning two spoken languages at first delays talking. But research also shows that teaching baby sign language can help toddlers talk sooner and may slightly boost their IQ.

Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn, child-development and psychology professors in California, are credited with developing infant sign language in 1982. For two decades they have researched infant-adult communications and have written the bulk of infant sign-language books, including "Baby Signs." Now infant sign language is being taught to early childhood education students in college based on their research.

Six months old is a good age to start teaching baby sign language, said speech pathologist Andrea Arlotti Dlugosch. Children typically start doing a few signs before they turn 1 and they keep learning them.

"They're receptive first, then expressive," said Dlugosch, who co-owns Communication for Kids, a business that teaches baby sign language. "Then they typically pick up on them fast."