There are many reasons for wanting to learn sign language. Some of these include:
# Making the most of you communication with a hearing impaired family member?
# Just to be able to communicate with hearing impaired people in general?
# Perhaps you are presently working with people that are hearing impaired?
# Maybe you would like to become a sign language interpreter?
# You would like to become more involved in the hearing impaired community?
Have you ever watched a baby wave bye-bye or point to their mouth when they are hungry, or have your seen a little one point to his nose when it needs to be wiped? These are all symbols of communication, in other words, sign language. They are communicating to you what they want and are expressing it without speech.
There are many reasons that sign languages have been introduced into a child's life. Most of the time we as parents don't think about sign language or teaching the language to our children if they are not hearing impaired. Today there are many individuals and parents who have found sign language can be helpful to communicate with their child as they are growing up whether they are hearing impaired or not.
There are several tips in the following article on how to learn sign language. Most of these tips will focus on the hearing impaired, but remember anyone can learn sign language to help boost their communication skills overall.
Teaching sign language to a baby is quite easy and can be a very enjoyable experience. Infants use a different part of their brain for signing than speech and they also develop the muscles in their hands before those which are required for speech thus enabling them to sign successfully before speaking.
Research has shown that signing babies experience less frustration due to the fact of being able to communicate their needs and wants to their parents. In addition to this there are many other advantages of teaching sign language to your infant. Research shows that being multilingual expands cognitive processes and intellectual skills as well as it boosts the lingual developments of an infant. So in fact as opposed to the existing myths regarding sign language delaying speech in a child, signing children actually speak sooner than those who do not.
Children who sign, has shown stronger lingual development and higher IQ results (10-12 points) than those who do not sign. Chances are your baby already knows some signing gestures such as waving bye-bye and clapping when she/he is happy. Once you have decided to teach signing to your infant, start with a few gestures
With baby sign language, babies learn quickly how to match a particular sign with a word or object. As they progress they are able to not only sign what they want but they also learn how to communicate how they are feeling. This will help them to increase their creative use of language. Soon they will develop signs of their own that are particular to you and them.
There are various methods by which you can learn to sign with your child -- no prior knowledge is needed, so learning along with your baby is part of the fun! It is important to remember to say the word when introducing any signs to your baby and to use the signs consistently - both in the home and outside it. Also, try to familiarize anyone who cares for your child with the signs they are using.
Some people like to invent their own signs to use with their babies, whereas others prefer to use conventional signs based on formal sign language -- the advantage of using these is that they are recognized by a wide group of people. There are many books, DVDs and flashcards available, based on formal signing that make learning this new skill both simple and enjoyable.
Teaching sign language to a baby that suffers from deafness can mean a head start in winning this battle against absence of sound. Remember that loss of hear can, in many cases frustrate the individual, especially if he was not sufficiently prepared and you would not want to send your child with more problems than he already has in the world.