It's OK!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Value of Baby Sign
ASHA CONVENTION OR BUST!
Come see us- 2220
SA 9:30AM-10:30AM, Seminar 1 HR, Marr/Salon E
About Baby Signing
Brenda Seal, Gallaudet U, Washington, DC; YK
An, James Madison U, Harrisonburg, VA; Michelle
Brown, Gallaudet U, Washington, DC; Alison Gannon,
Gallaudet U, Washington, DC
Abundant anecdotal, but little empirical, evidence
promotes baby signing for a language-literacy
“advantage” in typically developing infants. This
session addresses previous and current research
directions and offers suggestions and cautions for
working with parents on signing choices, approaches,
and probable outcomes. Potential generalization to
clinical populations will be suggested.
As I do more research into the success of Baby Sign, some research hypothesizes why babies who sign have an advantage (see Goodwyn, Acredolo, and Brown, 2000). Fascinating! What it comes down to is scaffolding and reinforcement. What does this all mean? The developing baby brain is learning to interpret the world he is experiencing through interaction. Go read about Vygotsky's ideas. The babies who learn some sign can express just a little about how they are experiencing the world. And with that, parents can focus on their babies' expression, reinforce the vocabulary and elaborate and expand on their "utterances." This also allows for a child-centered approach, building on what the infant is interested in rather than telling them what they should be interested in.
The article highlights that Baby Sign allows babies to have their needs met without crying (WATER), to express how they feel (the doll is SCARY), clarify their needs (using specific signs, e.g. CHEERIOS), be more active participants during book-reading, clarify their initial verbal labels (i.e. if they sign when the begin to talk, the sign can clarify what they are saying if it is unintelligible).
What it comes down to is that parents are offering more opportunity for their babies to contribute (receptively and expressively) in conversation, control their environment, and therefore, allow them to be happier babies... ? In addition, more opportunities exist for parents to respond to their babies' comments. This allows the babies more directed, scaffolded learning opportunities for language development as they hear more language in general - parents are focusing on expanding and elaborating on their child's expression. It comes down to exposure!
Goodwyn, S. W., Acredolo, L. P., & Brown, C. A. ( 2000). Impact of symbolic gesturing on early language development. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 24, 81–103.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
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