“You know what you want to say, but you can’t say it. You look socially inept. You aren’t stupid, but people might think you are.” ~ MABEL RICE, Ph.D., distinguished professor of speech-language-hearing, University of Kansas
There are many medical and speech professionals, as well as parents who believe sign language, even “baby sign” is beneficial for any infant learning to talk, as well as any late talker, or apraxic child.
From The Late Talker (roughs)
THE CASE FOR SIGN LANGUAGE
To sign or not to sign? There has been considerable debate by some parents over the merits of teaching sign language to their nonverbal children. Some parents believe that it takes away from the primary goal of getting the child to become vocal. Their fear is that the child will become dependent on sign language and therefore not be motivated to acquire speech. Most speech experts are totally in favor of the introduction of signing, and as early as possible. All of the best research indicates that signing is but a stepping-stone—albeit a very important one—on the way to speech. As the child’s ability to vocalize increases, signing falls by the wayside. Signing is favored for many reasons. Among the most important:
IT BUILDS VOCABULARY. An essential element of an infant’s development is realizing that he can label things in the world around him. Most children do so by attempting to speak the word. For Children who can’t speak, signing not only gives them the opportunity to show that they know what things are called; it also helps them to learn more.
IT REDUCES TANTRUMS. With the acquisition of signs, the child acquires the means to communicate. He can begin to make himself understood, significantly reducing his frustration, which had probably expressed itself in tears and tantrums. At the same time your frustration is also decreased.
IT EXPANDS EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE. Signing enables the child to acquired expressive language, even if it is not spoken language. A child who has difficulty producing the basic sounds of speech is at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to learning how to string words together in meaningful and correct sentences. Using sign gives that child away of exploring and mastering the development of language.
IT HELPS THE LISTENER. When used in tandem with a child’s attempts at speech, signing can greatly enhance the child’s chance of being understood. For instance, if a child is able to construct a three-word sentence in which each word is an approximation, and therefore not properly articulated, the listener may not comprehend what is being said. Add sign to the vocal effort, and success is virtually guaranteed.
IT REDUCES TEASING. It is less likely that a late-talker who signs will be teased since the listener will assume that the child is deaf, a more familiar condition which seems to inspire more compassion.
As far as the human brain is concerned there’s probably not as much difference as you might think between spoken and sign communication.A recent Canadian study using positron emission tomography (PET) to peer inside the brain made a remarkable discovery. Scientists at McGill University in Montreal found that deaf people—when signing—activate the same regions of the brain as speakers without a hearing problem.
These regions, the planum temporale and the left inferior frontal cortex, had been associated with the processing of oral language.But in a series of tests comparing eleven people with profound deafness and ten people with normal hearing, blood flow was measured within the brain and was very similar. Harvard University Neuroscientist, Dr. David Caplan says that the findings support the theory that humans have a hard-wired ability to understand language,be it spoken or visual.”
The Late Talker book St Martin’s Press 2003
Parents Share How Sign Language Helps
Tanner as I’ve posted only was taught simple signs, probably because once on EFAs he started to be able to say simple words, and also because the Summit Speech School even though it’s for the hearing impaired -acknowledged but didn’t encourage the use of ASL in school as much as verbal communication. The theory in the oral based hearing impaired schools is that a deaf child who is nonverbal by 5 probably will never speak verbally -but one can learn to sign at any age. While that theory worked for hearing impaired children -sign for apraxic children is wonderful -but Summit Speech School in all other ways was perfect. (again -Tanner has normal hearing -he was just schooled for his preschool years at this school in out of district placement and it was incredible for him and a vast amount of other hearing apraxic children who like Tanner are also mainstreamed and great students today)
One of the first simple signs taught to Tanner back then was the word “more” To say more in sign language you take all your fingertips and lightly tap them together a few times.
Tanner was taught simple sign and simple picture exchange communication for the same reasons as the other children here -at 2 to 4 he was essentially nonverbal and also during that time he rarely smiled or showed any type of facial expression. Tanner for the most part at 2 and 3 always had a blank look on his face so it was hard to know just what he was thinking. Was he happy? What was he thinking. At times it was hard, just so frustrating. I mainly have the rare smile moments on the CHERAB site, But this is the classic Tanner “serious baby” look he was known for
This story happened during that period and right before or around the time we first started the EFAs.
Tanner had a cold and I had just given him some kid flavored cold medicine. As always I talked to him never expecting him to answer -just one way conversations. I asked with a big smile “That’s good stuff huh?!” Tanner looked up and me with no expression as always.Then he lifted up his hands toward me, took his fingertips and started to tap them together. At first slow, then a bit faster. Hejust kept tapping them together and staring up at me (probably waiting for me to say something since I always said something!) But there I was in shock -holding the spoon and staring at him “talking”to me. You see -that was the first time that Tanner ‘ever’ talked to me. And yes it was to me just as clear as if he said “I want more”
I’ll never forget I called everyone to share. To think of it today I’m sure most of the people I called probably had not a clue why that was such a profound moment to me -probably thought I was losing it. You know what though – even today it’s one of the most precious moments.
And boy -how far we’ve come from then -now I have Tanner reading about Granny Torrelli to me and we are discussing about Rosie’s best friend Baily who is visually impaired and why he had to go to a different school then Rosie. How Tanner went to a different preschool then most others…which reminds me.
For all of you with little kids that are still nonverbal -just wait till they can talk, they’ll blow you away with what they recall and how they viewed it!”~ Lisa Geng
Light Bulb Moment From Nicole
“Hi all! I have been reading a lot about sign language recently on the Cherab Foundation support list. Just wanted to share a story about signing and my son. Justin was diagnosed with severe verbal dyspraxia, oral apraxia, hypotonia,gerd (reflux), and sensory issues at the age of 2 1/2. We immediately started trying to teach him signs at the request of his private SLP. She would teach him signs in sessions and then come out and teach me. I didn’t think it was working so well, but kept it up constantly. When he first started making his first signs it was great – but the best was yet to come. Justin never slept well. He had really bad night terrors and also would sleep walk. As I was getting ready to go to bed one night, I stood in his doorway as I always do to whisper his prayers to him and send my own prayers for him. I was amazed at what I saw. He was signing in his sleep!! I realized then that through sign language I was able to give my baby a voice in his dreams! It was a “light bulb” moment and my heart filled with so much pride! Justin is now turning 8 in July. Although he doesn’t sign anymore he tells everyone he meets that he used to talk with his hands when he was little. I certainly know it is something I will never forget and will forever be grateful for!!” Nicole
Speech, Sign Language All the Same to Brain Communication modes light up same centers
By Adam MarcusHealthScout Reporter
MONDAY, Dec. 4 (HealthScout) — It might seem that, when it comes to the way the brain handles information, a conversation in sign language is a world apart from a telephone call. After all, the first is video and the second audio.
But Canadian scientists say they’ve found that deaf people activate the same brain regions when signing as speakers with undamaged hearing. “We’ve shown that this area, which typically is part of the auditory language system,does respond to these visual stimuli,” says Robert Zatorre, a neuroscientist McGill University in Montreal and co-author of the paper. “What we have to find out now is why it responds to these stimuli.” It could be, Zatorre says, that damage to the auditory language centers alters the nerves that handle visual language. Or, he says, it may be that the human brain evolved with a single, basic translator that processes communication. A Report on the findings appears in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Some research has suggested that sign language triggers electrical activity in the brain’s language centers. But it has been assumed that audio cues were processed in discrete areas and visual signals another.
Zatorre and his colleagues, led by Laura Ann Petitto, used positron emission tomography — a scanning technique that measures the blood flow to tissue –to examine neurons in areas of the brain thought to be specific to the production and processing of speech.The researchers studied 11 people with profound deafness from birth, who knew either American Sign Language or Langue des Signes Quebecoise, a French Canadian version of the language. For comparison, they also included10people without hearing trouble.Same part of brain set off
The subjects were asked to perform five visual language tasks, such as a twist on word repetition and a verb generation exercise, while undergoing the brain scans.In each of these tests, the two groups of subjects had similar brain activity in the planum temporale, a brain area associated with oral language. And in a drill to trigger a mental search for verbs, the deaf subjects also showed neuron activity in the left inferior frontal cortex,another area that helps process spoken words.
“Both the input and output are quite different, and yet the brain is really responding in the same way,” Zatorre says. “This area of the brain is doing something more abstract and more general than just processing sound.”
Dr. David Caplan, a Harvard University neuroscientist and author of an editorial accompanying the journal article, says the findings support the theory that humans have a hard-wired ability to understand language,be it spoken or visual. “At a higher level of abstraction it’s all the same. It doesn’t matter whether the input is visual, verbal, clicks,” or some other form, Caplan says.
“The brain doesn’t seem to care about the modality that’s being used for communication,” agrees Dr. Patrick Gannon, director of the Neurobiology of Language Laboratory at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. “It’s communication and language whether it’s auditory or visual.”Gannon, who has studied the planum temporale in chimps, says a combined auditory and visual language center for humans jibes with the way the primates communicate. “Chimps use vocalization but mostly gestures,”says Gannon.
What’s not clear from the work, however, is whether other rapidly changing stimuli — traffic patterns, for instance — trigger the same sort of brain activity in deaf people, Caplan says. “We don’t know what happens in deaf people in this area when stimuli like that are presented,” he says.
What To Do To learn more about sign languages, try HandSpeak, or you can check out this article in the American Scientist.
SOURCES: Interviews with Robert Zatorre, Ph.D., associate professor of cognitive neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal; David Caplan,M.D.,Ph.D., Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; andPatrick J. Gannon, director, Neurobiology of Language Laboratory,assistant professor of otolaryngology, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York;Dec. 5,2000 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Source
Related topic Same Brain Spots Handle Sign Language and Speaking
Reasons For Sign Language From The Late Talker book St Martin’s Press 2003
THE CASE FOR SIGN LANGUAGE
There has been considerable debate over the merits of teaching sign language to non-verbal children. Some parents believe that it takes away from the primary goal of getting their child to become vocal.Their fear is that the child will become dependent on sign language and unmotivated to acquire speech. Most speech experts are totally in favor of the introduction of signing as early as possible because it helps build vocabulary, reduces frustration, and expand expressive language. Research indicates that signing is a stepping-stone—albeit a very important one—on the way to speech. As the child’s ability to vocalize increases, signing falls by the wayside.The signs are not an alternative to speech, but a method of helping the child discover speech.
Research On Baby Sign
Sign language can be simple or complex. Most late-talking children develop their own sign language, which is understood by their immediate family, and which should be encouraged so they develop enough key signs to make their basic needs known. Nicole Carnell told us that when her son Justin was two-and-a-half-years-old, and still only saying one or two words, he and his parents learned how to sign. “He picked it up very fast and his demeanor quickly changed. Now that he had a way to communicate he was becoming a happy, carefree child,” she remembers. “I cried the night I walked into his room and saw him signing in his sleep.” Beyond late talkers there is even a growing movement to teach sign language or “symbolic gesturing” to all babies, so they can communicate at an earlier age than has been considered the norm.
Research on baby sign language has found that teaching baby signs improved cognitive and emotional development. Far from slowing down speech, baby sign language actually increases the rate of verbal development and at the same time increases the parent/child bond.
The most significant research was an NIH funded study comparing two groups of 11 month old babies. One group was taught baby sign language. The second group was given verbal training. Surprisingly, the signing group were more advanced talkers than the group given verbal training. The lead of the signing group continued to grow, with the signers exhibiting verbal skills 3 months ahead of the non-signers at 2 years old. Their lead seemed to shrink a little after two years old, but even at three years old – the signers were still ahead1.
The authors of the NIH study, followed up with the children at 8 years old. Surprisingly, there was still a difference. Signers showed IQ’s 12 points higher than the non-signers, even though they had long since stopped signing. This put the signers in the top-25% of eight year old, compared to the non-signers who were close to average2.
Results like these have led to research on how signing could be used to improve early infant education. This research has turned up a whole host of benefits to signing. Some of these benefits include making mothers feel better about themselves and more “tuned in” to their baby, reducing baby distress, and improving communication between parent and child3.
Now keep in mind that these studies have all been relatively small – the NIH funded study for example had only 100 babies. However, these early results look very promising. These results combined with all the anecdotal reports from signing parents gives a lot of reason to be very optimistic about the results from future baby sign language research.
1. Susan W. Goodwyn, Linda P. Acredolo and Catherine A. Brown. Impact of Symbolic Gesturing on Early Language Development, Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 24, 81-103 (2000). Link to paper
2. Linda P. Acredolo, and Susan W. Goodwyn, The Longterm Impact of Symbolic Gesturing During Infancy on IQ at Age 8, International Conference on Infant Studies (July 18, 2000: Brighton, UK) Link to paper
3. Claire D. Vallotton, Catherine C. Ayoub, Symbols Build Communication and Thought: The Role of Gestures and Words in the Development of Engagement Skills and Social-Emotional Concepts During Toddlerhood, Social Development 19:3,601-626 (August 2010) Link to abstract
Sign Language For Learning Math?
March, 2014 A type of sign may even be good for learning math. Gesturing with hands is a powerful tool for children’s math learning: Children who use their hands to gesture during a math lesson gain a deep understanding of the problems they are taught, according to new research ”
From the University of Chicago News “Children who use their hands to gesture during a math lesson gain a deep understanding of the problems they are taught, according to new research from University of Chicago’s Department of Psychology.
Previous research has found that gestures can help children learn. This study in particular was designed to answer whether abstract gesture can support generalization beyond a particular problem and whether abstract gesture is a more effective teaching tool than concrete action.
“We found that acting gave children a relatively shallow understanding of a novel math concept, whereas gesturing led to deeper and more flexible learning,” explained the study’s lead author, Miriam A. Novack, a PhD student in psychology.
The study, “From action to abstraction: Using the hands to learn math,” is published online by Psychological Science.”
PICTURE EXCHANGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM (PECS)
Another non-verbal mode of communication is picture exchange in which illustrations are used instead of words. All the child has to do is point at a picture icon to make himself understood. At its most simple, you put together a book of picture symbols for your child to carry with him. You let him decide the contents. One page can be for breakfast items, another page for lunch, one for dinner,one for drinks and desserts, and so forth. You can have pages of faces showing different feelings, and pages for activities such as reading a book, going to the park or the library, visiting relatives, friends or the doctor, and going to the bathroom!
There are many places to find pictures. Online grocery stores like netgrocer are ideal for food items, as are the Sunday newspaper’s coupon section and magazines. You can take photos, or purchase picture cards from a number of sources. If you wish,laminate the pictures to protect and strengthen them; glue food and drink choices onto self-adhesive magnets and attach to your refrigerator. But there’s more to PECS than having a picture for a glass of orange juice. It begins with the basic lesson that to get a favorite item the child needs to hand over a picture of that item.The child is then taught to create simple “sentences” such as, “I want cookie.” From there, he learns to add clarity by using attributes such as big/little, shape, position, and color. He also discovered how to respond to simple questions, such as, “What do you want?” before learning how to use the pictures to comment about things around him: “I see a train!” “I hear a bird!” Many parents(and some professionals) share the same concern expressed about sign language; namely, that using a picture system inhibits speech development. But there is no evidence of a negative outcome while there is compelling support for the proposition that PECS encourage speech.
Parent example of simple picture exchange written by Lisa Geng
“Here is a good example of how I got Tanner out of his shell with a simple homemade version of PECS.
Until Tanner was almost three his only word was “ma” and everything else was “mmm” He would inflect his “mmmm” sound to make it sounds like no by saying “MMM!” while stamping his foot for example -but for the most part -Tanner looked out of it -and would just stare off.
I had this cute little kids bench that my kids would eat breakfast at and each morning I would ask them both what they wanted for breakfast (this was before I knew Tanner was apraxic of course and thought he would just start talking and answer me one day) Each Morning instead -Tanner would stare off into space -and he stopped even paying attention when I asked questions like that. So every morning -Tanner would eat what Dakota wanted for breakfast -he was the only one that would answer.
One day -I took a sheet of paper and drew simple pictures of breakfast foods on it and told my two boys we were playing diner today and they were the customers and they had to point at what they wanted for breakfast from the menu. You should have seen Tanner’s face -he lit up and right away pointed to the pancakes -which it so ends up is his favorite. For the first time he was able to “tell”me what he wanted for breakfast! (Of course then I became the short order chef -pancakes for Tanner and french toast for Dakota! -But I was thrilled Tanner was able to let me know!) Each morning after that Tanner would search for that sheet of paper before they would sit down for breakfast -and cling to it for dear life.”
Printable Picture Cards
Some examples of ready-to-use communication tools:
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Activities: Home & School: |
Social:
Safety: Calendar:
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How they work
Black and white picture cards are provided to help you make your own schedules, story strips and talking back cards. They can be printed as full-size coloring pages, in two-inch sizes with or without words, and in one-inch sizes with or without words. Printed and cut out, these can be used singly or grouped together.
Blank image grids in one-inch and two-inch sizes are also included for making your own drawings. A selection of blank schedule forms is provided to help you customize schedules. Picture cards can be cut up and attached to the blank forms. Forms which include words can be used if written schedules are more appropriate. Math grids to help keep numbers in the correct alignment are also included. Please use whatever best suits your needs.
Speech-associated gestures, Broca’s area, and the human mirror system
“It has been speculated that because speech-associated gestures could possibly reduce lexical or sentential ambiguity, comprehension should improve in the presence of speech-associated gestures. As a result of improved comprehension,the involvement of Broca’s area should be reduced.[3]” Source
Sign language is awesome!
17 month Elizabeth who is reading (not memorizing) and has been reading since she was 13 months old! Both her mom and dad are SLPs and they credit this amazing ability to baby sign language. Signing Times was her favorite video and all she watched. Here’s some videos of this baby from various TV programs. You have to see this to believe it!
Montessori offering Baby Sign
And of course the Montessori School is ‘on it’ and now offers sign language to infants! BTW -for those that are seeking appropriate out of district placement for preschool or K-12 please check out the Montessori schools in your area too! Montessori encourages a multisensory approach to learning -a proven method for those with communication impairments! Montessori School offers sign language for babies Published: Monday, March 24, 2008
A University of California study says infants who use sign language end up more advanced than their peers.
YOUNGSTOWN — Baby talk can be cute, but chances are, parents don’t really know what their young children are trying to say.
The Montessori School of the Mahoning Valley hopes to change that with an infant sign language class that aims to give a voice to babies who don’t yet speak.
Executive Director Amy-Anne Kibler said more than 17 years of research show that early exposure to sign language can speed brain development and verbal skills. It can also alleviate the frustration and guesswork of trying to figure out whether babies are tired,hungry, wet or in pain…
Barbara Ricks, a speech and language pathologist, and Karen Wenzel,an interpreter and deaf educator, will head up the program.
A press release from the school touts a University of California,Davis study that says 35-month-old babies who learned sign language as infants speak almost one full year ahead of their peers. The study also showed that 8-year-olds who signed as infants had IQs that were 12 points higher than their non signing peers.
The study also suggests that signing babies end up with higher levels of self-esteem, a stronger bond with parents and an increased interest in books.
Parents are asked to sit on the floor with their kids in their laps,and Kibler said this helps give them the best opportunity for early expressive communication. Source
LISA GENG