"Zen Cohen" wrote in message
...
Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn
to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.'
(eg:
http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm)

I bought a book of basic ASL signs and started using them when DD was 6 or 7
months old. I should have started a little earlier, but it wasn't something
that came naturally to me, so it took some time for me to get into it.
Totally easy to pick up. Just say the word and make the sign at the same
time. Start with things that are common for your baby -- for us, it was
things like "Daddy," "Mommy," "cat," "nurse," "all done," "more," etc. I
don't know that she ever really did signs for "Mommy" and "Daddy," because
she started saying those words really really early. She picked up the
spoken word "cat" before the sign, but then she went through a stage where
she'd sign "cat" instead of say it. (She also then went through a stage
where she'd just say "meow-meow" for a cat instead of signing or saying it,
lol.) There were some words for which she'd use both a sign and the spoken
word, but for most things, she did one or the other. She held on to some of
the signs for a long time, even after she could speak the word, and if she's
really excited about something, sometimes we'll still see a sign on
occasion. Usually it's "more," accompanied by the spoken word, which was
one of her first and most often used signs.

I really believe very strongly in the value of signing to your child. Some
babies really won't take to it, but many will. I have a friend whose first
child picked up several signs, but then despite doing the same stuff, their
second child never really took to signing. That second child didn't speak
more than a couple of words until well over a year; "Mommy" didn't come
until he was 15 or 16 months old. But then at 16 months, bam, the kid took
off with speaking and was speaking in two- and three-word sentences at 18
months. So ymmv. For us, I think signing really helped with the transition
from infant to toddler, from about 9 to 15 months. (By about 15 months, she
was able to say a large amount of words clearly enough for us to understand,
so I didn't teach her too many more signs after that.) It cut down on the
plate-throwing at dinner, for instance, because she could sign "all done" to
let us know. She could ask to nurse or to have more of something, instead
of whining and/or grunting and getting frustrated. It also was so amazing
to be able to have a conversation with her, or at least to see what was
intriguing to her. Like if we were shopping and she saw a stuffed bear,
she'd sign "bear," and I'd know what had caught her eye. I think it also
gave her confidence to try to speak as well, because she knew that we were
interested in understanding her and that we were excited when we could tell
what she was thinking, and so she'd try even harder to communicate. I'll
definitely try signing with our new baby!

Like I said, I used mostly ASL signs. Sometimes I modified them a bit if
they were too complex for a baby, and sometimes DD would come up with her
own variation on them. We got a few of the "Baby Signs" board books from
the library, and she liked them a lot too. I was less keen on those because
they're not always real ASL signs or variations thereof, but they're
something. And sometimes DH or I would just make up a sign on our own,
especially if we were out and about and DD wanted to know a sign
immediately.


--
-Sara Big Baby Signing Fan!
Mommy to DD, 2 1/2
And Someone Due 2/05