![]() There’s really no downside, and you’ll feel great knowing you’re helping to build their communication skills! ![]() Some children never speak, but their communication is so rich in other ways! So if your toddler is having difficulty communicating verbally-or if they’re not but you want to be proactive-we highly recommend incorporating sign language into your routine. It’s also important to know that there is so much more to communication than speaking. ![]() Sign language and other types of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)can facilitate communication with your child before and until they can speak to you. Because it’s so complex and takes time, often young children can understand and communicate more words and concepts than they can actually say. It builds up over time, as your child masters the smaller, foundational steps that lead to them speaking-when they’re ready. Speech is a complex, developmental skill set. And it’s not what we’re referring to here! If you’re interested in learning or teaching your child ASL, we recommend learning from Deaf educators, and other specially trained educators for the Deaf.īottom line: Both ASL and toddler sign language are useful means of communication, but they’re definitely not the same thing! ASL is its own language with its own grammatical structure. We love sign language, so we want to recognize right off the bat that American Sign Language (ASL) is something very different from the type of sign language we’re teaching you to use with your littles. And, we definitely don’t consider ourselves sign language experts! We just use signing as a tool-a bridge to communicating a word or concept with your child. The signs we pick are based on the child’s individual needs, and we don’t necessarily focus on children using the signs perfectly. Speech-language pathologists will sometimes use a little bit of sign language in this way as a mode of communication for children who are not yet communicating verbally. In this post, we’re focusing on how to help your toddler learn some sign language as a means to get them talking and communicating with you more. This is because the movements needed to produce signs are much simpler than the complex fine motor movements required to speak! Toddler sign language (also called “baby sign”) is a system of gestures and simple signs that are easier for toddlers to copy and say than words are.
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