American Sign Language classes, products and information for you and your child
Welcome to Show Me a Sign!
I am very excited to bring the world of ASL to you and your family.
Communication is a key in developing relationships. Infants and small children want to communicate too. However, before they have speech the main way they communicate is through crying.
By teaching your child ASL, you can give them a new way to functionally communicate with you. This gives them the freedom to express their needs and wants which builds confidence in them and relieves stress in both of you.
Sign Language bridges the gap in communication and facilitates speech and language development.
Babies as young as six to seven months old can remember a sign, according to experts (Glairon, 2003). By eight months, children can begin to sign single words and imitate gestures, and by 24 months, children can sign compound words and full sentences (Glairon, 2003). Workshops are now offered in over 75 cities across the United States for parents and their children (Glairon, 2003). Many preschools have also begun to teach sign language to their students.
Several scientific studies including Mirenda and Erickson, 2000; Mirenda, 2003; and Tincani 2004 have shown that manual sign language has been shown to support the development of vocal verbal behavior in some individuals with autism and developmental disabilities. This doesnt mean that sign language will resolve all problems with autism for all children, but it does give hope those searching for effective treatments and tools.
Acredolo whose research, published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, indicates signing may even give children a slight future verbal edge. "At 36 months, the [signing] babies in our study were speaking, on average, the equivalent of non-signing 47 month olds," she says.
This video is my daughter singing (yes mostly singing) her favorite Signing Time song. :-)
~Julie Swain
Master Certified Signing TIme Instructor
January 2011 Instructor of the Month
~Signing Time Academy
