A few short years ago, if you'd seen a parent and child using
American Sign Language in a park or at a store, it would have been safe
to assume that one of the two was Deaf. However there are now thousands
of hearing parents teaching their hearing children how to sign basic
words, due, in part, to the popularity of the hit PBS show Signing
Time! Baby signing classes are popping up all over the United
States as parents proudly showcase their toddlers' approximations of
MILK and MORE, and it isn't only infants that are learning signs. How,
and why, did this phenomenon come about?
Speech and Language professionals have been using American Sign
Language signs to help hearing children communicate with their parents
for over 25 years. The reason? Babies often have the motor skills and
ability to understand communication far earlier than they are ready to
begin oral speech (Robertson, 2007), and parents have found that sign
language allows them to communicate with their children at as young as
six months of age. Most people have seen pre-verbal children waving
“bye-bye” before they can say it, or raising their arms in an attempt to
get someone to lift them up, and teaching children American Sign
Language signs is the next logical step. Parents of signing children
rave that their kids began talking early, grasped the concept of
language very young, and have fewer temper tantrums because of their
ability to communicate with their caregivers. Sign is also embraced by
many parents of children with speech and other developmental delays, as
most Speech and Language Pathologists agree that sign facilitates the
acquisition of verbal communication (Robertson, 2007). Simply put, it
works.
What about other parents, though? Those whose children are already
verbal, and able to hear? Is there any reason for parents to work on
teaching signs to their older, healthy and developmentally typical
children? The benefits of teaching American Sign Language signs to
preschool and elementary-aged children are threefold, positively
affecting a child's cognitive, academic and social growth, besides the
obvious advantage were the child ever to lose their hearing.
In the realm of cognitive development, it seems that children
who learn sign have larger vocabularies than those who don't, and retain
superior language skills even after they stop signing. A recent study
compared “groups of children who were exposed to sign for a single
school year” with groups who were taught a similar curriculum without
the use of sign language (Robertson, 2007). The researchers found that
those children whose education had included manual communication
developed better vocabulary skills during the year they were signing,
and that they retained a larger vocabulary in the following year. At
the end of the multiple-year study, the researchers found that “the more
varied ways a child is exposed to language, the more retention and
learning of that language will take place” (Robertson, 2007).
A larger vocabulary would seem to be an academic boon, as
well. However, knowing the rudiments of a second language gives a child
an even more impressive edge on their classmates, and American Sign
Language is recognized as its own language, separate from English
(Wilcox, 1999). Most parents know that learning a second language is
important, and the proliferation of early immersion programs at the
elementary level show that Portland parents have grasped that younger
children learn and retain new languages much easier than older children
and adults. However, a York University study seems to indicate that
having a second language actually changes the way the brain works, which
allowed “bilingual children [to] outperform monolingual students
on tasks involving...abstract thinking, planning, initiating and
inhibiting actions” (Exchange, 2010). Experience with another language
is also a requirement for most colleges and universities in the United
States.
So, it seems that signing with your child will make them
smarter and help them do better in school, but did you know that it can
also help them make the world a warmer and more inclusive place for
others? Rachel Coleman, the creator of Signing Time!
(and its Emmy-nominated star) has shared how her Deaf daughter, Leah,
was ostracized on the playground and on her soccer team because the
other children mistakenly believed she couldn't communicate with them.
After a boy on Leah's soccer team refused to play with her, Rachel took a
chance at the local school and volunteered to read and sign a story to
the little boy's class. At the next practice, the boy “rushed
up to Leah signing, 'FRIEND-PLAY-BALL!'” Rachel continues, “He wasn’t
fluent in ASL. He hadn’t taken an ASL course. He only remembered three
signs. Three signs changed their world!” (Examiner,
2010). Rachel's story illustrates how just a few signs mean that when a
hearing child meets a Deaf child at school or encounters someone
signing at their neighborhood park, the two won't have a language
barrier to their friendship.
So, why do the parents of hearing children insist on their children
learning American Sign Language signs? Because the knowledge will be
good for their minds, good for their grades, and good for their hearts.
Written by Carissa Martos, Oregon's only Advanced Signing Time Instructor. She runs PDX Loves Signing, holds a BA in English from UC Berkeley, and is working on her Master's in Teaching. Classes through Portland Parks and Rec are now open for Registration.
Sources:
Exchange Magazine. (2010). “Bilingualism
boosts children’s focus, lessens distraction: York U study.”
Editorial. Retrieved from:
http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2010/week5/Wednesday/020311.htm.
Robertson, Shari. (2007). “Using Sign to Facilitate Oral
Language: Building a Case with Parents.” Speech Pathology.com.
Retrieved from: http://www.speechpathology.com/Articles/article_detail.asp?article_id=315.
Sedlock, Heather. (2010). Examiner. “Signing Time Videos to be
aired on Nick Jr: Interview withcreator Rachel Coleman.” Retrieved from:http://www.examiner.com/x-/x-10560-Special-
Needs-Kids-Examiner~y2010m1d4-Signing-Time-Videos-to-be-aired-on-Nick-Jr-Interview-
with-creator-Rachel-Coleman.
Wilcox, Sherman. (1999). “American Sign Language as a Foreign
Language”. Center for Applied Lingusistics. Retrieved from:
http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/ASL.html
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