In
While perusing an on-line auditory processing group, I found some important advice by audiologist Laura Polich Ph.D., CCC. A mom was discussing her child's speech delays and was given "advice" that could be destructive. The advice was NOT to use sign language, by not allowing signing, it would "force" the child to talk instead. Luckily Ms Polich was there to give out some great advice. Here it is:
"As a practicing audiologist, and a now-not-practicing speech pathologist, I wanted to comment on the speech therapist who wanted you to stop using sign language so that the children would be "forced" to talk. Hogwash.
Underneath that request is the assumption that children are naturally lazy, and won't do anything they don't have to. Which I find absurd.
Children don't talk because of the effort (or lack of effort) it takes. They talk to communicate. Communication is the payoff, and they use whatever they can to get there. Humans inherently want to communicate.
Children don't talk because of the effort (or lack of effort) it takes. They talk to communicate. Communication is the payoff, and they use whatever they can to get there. Humans inherently want to communicate.
If they aren't talking, it is because they can't. Something isn't clicking. Their language skills and their voices aren't combining to produce intelligible speech. Thank God, you are giving them the alternative of your understanding the language they can produce with their hands.
I think you are doing exactly what is needed by using sign language. I am assuming that you continue to talk to them (so they are getting the linguistic input from a verbal source) and you are treating their signs as communication. That in turn gives them the positive reinforcement we humans get from communicating with other humans. That encourages them to communicate more.
That is far superior to refusing to respond to the communication they are capable of now (signs) and letting them live through a lot of frustration, in the hope that they will find their way to oral language because of desperation.
If you have deaf relatives, you have probably hear some pretty awful stories told by deaf people about how they had long periods of non-communication because well-meaning speech teachers told their parents not to learn sign language so that the deaf children would be "forced to talk". The "being forced" didn't make any deaf child talk faster, it just made the process more unpleasant.
When children have the ability to talk, they will talk. When your children get to the developmental point that they can convert communicative impulses into speech, they will. In the meantime, you are giving them a way now (signs) to experience the very powerful joy we humans get by communicating with each other. That joy of communication is what is going to spur them on to more and more communication, and hopefully, in time, speech.
Don't accept the "children are inherently lazy" argument from any professional. I think you understand your kids well. Just keep on talking to them, and keep on understanding their signs."
Here is the evidence to show that early sign language enhances overall communication skills in children.
For more info: Come and visit the Auditory Processing dicussion group here..
Comments
I applaud your recommendation to use signs. Most children use gestures to some extent before they begin speaking anyway, as part of normal development. Artificially preventing one normal stage is the best to artificially prevent further normal stages from ever occurring. It does not hasten the final stage's arrival to eliminate the first stage.
American Sign Language (not "baby sign") is a full and rich language. We should encourage children -- speech delayed or not -- to be multi-lingual and ASL is a wonderful start.
That's great that ASL is promoted to anyone who is deaf or has APD or any other. ASL is a real great way to start with babies since babies couldn't start to talk until age of 2 or 3. They would develop the language in rapid success before they learn to talk. Believe me.
I'm profoundly deaf. I went to an oral deaf school to learn how to talk without ASL. It was NOT easy! So much communication barriers had been put up between hearing people and Deaf people. I learned ASL much later, age of 14. That opened up the new world for me. I can talk decent but not like the way hearing people talk and use ASL in both worlds.
Thank you for this great article!
Misha
Yeah for you!! I totally agree that sign language is an invaluable tool for children who talk late. Our 6-1/2 year old son talked late, but he communicated without words until he was almost 5, and we used sign language to help that communication. Thankfully his special ed class agreed with using sign language, so we were supported in our decision. But I had many well-meaning educators tell us we were handicapping him further. Just 2 months ago we found out he has auditory processing disorder, and I am SO GLAD we used sign language. While some people said he might be autistic, I knew in my heart he wanted desperately to communicate. Sign language helped him through that frustration. Thank you for your post! Bonnie
As a parent of a deaf child who did not use sign language, please know that children in auditory verbal programs are not "forced" to talk. It's actually very natural. We talk to our children non stop and fill them with language all day. Are there gestures? Of course, just like with all children. Parents who baby sign also speak to their children while signing. It's not the same as ASL. With ASL it's actually recommended that you do not speak and sign together. So, however, you choose to get that language in great!! Just know that the deaf child scenario described above isn't the whole picture.
It's all well and good if you don't mind if your child never talks, but practice isn't "forcing." Practicing sign language means you won't practice the pathways from the auditory to the brain and from there to the speech mechanisms. A speech delayed child is not incapable of learning to speak, and since they will need to speak with the entire world (unless you plan to completely surround them with all signing friends, neighbors, doctors, ministers, teachers, employers, etc) you might as well put in a little extra work to practice SPEECH rather than sign language.
You can't correlate this at all with deaf adults who struggled to understand-- because the speech delayed child can HEAR. They understand what is being said around them. They just need some focused practice on the oral motor and speech. Practice makes perfect.
I come into this discussion as the mom of two deaf (cochlear implanted) children who speak perfectly. They practiced speech, and were age appropriate by ag
I think that having a vocabulary in any mode of communication is extremely important. Children with language disorders (I have 2) have a hard time learning their native language. Any means of comunication would have been helpful at an early age. As a teen my oldest took ASL as a second language and was very successful as was the rest of his class of children who all had language disorders. His first year teacher said that the learning disabled" kids he taught learned ASL twice as fast as the so called "normal kids" he taught an an expensive prep school. Go figure.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!