Baby sign research
The early days
Baby sign first emerged in the USA in the 1980's largely as a result of the work of Child Development specialist Dr Joseph Garcia and two professors - Linda Acredelo and Susan Goodwyn.
Dr Garcia noticed how hearing babies of his deaf friends could communicate more easily and far earlier than babies of hearing parents.
In fact, they were well on their way to becoming capable sign language users at around nine months old. Yet the nine-month-old babies of his hearing friends weren't communicating much at all.
He also noticed that the signing babies appeared to be less demanding than non-signing babies because they could express themselves more directly.
Garcia decided to explore whether hearing parents could benefit from teaching their hearing babies to sign. He soon discovered they could.
His research with 17 families showed that hearing babies can be taught to 'speak' with simple sign language. His method is based on the fact that infants can control their hands long before they develop speech. By developing that skill, parents can teach signs to help their baby to communicate and reduce their frustration before they can speak.
Garcia's research was published in 1987 as part of a Masters Programme Research at Alaska Pacific University. He's the author of The Complete Guide to Baby Signing.
