Baby Sign is the use of manual signing in order to communicate with infants and toddlers. Baby sign is an extension of American Sign Language, which is a complete language with the use of grammar, context, facial expressions and much more complex concepts. Babies are not expected to use or master American Sign Language. Rather, babies and toddlers adapt most to the use of manual signing, also know
n as Baby Signs. Babies innately use their hands from birth to explore their new surroundings. This is commonly known as a baby's Fine Motor Skills (FMS), which involve the fingers, hands and wrists. Your baby may be currently communicating with you using baby sign. However, if you do not encourage the use of the various gestural hand-movements your baby may cease any future attempts. Recognizing that her immediate environment tends to solely communicate with her through spoken languages and not her manual hand movement form of communication. This communication barrier typically leads to frustration since she will not able to communicate her needs verbally till her vocal cords fully develop. "Evidence is growing that infants are quite capable of bypassing the articulatory demands of verbal words by using physical gestures to stand for concepts about which they would like to communicate (e.g., Acredolo, Goodwyn, Horobin, & Emmons, 1999). By applying baby sign to your most commonly used languages at home you will soon enjoy the ease of communication at such an earlier than average age. Sooner or later you will notice your little one understanding more conceptual aspects of their environment opposed to those who did not use baby sign at an early age. Verbal acquisition comes in a baby's second year as a toddler. Toddlers who did not use baby sign as a communication tool acquire only half a dozen spoken words while those toddlers who had not only spoke clearer but they also had a better grasp of the concepts behind their vast vocabulary brain-banks.
