American Sign Language

I decided to explore the topic of American Sign Language and its application with infants and toddlers in what is known as Baby Sign. Baby Sign Language has emerged over the past twenty years or so as a parenting technique used to communicate with infants and toddlers before spoken language develops. Ten years ago, American psychologists Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn published their book, Baby Signs: How to Talk with your Baby Before your Baby Can Talk, which can be considered one of the first professional acknowledgements of the idea. The practice can be controversial. Some protesters argue that signing acts as a crutch, so that the baby doesn’t feel the need to use speech, and their vocal development is delayed. However, some scientific
This context describes the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs, and values. This seemed like an obvious choice for my project, because of the exploration of an entirely new language and its unique expressiveness. Linguistic research demonstrates that American Sign Language (ASL) is comparable in complexity and expressiveness to spoken language; it’s not English conveyed through signs, but rather a distinct language with its own distinct grammatical structure. Language itself is a form of expression, both shaped by culture and setting as well as the personal connections that are made by its users. Baby Sign, a shoot-off of this language, has very specific uses, and infants and toddlers have unique perceptions of the world that can be accessed through the use of Baby
I had multiple videos, books, and web sources, I conducted interviews with two different people, and I even listened to CDs to gain a better understanding of my topic’s applications. To learn signs and get a visualization of their proper uses in comparison to the way in which an infant or small child might sign them, I watched “Signing Time!” videos. They showed the proper manner of signing a word, then multiple clips of babies and kids signing them. This was important because most infants don’t have the motor capabilities to move their hands in precisely the correct way, so I got a visual of what I could expect and recognize in a situation where I would actually be conversing with a baby in Baby Sign. I also used the same company’s flashcards, which I received both from my mentor and Kristen Washenfelder, whom I interviewed. The book that I consulted, Baby Signing Essentials, by Nancy Cadjan, detailed the theory of Baby Sign and what to expect and do with a baby (regarding sign language) at each stage of their development. An online periodical that I found showed modern and actual applications of Baby Sign in the real world, and the interviews that I did gave a first-hand perspective of people experienced in sign language, who used Baby Sign with their own children, and even who taught Baby Sign classes locally. The interviews were time consuming but valuable, and I got to ask my own questions, specifically for