Baby sign language 2

After I finished my column last week about teaching pre-verbal babies sign language, my niece by marriage, Jessica, sent me the following informative e-mail. The idea and her results intrigued me so much that I am publishing an edited version of her letter.
Hi, Aunt Joan,
We heard about baby signs from my aunt and uncle who did it with their kids. I always planned to do this once I had children. They learned the techniques from the video and book series “Growing Kids God’s Way” by Gary Ezzo. I have not personally read those. We used a book called “Baby Signs” by Acredolo and Goodwyn.
The concept is based on the reality that parents and babies already use signs without realizing it, such as waving bye-bye, shaking head “yes” and “no,” or doing the hand motions to “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” or “Pat-a-Cake.” Other signs are just as simple to teach. You do the sign while saying the word. That’s all it takes. After awhile the child starts doing the hand signs.
We began doing signs to Amelia when she six-months old. She started signing back to us just before she turned nine-months old. By her first birthday she could say five words: Mama, Daddy, Amelia, dog, boot. However, she knew 17 signs: Flower, kitty, dog, light, book, more, drink, all done, toothbrush, bath, nurse (as in “I want to nurse”), moon, hat, elephant, birds, fish, diaper (as in “I need a diaper change”).
The book we used focused on the catch phrase “communicating their joys and fears without tears.” Baby signs were so helpful in communicating with her. She could identify things to us and let us know what she wanted long before she could talk. She was so proud of herself. Using sign language showed us that a baby’s comprehension exceeds their verbal ability.
We had only planned to teach her five to ten of the basic signs, such as “please, thank you, more, hungry, diaper change,” but she really took off with it. She would point at things and want to know their signs. As we didn’t know much sign language, we constantly referred to the picture index of signs in the back of our book. About half the signs are actual ASL (American Sign Language) signs – the rest are slightly modified versions to make them easier for little fingers to form. As long as you and the baby both know what you mean, it doesn’t matter what sign you use. The point is to communicate.
She also invented her own signs, or used one sign for more than one thing. For example, we taught her the sign for “ball.” She used the same sign, all on her own, at age 13-months, for apple, pumpkin, and balloon. Obviously that became her sign for anything round! She invented her own sign for “twirl” or “dance” and for “yes.” At 14-months, she did three signs in a row to form a complete request: “Drink”, “all gone,” “more,” to communicate that her cup was empty and she would like it refilled! By 17-months of age she used 40 to 50 signs.
With Amelia, we found that as she learned to say a word out loud, she formed the sign while saying the word until she mastered the pronunciation to her own satisfaction. Then she dropped the sign and just said the word.
Now, at 21-months old, she uses less than five signs; and, she has an incredible spoken vocabulary.
That’s all I can think of for now. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Love,
Jessica
I have nothing to add except a round of applause for Amelia and her parents who remind us anew of the intelligence and potential within each child.