Children learning sign language to help communication skills

Children learning sign language to help communication skills

15 January 2020

BABY talk is becoming very ‘hands-on’ for parents who want to give their babies the best start in life — by using sign language.

New classes to help babies as young as three months communicate with parents before they develop verbal language will soon be available in Ballynahinch, Saintfield and Newcastle.

Using sign language taught with music, song, stories and puppets advocates of the system pioneered in the US say that it helps the child speak better and often earlier.

Ballynahinch mum-of-one, Naebh Caughey, is the woman behind the new Sign2Music classes in South Down.

She is the latest franchise holder of the class developed in 2007 in Northern Ireland by another Ballynahinch woman, Deirdre McLaughlin, who is a social worker and consultant.

Naebh, who is mum to three year-old Nathan, was a convert after she attended classes in Lisburn and Bangor when her son was just a year old.

“My only regret is not taking Nathan to a class sooner,” said the 34 year-old, who is also a part-time firefighter in Ballynahinch and a private swimming coach.

“Because of work commitments, I needed to move to the Bangor classes which is a bit of a drive away but I just thought it was worth it as I could really see Nathan really develop his language when he started to speak.”

“I think the class benefited both of us. Before he could speak Nathan was able to sign to me that he wanted something or wanted lifted and so it helped me break down the barrier of understanding what he wanted and I think that’s important.

“I believe that since using the course Nathan’s speech really came on, particularly from two years.”

Naebh and Deirdre know that babies naturally use gestures to communicate, as the gross motor skills needed to gesture develop well before the fine motor skills needed for spoken language, which tends to develop from around 12 months onwards.

Through working with their own children, they have discovered that signing helps, rather than hinders, speech.

The sign language — using the Northern Ireland regional style of the British Sign Language — is taught to the babies using music and songs along with fun cuddly toy characters called Signing Sandy and Daisy Doggy.

The signs taught by parent to child can be some basic requests, such as food, nappy, milk, lift up, etc but for a parent to know immediately what their child needs or wants is the reason why new parents are keen to try out the classes.

Naebh says that the effect is a fun, interactive and relaxing class which helps bond both the parent and the child while improving communication.

However, she is realistic about how the classes are sometimes viewed by other adults.

“You do still get some people with raised eyebrows when you explain about the classes as they think it’s a bit of fad,” she said. “Then on the other side of this, some adults would think that by using sign language, it can delay a child’s speech.Those two trains of thought are just not true in my experience.”

Naebh says that Nathan still sometimes uses sign language in addition to his verbal language and helps to reduce any frustration he might have in trying to communicate to her. 

“Sometimes if there are long words or difficult or tricky words for him to say, signing it for Nathan is quicker and easier for him to do,” said Naebh.

American doctor Joseph Garcia was the first educator to hit on the benefits of teaching sign language to hearing babies of hearing parents, using American Sign Language.

Sign2Music founder Deirdre McLoughlin felt it was important to bring the classes to Northern Ireland.

It was her desire to do the best of her daughter, Cara, who is now 13, that led her to starting the local classes.

She says Cara was able to sign back to her at five months and began to talk at 11 months.

”With my social work background, I have always been interested in child and parent attachment and already knew how to sign,” explained Deirdre.

“When my daughter Cara came along — there’s 10 years between her and my older twins — I started to sign to her from around four months. 

“She blew us away at signing back to us from around five months. We saw a massive difference in Cara’s verbal language development than with the twins as she spoke very early and speaking in sentences at 11 months.

“There’s a lot of research to say that signing to babies supports speech but a lot of people think the opposite is true. Even my own parents were concerned about this at the time when I did this with Cara.”

Naebh gained a Level 1 qualification in British Sign Language and took her in other training in order to bring back Sign2Music classes to the area after a four year absence.

By way of introduction, she’s holding three free 30 minute taster sessions to be held in Ballynahinch, Saintfield and Newcastle.

They will starting off this Saturday at Saintfield Community Centre from 12 noon, Ballynahinch Market House from 10am on Monday, January 27, and then at Newcastle Community Centre on Friday, January 31, from 10am. 

New 10-week terms costing £60 will be starting later in February. 

To  find out more contact Naebh on 07707 096193, email naebh@sign2music.co.uk or visit www.sign2music.co.uk or Facebook pages Sign2Music or Sign2Music South Down.