Frequently Asked Questions

How early can I start to sign with my child?

We recommend that you start signing from the age of 4 months old upwards. At that age, they would have developed the motor skills required in remembering things, including the signings. Start with 5 signs on a daily basis, such as MILK, FOOD, SLEEP, BATH, and MORE. Sign the words as appropriate, for example, every time when your child goes in the cot, you sign SLEEP. They will soon resemble the signs associated and the reinforcement will occur naturally as your infant grows. It will also help your infant realise that crying is not the only way of communicating.

My child is already talking.
Why should they learn British Sign Language?

Learning a second language is fun and has many developmental benefits. BSL stimulates learning through different senses. Sign language is a blessing for children that are "visual", "spatial" or "tactile learners." Learning a second language raises your child's IQ. One in seven people in the UK have some degree of hearing loss. Knowing a few signs can give your child the confidence to engage and interact with a deaf child rather than both children feeling awkward and helpless. Not only that, the child will be more aware of their own body movements and become more expressive.

Will learning signs delay my child's speech?

Many parents fear that signing will delay or further delay speech. Our and other experiences have been the opposite. If your goal is communication, then signing will meet that communication need much earlier than speech. On average, an 18 months old child will start to speak properly because of the vocal chores being developed and why should we wait for that child until that age to start communicating with us?! This is where the signing comes in, no matter if the child is hearing or deaf. If they sign as their first language when they are about 12 months old or a little earlier, they are actually developing a language which is being built in their brains and then when their vocal chores are developed with built-in muscles, their voices will come out naturally and they will have much higher level of vocabularies because they have already obtained the English language from the signings. A child whose first language is signing would on average have 200 words/signs knowledge whereas the non-signing child would have about 30.

I don't have time to learn and teach my child sign.

Parenting can be very overwhelming because there never seems to be enough time. We, at Sign and Bond, encourage parents to focus on selecting 5 first signs to begin with and this gives the parents a comfortable basis to work and build on. It is a life changing experience for you to introduce the signs but when the infant is about 9 months old, you will get rewards seeing your child signing for the first time (sometimes a little later – every child is different) and this will give you a greater motivation to continue the signings. Many of you do not realise that you are doing gestures with your infants already, and why not you build this with very easy signs being introduced from Sign and Bond. Our resources (DVD and books) will help the infant to watch and understand the meanings of the signs so it is not always your work.

Do I need to know all about British Sign Language?

No, you don't. We are providing parenting tools for communication through the use of BSL and we have workshops being delivered around the country using highly skilled trainers. All of our trainers have received professional training from Sign and Bond and they have been given a Sign and Bond trainer pack packed with information about baby signing, curriculum and resources/activities ideas. We have produced resources suitable for parents, professionals and babies/child to use upon. They focus on the signings that are truly meaningful for themselves and their lives. You will be surprised how easy it is to learn the signs because Sign and Bond workshops make it easy for you, including our resources. The most important thing is that you keep open minded with everything and you will be able to take on everything. You would do anything for your child or someone you know, wouldn’t you? If you aim to be fluent in later life, then it is a good step in boosting your skills, experience and confidence.

Why do we use British Sign Language and not made up ones?

We promote BSL as a language of its own as it is an official 4th language being used in the UK. It makes sense to use the signs that are part of a living language and the infants, when they sign, they can comfortably transfer it into communication with deaf friends. However, Sign and Bond simplify some of the British Sign Language signs with some modifications. For example, the BSL sign for MILK includes the use of little fingers as well as the thumbs with clenched fists bringing up and down as if you are milking a cow. We, at Sign and Bond, remove the little fingers out and use the thumbs only with clenched fists. This encourages the infants to sign at an earlier age. Sign and Bond is currently involved working with parents and nurseries and receiving feedback from them has been rewarding. We are also researching on the use of BSL with babies and children which is on-going and some more signing modifications may take place in the near future. Sign and Bond website will keep you informed.

My child does not do the signs correctly.
Is that okay?

This is perfectly normal and Sign and Bond stresses that you must not worry about it. You, the parents, will know your child best and you will recognise the signs that your child start making. If the signs are quite incorrect, you still say “Well done darling” and then you reinforce the same sign again. This may take over several weeks or days if the infant is over 12 months old. The Director of Sign and Bond has 3 children and all of them signed not quite correctly at the start, for example, flower. One of the children signed it on the chin with no fingers touching but we knew what he was trying to sign. He was about 12 months old and then over the next few weeks, whenever, our child signed flower, we signed the correct flower sign which was the fingers touching the thumb and pressing them underneath the nose naval. Our child became more aware and did the correct sign when he was about 14 months old! It is not particularly important to get the signs right at the start because they will eventually will! The most important thing is that your child will be able to communicate with you, or is even trying to and isn’t this wonderful?! This same applies for speech development; “Da-da” suddenly becomes “Daddy”.

How soon will my child start to sign?

It really depends on when you start. If you start signing with your newborn, they may not reciprocate until 8-14 months old. If you start with your 2 year old, they may respond immediately or it may take a couple of months. If your child has physical, mental or developmental delays, take that into consideration. On average, a 14 months old signing child will have about 10 – 15 signs and when the same child is 18 months old, the signing will accelerate on a steep level. Imagine if the child was never introduced to signing as a first language, then the child will still not be able to communicate properly until after 18 months old. We are empowering the infants to communicate with signing and that has given many of our participant’s infants/children a huge impact in their lives! A 2 year old signing child would have approximately 200 signs / words and 5 – 10 nursery rhymes songs whereas a 2 year old non-signing child would have approximately of 30 words only. Signing is more powerful than what we know.

My child can hear.
Why should they learn British Sign Language (BSL)?

Most children are not developmentally ready to speak until approximately 2 years of age. Babies are developmentally able to communicate with signs as early as 8-10 months of age. The inability to communicate causes frustration and tantrums. Sign language is a wonderful tool that allows even very small children to express themselves. Most parents that sign with their babies talk about an unexplainable bond that is felt when their child communicates so early!

I have heard that signing helps with tantrums and "The Terrible Two's"

Many tantrums and the "Terrible Two's" are about frustration and communication. There is less frustration when your child can communicate. The typical child's motor skills develop far faster than their verbal skills.