Benefits of Signing at Home:
Signing as a parent provides you with the unique opportunity to develop a window into your child’s mind. By including signs in daily activities, parents spend less time guessing what a child wants and more time fulfilling their specific needs.

• Signing allows your infant to clearly communicate specific thoughts.
• Signing reduces frustration for your baby- and for you!
• Signing gives you a window into your child’s mind and personality.
• Signing won’t delay verbal language development- in fact, it may accelerate it. Research shows that babies who sign usually start to talk sooner and develop larger vocabularies than non-signing babies.
• Signing reinforces verbal language by adding visual and kinesthetic emphasis to auditory input.
• Signing children tend to be more interested in books.
• Signing builds on babies’ natural tendency to use gestures.
  
  

Benefits of Signing in Childcare Settings:
Signing in a childcare setting allows caregivers to model effective communication, encourage conflict resolution, and help children to communicate with each other. Teachers who sign can spend more time interacting with and nurturing children than managing the myriad challenges associated with Early Childhood Education.

• Signing helps to lower noise levels in preschool classrooms by reducing frustrated screaming and crying.
• Signing minimizes stress and frustration for caregivers who are responsible for meeting the needs of many children at once.
• Signing reduces the “guesswork” in meeting each child’s maintenance needs resulting in more available time for positive, developmental interactions.
• Caregivers report that signing significantly reduces problems with biting. Take away the frustration and the biting goes with it.
• The use of American Sign Language gives children with special needs the opportunity to interact in a meaningful way with typically developing children. General acceptance of children with special needs is greatly enhanced.
  
  Benefits of Signing with Children with Special Needs:
  Children with special needs gain a means of expressing themselves and connecting with their caregiving adults, as well as with typically-developing children familiar with ASL signs. Signing can help create an educational environment where all children can successfully learn and socialize, no matter what special needs they may have.
• Signing is the primary language used by the Deaf community and is an integral part of Deaf culture. ASL will most likely be the primary language for children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.
• Signing provides a means of communication for children with various types of language delays or impairments, including:

Down Syndrome
Autism -Cerebral Palsy
Apraxia of Speech
Aphasia
Learning Disabilities
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Signing provides a means of communication for children with various types of medical conditions or situations, including:
Tracheotomized Infants and Children
Delays of Prematurity
Short-term Illnesses
Post-surgical conditions that inhibit normal speech
Side effects of chemotherapy resulting in an inability to speak.

Many professionals are recommending signing for children who have special needs, including children who are Autistic, learning-disabled, or developmentally-delayed. Additionally, medically-challenged children who are intubated or who have tracheotomies and are unable to speak can also benefit from signing.