It is vogue and cool to teach your infant/toddler sign language when
you are teaching them to talk. I worry about how good that is for
them. Ten years ago we started teaching the first graders “finger
math” so that they could quickly figure addition and multiplication
problems easily using their fingers. But then they did not memorize
their math facts and were delayed in their ability to do regular
math problems on paper. So we quit it. I just worry that the
infant will rely on the hand language instead of learning to talk
better. In fact if the 2 year old is not talking well and getting
everything he wants by grunting and pointing, then I tell the parent
to play like you do not understand what he wants and don’t give it
to him until he says it. It will frustrate him but he will
eventually understand that he is not going to get what he wants
until he communicates in the language that everyone understands.
Studies do not show a difference in children's talking if they do
sign language or not.
Dr. Knapp
