Babies between four months and a year can ‘talk' with their parents, much before they acquire practised speech and vocabulary, said an expert who runs a baby signing class in Dubai.
Amanda Delalat, an Australian who heads Tinytalk, Dubai's only baby signing classes as a franchise of a UK-based company, says children can be trained to communicate with signs so as to express their needs.
"I took baby signing classes for my firstborn nearly four years ago and the results were there to see by the time he was 10 months old. He first started to signal when he wanted milk and after that the signals just kept coming. I didn't have that frustration period when kids cry and scream while mothers are clueless about what they want," said Amanda, 37.
Amanda's baby sign language is based on British Sign Language (BSL), a form of communication used for people with special needs. Tinytalk sign language is adapted for babies and is not region or culture specific. It's a 12-week-long course wherein mothers and baby minders are given an hour-long lesson each week. The course teaches around 150 signs.
"I teach mothers, fathers, nannies, minders and grannies, whoever can come along. They can then go back and use them in their everyday life. Every time they feed them or take them to the park they will make a hand gesture to the baby. After some time babies start to repeat those signs to communicate."
According to Amanda, sign language helps enhance speech abilities of children.
"It breaks that period when babies want to tell you something but haven't learnt to use their mouth properly. They do, however, have the dexterity to use signs to convey feelings. And being able to get across what they want to say builds their confidence, enhances vocabulary and helps early speech."
She added studies reveal that if parents start signing to their babies between four and six months of age, they begin to signal when they are 10-12 months old.
Lotus Chadwell, who has been taking signing classes for a year, said her 14-month-old baby took just as long to start signing.
"It's remarkable that my baby signs for milk when hungry instead of crying, which may mean many things and can confuse parents. It's amazing to see she could tell me what she wanted at such a young age." For details log on to www.tinytalk.co.uk
