Back in June I wrote a blog about language delays in children adopted from Guatemala. Ella was nineteen months at the time and definitely speech delayed. I’ve yet to find any new information about the subject, but have had an interesting development in Ella’s case regarding the connection between sign language and speech.

One of the most enjoyable learning processes we’ve had with Ella is watching her acquire sign language. She loved it from the beginning and became highly proficient with a sign vocabulary of well over one hundred and fifty signs. As she got older, the learning time for a new sign was incredibly fast.

But ultimately sign language became a road block in Ella’s desire to speak. About four weeks ago (to our delight and huge relief) she started to speak a lot more, but interestingly mostly words that she had not learned a sign for. I put two and two together and realized that Ella would much prefer to sign, and I needed to take a different approach to the whole sign language issue.

I decided that I would no longer respond to Ella’s signs but would make it clear to her that I expect her to talk instead. This approach has been successful, and the amount of time she spends signing is decreasing and being replaced with speech.

Honestly speaking I will miss seeing her busy little hands signing away, particularly because I personally love sign language. Therefore I've promised myself to provide the opportunity for both Ella and I to learn sign language in the future if she is still interested.

Promoters of sign language claim it does not interfere with language learning; on the contrary, they say it can actually accelerate language learning. One study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development revealed that children who learned sign language actually learned to speak earlier than those who didn’t. There are always exceptions to these findings, and other factors that go into the huge complicated equation that is language learning.

I certainly don’t want to discourage other parents from teaching sign language to their toddlers. It is a creative and quite natural way to communicate, and the process of teaching it to your child is highly enjoyable. It can also greatly reduce frustration in young children who can use signs to communicate long before they can speak. We certainly enjoyed signing with Ella; it is just time for us to “put it away” so that sweet Ella will continue to find her voice and let it be heard.


Sign Language in infants and toddlers

Sign Language and its Benefits for Learning Children

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