The area of language includes how an individual understands spoken speech, how an individual puts words together for speech, and literacy. A child may have difficulty understanding what is being said to them. For example, they may have difficulty following directions or answering yes/no questions because they do not understand what was said. Speech therapy can work to improve these receptive language skills. On the other hand, a child may understand what was said to them but have difficulty forming phrases to respond. Some children have difficulty putting together sentences with noun, verbs, and adjectives. Vocabulary and sentence structure are also included in these expressive language skills. Children with language disorders sometimes also have difficulty with literacy, reading, and writing.

Language is made up of socially shared rules that include the following:

• What words mean (e.g., "star" can refer to a bright object in the night sky or a celebrity)
• How to make new words (e.g., friend, friendly, unfriendly)
• How to put words together (e.g., "Peg walked to the new store" rather than "Peg walk store new")
• What word combinations are best in what situations ("Would you mind moving your foot?" could quickly change to "Get off my foot, please!" if the first request did not produce results)

What to look for?

• Difficulty answering yes/no or “wh” questions
• Difficulty following directions
• Difficulty telling age appropriate stories
• Difficulty combining words into age appropriate sentences
• Difficulty with reading, writing, and spelling

Promoting Language Development Through Sign Language

Speech Pathologist answers common questions

by Taylor Wathen M.S. CF-SLP

Will my child still use verbal language if we teach them to use sign language?

Why is an SLP teaching my child to use sign language?

• Presymbolic communication is communication without the use of a signs, words, or pictures. Presymbolic communication includes crying, laughing, reaching and pointing. Using sign language with your child introduces symbolic communication, the next step. This means your child is learning to use a symbol to convey information. Signs and words are both examples of symbolic communication. 
•  Using sign language also introduces communicative intent.  This is the understanding that certain signs, words, or behaviors result in a specific response. For example, if I sign "eat" I get to eat.
• Using sign language with your child can decrease frustration. Children who are unable to express their needs and wants often cry to express something is wrong. The caregiver must then guess what is upsetting the child. Teaching sign language gives them a way to convey these needs to their caregiver.
•  Sign language increases social communication skills. It allows a child to communicate with their caregivers and peers. Sign language can be used to comment, request, and to share information. 
• Sign language can also increase a child's length of utterance by combining two signs together before the child can combine two words.
  

Where do I begin?

Once your Speech-Language Pathologist and you have decided to begin using sign language with your child, you should work together to choose vocabulary that can generalize into multiple contexts. For example, I typically choose to teach the sign "more" early on. This sign can be used for more swinging, more food, more juice etc. It is important to work together with your SLP when choosing words that will be beneficial to the child. An SLP teaching your child the sign for "out" may not be the best choice if you stay inside most of the day. It is also important to choose words that are easy to duplicate before teaching more complex signs. Some signs I teach first are: more, eat, mom, dad,out, play, all done, drink, and help.

Do you have any tips on using sign language at home?

• Teaching children a new skill  takes time. For example, a child is not going to learn to dress themselves over night. It takes time and a lot of reinforcement. Learning to use sign language is no different. It takes time, reinforcement, and many models for a child to learn to use sign language.
• The child's sign may not look the exact same as when you do it. For example, when doing the sign for more you bring your fingers together. Some children instead bring their two hands together. It is acceptable for them to use close approximations of a sign.
• If at all possible respond to every communication attempt. Everytime your child makes a request try to give them the requested object. This teaches cause and effect.
• Some children may require hand over hand to imitate signs. It is important to discuss this with your SLP to ensure this is appropriate for your child.