A major milestone in your baby's development is their development of language skills. While milestones can vary from website to website, or resource to resource, researcher Margot Visser-Bochane has identified 26 clear and distinctive milestones that reflect language development in children. While these milestones are important to consider, we want parents to recognize that they are not definitive markers for your child - each child develops at their own pace. If a milestone for a child at 18 months is to speak up to 10 words, don’t worry if it's only one or two words, these are average milestones to consider. As always, if you feel your child is not meeting markers, or you have more concerns, please consult with your pediatrician.
The merits of sign language have long been debated in the development of a child’s language skills. While much of this debate is centered around a true lack of empirical evidence, many felt that the use of sign language seized the typical development of learning and speech development. In the 1985 case study, “Symbolic Gesturing in Language Development” researchers Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn showed positive accounts of spontaneous sign-like gestures and use of actual signs in numerous infants. This study led to further research revealing “signing trained” children showed statistically higher receptive and expressive language outcomes than both the control and “verbal trained” groups of children. The group of “signing trained” children also had higher language scores at 30 and 36 months when compared to the other groups. This ground breaking research shows how the early introduction of sign language into your child's life not only helps their first language development but also boosts their ability to learn later in life.
Lastly, research has shown that parents who choose to learn signs and encourage their infants to sign are parents who have already given their babies a genetic advantage for language learning and literacy in life.
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