caitlyn, signing may delay expressive language development in the sense that the child is not motivated to speak since he is understood and gets his needs met by signing. Essentially, language comes in when the child wants to communicate a need and that's y they learn certain words faster than others (provided the caregiver facilitates the right way.)
That's y i'm not for signing and make a point to talk a lot to Megan so that when she is ready to speak, she will have the vocabulary bank all built up. Even as I do routine care for her like diapering etc, I talking continuously to her, explaining what I am doing, ask her questions, describing things to her like the details on her clothes etc. It looks silly to an observer cos you'll look like u are toking to urself but seriously, its v impt for language development.
my 2 cents worth
That's y i'm not for signing and make a point to talk a lot to Megan so that when she is ready to speak, she will have the vocabulary bank all built up. Even as I do routine care for her like diapering etc, I talking continuously to her, explaining what I am doing, ask her questions, describing things to her like the details on her clothes etc. It looks silly to an observer cos you'll look like u are toking to urself but seriously, its v impt for language development.
my 2 cents worth
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