The Claim: Learning sign language can help a baby talk earlier.
The Truth: There's no doubt that learning to sign can help a
baby communicate her needs more easily. And the largest study to
date, conducted by the mother of the baby-sign movement, Linda
Acredolo, PhD, a Parents advisor and professor emeritus of
psychology at the University of California, Davis, did find that
babies who learned to sign spoke on average three or four months
sooner than those who didn't. But there are some skeptics. "When
parents are signing to their children, they're also talking to
their children," says Dr. Hirsh-Pasek. "They're communicating in
two different ways. That's not to say the effect isn't real, but
is it just the signing -- or is it a positive effect of the
extra attention? We just can't say." Moreover, there's no
scientific evidence at all that early talking, walking, or
reading translates into long-term success in life. The Bottom
Line: There's no drawback to teaching a baby to sign -- and lots
of potential benefit