Without sign language deaf people would have to resort to writing down everything they wanted to communicate and attempt to read lips. Yes, sign language is extremely important to the deaf community, but what about the rest of us? What can learning sign language benefit those of us who are not deaf?

Think about everyday situations when sign language might come in handy. In sports, football players often use hand signals to communicate across the field. We often find ourselves trying to use our hands to help communicate what we know the person we are addressing cannot hear due to the noise level. When teaching our children how to say the names of new items or how to ask for specific things we often point or mime to help them learn. Using our hands to speak is something we all do, without giving it much though.

Much research has been conducted over the past few decades to determine the benefits of learning sign language. Learn to sign in addition to another spoken language and be bilingual. It has been proven that being bilingual expands a human’s cognitive processes and literacy. Studies also indicate that children who learn to sign as infants learn to read earlier than those who are not exposed to signing. Small children who learn to express their needs by signing typically learn to speak earlier than non-signers. Research conducted over a period of twenty years and presented in a paper at the International Conference on Infant Studies in 2000 in Brighton, England, indicates that children who learn to sign as infants not only learn to read before other children their age, but they also maintain an increase in I.Q. of 13 to 8 points.

When children know how to express themselves by signing, they experience less frustration and fewer tantrums than children who do not know how to sign. Parents who are able to understand what their child needs in a given situation are less likely to become frustrated than parents who have no idea what their child is trying to communicate. This same idea applies to stroke patients who have lost their speech.  Being able to communicate by signing relieves stress and reduces the frustration that comes from not being able to express a need, desire, or fear.

Parents who adopt children from other countries find using hand signs helps to lessen frustrations experienced by both parent and child when trying to communicate in two different languages. Being able to communicate using hand signs helps these adopted children to feel more confident and secure in their new environment, factors which can help speed the bonding process. Children learn that their needs are understood and are being met. In addition to this important benefit, symbolic communication, or signing, is a natural part of language development in children and helps children adopted from other countries to learn their new language more quickly.

If you want to learn ASL, browse through our resources on the right to begin or continue your journey in the world of American Sign Language.

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