Yes, parents should consider learning at least basic ASL for baby sign language, though the degree of commitment depends on your goals. The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes baby sign language as a positive tool for improving early communication and strengthening the parent-child bond. Research consistently shows that signing with babies reduces frustration, gives infants a way to express needs before they can talk, and poses zero risk of delaying speech. If you are a parent wondering whether it is worth the effort, the short answer is that even a handful of signs can meaningfully change daily life with a pre-verbal child. One parent might teach the sign for “milk” and watch their eight-month-old use it at 3 a.m.
instead of screaming. That alone can justify the learning curve. The longer answer is more nuanced. What most hearing families teach is not formal American Sign Language but a simplified set of gestures sometimes called “baby sign.” The National Association of the Deaf draws a clear line between the two, and some advocates in the Deaf community view casual baby sign programs as an appropriation of ASL when they fail to promote the actual language. Parents who invest in learning real ASL gain something beyond a parenting hack: fluency in a living language and a connection to a broader community. This article walks through what the research actually says about cognitive benefits, whether signing delays speech, the cultural considerations that matter, and how to decide which approach fits your family.
Table of Contents
- Does Learning ASL Actually Help Babies Communicate Earlier?
- What the Research Says About Cognitive and Literacy Benefits
- The Speech Delay Myth and What Science Actually Shows
- Baby Sign Versus Formal ASL — Which Should Parents Learn?
- Cultural Sensitivity and the Appropriation Debate
- When Baby Sign Language Helps Most
- The Realistic Outlook for Signing Families
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
Does Learning ASL Actually Help Babies Communicate Earlier?
The evidence on this point is fairly strong in the short term. A study highlighted by Speech and Language Kids found that children in sign language groups were able to express themselves earlier than children who did not use sign. This makes intuitive sense. Babies develop motor control over their hands before they develop fine control over the muscles needed for speech. A ten-month-old who cannot yet say “more” can close her fists together in the asl sign for it. Dr. Laura Ann Petitto’s research at Gallaudet University documented something striking: babies exposed to sign language on a regular basis begin to “babble” with their fingers, mirroring the vocal babbling that hearing babies do with their mouths. This suggests that young children are neurologically primed for language input regardless of whether it arrives through sound or vision. In practice, this means a signing baby can tell you she wants water, that something hurts, or that she sees a dog across the street — weeks or months before she could say any of those words.
For parents, the payoff is immediate and concrete. The National Institutes of Health published research noting that this ability to communicate wants and needs before speech emerges decreases frustration for both baby and parent. Compare that to the alternative: a fifteen-month-old who knows exactly what she wants but has no way to tell you, leading to the kind of meltdowns that define the toddler years. Signing does not eliminate tantrums, but it removes one of their biggest triggers. That said, the timeline varies. Some babies pick up their first sign at six months, others not until after their first birthday. Parents who expect instant results sometimes abandon the practice too soon. Consistency matters more than volume. Teaching five signs and using them daily at mealtimes and during play will produce better results than introducing thirty signs sporadically.
What the Research Says About Cognitive and Literacy Benefits
Beyond the communication advantages, several studies suggest that signing may offer cognitive benefits to young children. A 2021 study from the University of Connecticut found that early exposure to language, whether signed or spoken, supports the development of typical cognitive skills. The researchers went further, suggesting that learning sign language could actually improve cognition in typically developing, hearing children. More recently, Indiana University published research in February 2025 showing that baby sign language boosts early literacy skills by linking gestural communication to stronger language acquisition foundations. There is also compelling data from bilingual research. A 2024 study published in PMC found that ASL-English bilingual deaf and hard-of-hearing children had total vocabularies — ASL and English combined — equivalent to same-age hearing monolingual children. Children with large ASL vocabularies were more likely to have spoken English vocabularies in the average range.
While this study focused on deaf and hard-of-hearing children, it challenges the assumption that learning signs somehow competes with or subtracts from spoken language development. However, parents should temper their expectations. A review by Parenting Science examined 17 studies on baby sign language and found that although 13 reported benefits, methodological weaknesses left the evidence inconclusive. There are no randomized controlled trials proving long-term developmental advantages from baby signing programs. The cognitive benefits may be real, but the rigorous proof is not yet there. If you sign with your baby because you read it will raise her IQ or get her into a better preschool, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. If you sign because it makes daily life easier and more connected, the research supports that expectation.
The Speech Delay Myth and What Science Actually Shows
One of the most persistent concerns parents raise is whether teaching sign language will delay their child’s speech. The fear is logical on its surface: if a baby can get what she wants by signing, why would she bother learning to talk? But the research is unambiguous on this point. A 2023 systematic review published in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research examined the full body of literature and found no effect of sign language on spoken language development. None of the reviewed studies suggested negative effects from teaching baby sign language. In fact, signing may be especially helpful for children who are slow to talk. Research cited by the Hanen Centre found that in children who were linguistically behind their peers, there was a large increase in language ability after signing was introduced. Gestures appear to particularly benefit children with weaker language skills, functioning almost as a bridge to spoken words.
Similarly, Kids Creek Therapy notes that research evidence shows using sign language does not prevent children with developmental disabilities from talking and may actually support their ability to speak. Consider this example: a two-year-old boy with a vocabulary of only a dozen spoken words learns twenty signs over a few months. His parents notice that as he masters a sign, he often begins attempting the spoken word shortly after. The sign seems to give him a conceptual anchor — he understands the word’s meaning through the gesture, and the spoken version follows. This pattern shows up repeatedly in the literature. Signing does not replace speech. For most children, it scaffolds it.
Baby Sign Versus Formal ASL — Which Should Parents Learn?
This is where the decision gets more personal. What most hearing parents teach when they say “baby sign language” is a simplified set of gestures, often drawn from ASL but stripped of grammar, syntax, and most of the vocabulary. The National Association of the Deaf makes this distinction explicitly. Baby sign programs typically teach isolated signs for common words — milk, more, eat, dog, all done — without the linguistic structure that makes ASL a complete language. A study cited by Parenting Science found that when researchers compared made-up infant signs to signs drawn from British Sign Language, children learned either form equally well. From a pure utility standpoint, the specific gestures you use matter less than the consistency with which you use them. But utility is not the only consideration. Learning actual ASL offers advantages that baby sign programs do not.
You acquire a real second language, one with its own grammar and expressive depth. Your child, if exposed early and consistently enough, may develop genuine bilingual ability. And you connect your family to the Deaf community in a way that respects ASL as a cultural and linguistic heritage rather than treating it as a parenting tool to be discarded once your child starts talking. Some Deaf advocates have expressed discomfort with the baby sign industry precisely because it borrows from ASL without acknowledging or supporting the community that created it. The tradeoff is time and effort. Learning functional ASL requires significantly more commitment than memorizing twenty baby signs from a YouTube video. Parents already stretched thin by the demands of infant care may find that baby sign is the realistic option, and that is a perfectly valid choice. But for families with the bandwidth, pursuing real ASL — even at a beginner level — yields dividends that extend well beyond the baby years.
Cultural Sensitivity and the Appropriation Debate
This topic deserves honest engagement because it comes up in every serious discussion about hearing families using sign language. The National Association of the Deaf has addressed it directly, noting that while they support early language exposure for all children, there is a meaningful difference between learning ASL as a language and cherry-picking convenient gestures from it. Some members of the Deaf community welcome hearing families’ interest in signing. Others view the baby sign industry — which generates considerable revenue through classes, apps, and flashcard sets — as exploitative when it profits from ASL without giving back to Deaf culture or advocating for Deaf rights. Parents navigating this should be aware that the concern is not about individual families teaching their babies to sign. It is about the broader pattern of treating a minority community’s language as a developmental gadget. A reasonable middle ground exists.
If you use baby signs, acknowledge where they come from. If you take a class, consider one taught by a Deaf instructor. If your child develops a genuine interest in signing, support that interest into real ASL education rather than letting it fade once spoken language takes over. Gallaudet University’s Visual Language and Visual Learning Center, known as VL2, continues to research how visual language impacts learning and cognitive development in both deaf and hearing populations. Their work represents the kind of scholarship that bridges the gap between hearing parents’ practical interests and the Deaf community’s cultural investment in ASL. The warning here is straightforward: do not treat ASL as a phase your child goes through before “real” language kicks in. That framing, however unintentional, diminishes a language that is the primary mode of communication for hundreds of thousands of people.
When Baby Sign Language Helps Most
Signing tends to deliver its biggest benefits in specific situations. Children between roughly eight and twenty-four months — old enough to imitate gestures but not yet fluent speakers — gain the most from baby sign. Families where one parent speaks a different language at home sometimes find that signs serve as a neutral bridge between languages during the transition period. And as previously noted, children who are late talkers or who have developmental disabilities often show marked improvement when signing is introduced. Dr.
Claire Vallotton, a leading researcher in this field, has compiled 68 studies and summarized over three decades of research showing generally positive impacts of signing on development from early childhood through elementary school. Her work suggests that the benefits are not limited to the pre-verbal window. Children who sign early may carry certain language-processing advantages into their school years, though the strength of that evidence varies by study. For parents of children with Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, or apraxia of speech, signing is not just a nice-to-have. It can be a critical communication lifeline during years when spoken language develops slowly or unevenly.
The Realistic Outlook for Signing Families
Emily Oster, the economist and parenting writer behind ParentData, offers what may be the most balanced take: baby sign language is not harmful and can be enjoyable, but parents should not feel pressure that it is mandatory for optimal development. That framing matters. The parenting industry thrives on making parents feel that every choice is high-stakes, and baby sign language has not been immune to that treatment. The truth is that plenty of children grow up perfectly well without ever learning a single sign, and plenty of signing babies do not turn out to be geniuses. What signing does offer is a window — brief but real — into your child’s mind before speech opens the door wider.
That window has value not because it produces measurable developmental gains but because it changes the texture of daily life with a baby. The field continues to evolve. Researchers at Gallaudet’s VL2 Center are pushing forward on understanding how visual language shapes learning across populations. Indiana University’s recent work on signing and early literacy points toward a future where the evidence base may grow stronger. For now, parents who sign with their babies are making a choice that is safe, supported by moderate evidence, and — for many families — genuinely rewarding.
Conclusion
The research is clear on the fundamentals. Baby sign language does not delay speech, can reduce frustration during the pre-verbal months, and may offer short-term communication and cognitive benefits. The American Academy of Pediatrics supports it, multiple studies confirm its safety, and families who stick with it consistently tend to find it worthwhile. Where the evidence gets thinner is on long-term outcomes. No rigorous trial has proven that signing babies become smarter, more literate, or more linguistically advanced than their non-signing peers years down the line.
Parents should approach signing as a practical communication tool, not a developmental silver bullet. Whether you learn formal ASL or stick with simplified baby signs depends on your goals, your schedule, and your values. If accessibility and cultural respect matter to you, investing in real ASL — even at a basic conversational level — is the stronger choice. If you simply want to reduce mealtime meltdowns and understand what your one-year-old is trying to tell you, a dozen well-practiced baby signs will do the job. Either way, the best time to start is before you think your baby is ready. They are paying attention to your hands long before they can use their own.
Frequently Asked Questions
At what age should I start teaching my baby sign language?
Most experts suggest introducing signs around six to eight months, when babies begin to develop the motor skills to imitate hand movements. However, you can start modeling signs even earlier. Babies typically produce their first intentional sign between eight and twelve months, though some take longer.
Will baby sign language delay my child’s ability to speak?
No. A 2023 systematic review in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research found no evidence that signing delays spoken language development. In fact, research from the Hanen Centre suggests that signing may particularly benefit children who are slow to develop spoken language.
Do I need to use real ASL signs, or can I make up my own?
Either approach works for basic communication. Research has shown that children learn made-up signs just as easily as signs from a formal sign language. However, using real ASL signs has the advantage of connecting to an established language, which becomes more meaningful if your child continues signing beyond infancy.
How many signs should I start with?
Start with three to five signs tied to your baby’s daily routine — common choices include milk, more, eat, all done, and water. Add new signs gradually as your baby begins to use the initial ones. Consistency and repetition matter more than the total number of signs.
Is baby sign language helpful for children with speech delays or disabilities?
Yes. Research cited by Kids Creek Therapy shows that sign language does not prevent children with developmental disabilities from talking and may actually support speech development. Signing gives these children a way to communicate while their spoken language skills catch up.
Should I take a class or can I learn baby signs on my own?
You can learn basic baby signs through books, apps, or free online videos. If you want to learn actual ASL, a class — especially one taught by a Deaf instructor — will give you better pronunciation, grammar, and cultural context. The choice depends on how deeply you want to engage with the language.