Parents Learn to Communicate with Infants

Local workshop teaches parents how to “talk” to their
baby through sign language.

Natalie is only 11 months old yet she can tell her parents when she is hungry, thirsty, or has a stomachache. How can she communicate at such an early age? Because her parents took things into their own hands – quite literally – and attended a workshop that focuses on teaching sign language to hearing babies.

Since the early 1990’s, interest in teaching pre-verbal infants to communicate by signing has skyrocketed. While several books and how-to videos have been created on the subject, parents are generally left to their own devices. With the introduction of local baby signing workshops, parents no longer have to go it alone.

Attendees will learn about the benefits of communicating with pre-verbal babies through sign language and the research that supports it. Benefits include less frustration, higher IQ’s, larger vocabularies and earlier speech development. This is the same topic that has been featured on the national news as well as on Oprah, 20/20 and Nightline. Sessions will be presented by Shira Fogel, baby sign language specialist and founder of Tiny Talkers.

According to Fogel, “As a parent, I was initially concerned that teaching sign language to babies would delay normal speech development. However, after extensive research, I found that teaching a baby to sign actually accelerated the process. I have taught my own babies the technique and now want to share it with other parents.”

Workshops are held throughout the Portland metro area. New classes are added almost weekly so please continue to check the website or sign up to be notified when new classes are added.

The cost is $40 per attendee. If attending with a spouse/partner it is an additional $10. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. (registration form can be found on the following website)