Research on baby sign language has found that teaching baby signs improved cognitive and emotional development. Far from slowing down speech, baby sign language actually increases the rate of verbal development and at the same time increases the parent/child bond.
The most significant research was an NIH funded study comparing two groups of 11 month old babies. One group was taught baby sign language. The second group was given verbal training. Surprisingly, the signing group were more advanced talkers than the group given verbal training. The lead of the signing group continued to grow, with the signers exhibiting verbal skills 3 months ahead of the non-signers at 2 years old. Their lead seemed to shrink a little after two years old, but even at three years old � the signers were still ahead1.
The rest of this article and more (illustrations of signs) can be found at http://www.babysignlanguage.com/basics/research/
