Baby sign language is used by most parents for communicating with their infant babies. The positive results yielded by baby sign language are what has made it so popular among parents all over the world. It is believed that baby sign language enables parents to better understand their kid’s needs, thus resulting in greater interaction, bondage and more happiness. 

 

Despite the above said benefits, there are groups that criticize this method of communication. In other words, there is a group who does not approve and recommend baby sign language, since they believe it has some negative effects that could affect the infant baby both in his/ her present as well as the future. What are these criticisms? This article aims to explain what critics say about baby sign language. 

 

Listed below are some of the facts that critics have pointed out: 

 

Since parents know about the uses and benefits of sign language, every parent wants to use sign language with their kids, thinking that it would benefit the child. However, it should be kept in mind that not every kid is alike and different kids have different capabilities. So a parent could end up using excessive signs, symbols and simple words, thus burdening the kid in his/ her infant age. This could cause stresses and would have a huge psychological effect, affecting the kid’s future.

 

It is also believed that the constant use of simple words, signs and symbols could possibly limit speech of the child, if sign language is used for a very long period of time. The reason for this is because baby sign language itself has steps and stages in it and once a child does well in a stage, parents should make it point to change their strategies pertaining to sign language use. If the methods don’t change, it will cause a problem, possibly affecting speech of the kid.

 

There is also a possibility that parents would use wrong signs or symbols when communicating with the child, thinking that it would be easy for the kid to understand it, or possibly because the parents do not want to burden the kid with too many signs and symbols. For E.g. A parent could show a Toblerone chocolate box (triangular in shape) and say that it is a box. But usually, children are taught that boxes are square in shape, before they are taught signs and symbols such as triangles, pentagons, and hexagons. Such instances would be a case of overstepping, where the parent unintentionally oversteps, whereas things should go step-by-step. Such an instance could cause problems for the child in the future, since something registered in the minds of children will remain for a long time, irrespective of it being right or wrong.

 

Babies who can understand signs with the use of sign language are believed to be more social and friendly and they get along very well with adults. However, the negativity of this is that the kid would get along with both good and bad adults, since he/ she does not have the capability to figure out whether a person is good or bad in his/ her small age (not even an eight-year old can do this). Hence, there could be risks of the kid being abducted or harassed by a bad stranger.     

 

However, it should also be kept in mind that every good thing in the world has critics and criticisms are what make us realize the truth in many events. Baby sign language has its advantages, but also has its negative effects. So, proper use of sign language is all what is recommended here.