Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk.

• Author: Murray, Catherine S.

by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn / Contemporary Books, 1996, pp. 162, $12.95

Reviewed by CATHERINE S. MURRAY Assistant Professor of Psychology St. Joseph's University Philadelphia, Pa.

Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn do something research psychologists all too infrequently do--they have gone public with a fascinating phenomenon that has been the subject of their systematic exploration for a decade. Their reason for doing this is simple--to help parents and babies take advantage of their scientific findings on symbolic gesturing, which they call "baby signs," enabling meaningful communication between parent and infant during the difficult time (from about nine to 30 months of age), when a baby's desire to communicate outstrips his or her capacity to speak.

Baby signs consist of nonverbal signals that convey requests, replies, or direct attention to objects and events. Sniffing to signify a flower, panting to refer to a dog, raising arms to signify "big," and shrugging shoulders and holding extended palms open to signify "l don't know" are some illustrations. At about nine to 10 months, baby signs demonstrate an infant's newfound ability and motivation for intentional communication and, if reacted to by parents as if their infant was speaking to them, expand in use even after the onset of speech. This enhances the attachment between parents and infants who utilize them, establishing a powerful emotional bond. Less obvious benefits include stimulation of intellectual development, growth of the child's self-esteem, and acceleration of the process of learning to talk.

The authors spend most of the book describing how to teach baby signs in a simple step-by-step fashion. They inform parents when to begin teaching baby signs and how to expand the repertoire of signals. They explain how to foster creative production and use of baby signs, and how eventually to replace the signs with words. This effort culminates in chapters consisting of a "dictionary" of signs and a collection of original poems and rhymes embodying the use of toothbrushes that utilize sound waves to fight plaque have become the glamour products in the field. Obviously, budgets and limited counter space mean that you can't run out and buy every new gimmick, so Teledyne, Ft. Collins, Colo., has put everything into a single unit.

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