FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

If you have a question that isn't answered below, please send an email to info@Tinytalk.com.au

Q. Who is Baby Sign Language suitable for?

A. Babies aged between six months and 30 months benefit the most.

Q. Will teaching Tinytalk be time consuming and hard to learn? Do I need any prior knowledge of sign language?

A. Not at all! Tinytalk is a simple, concise and fun approach to learning an Australian version of Baby Sign Language. It has been designed to be easily picked up by people with no prior signing knowledge so they can build it into their everyday life as a natural part of communicating with their baby. Tinytalk uses easy-to-remember, simple signs that often resemble the object or activity they indicate. For example, the gesture for “EAT” is to place your fingertips to your lips. Such simple gestures make Tinytalk quick and easy for you and your baby to learn and use.

Q. Will signing interfere with my baby's speech and language development?

A. Quite the opposite! Research shows that Baby Sign Language encourages babies to talk sooner and helps to develop larger vocabularies. As soon as your baby can say a word clearly enough to be understood, they will generally stop using the related sign, as it is easier for them to talk than to sign. In fact, as words and signs are always used together, Baby Sign Language helps babies remember words until they develop the verbal skills to speak.

Q. Why sign if my baby is going to talk soon anyway?

A. Because until they can talk in sentences and verbalise their needs clearly, babies often express their frustration through tantrums, throwing things, or not eating or sleeping. Signing reduces the frustrations that lead baby to express negative behaviour as it gives them the opportunity to express themselves and communicate about things that interest them. Research has shown that signing helps babies talk sooner. Do you really want your baby to miss out on that opportunity?

Q. What if my baby is already talking/saying some words. Is it too late?

A. Definitely not! Even when babies start to talk, their vocabularies are very limited as it takes time for them to learn new words. In addition, some words like “SCARED”, “ELEPHANT” or “TOILET”- are more difficult than others to master. Introducing signs to babies for words they cannot say can help bridge the gap until they learn the words. As babies learn new spoken words, they can help you to understand the meaning of the words by using signs, eliminating a great deal of frustration for you both.

Q. What about the "terrible two's"? Does signing help?

A. Research has shown that signing reduces the temper tantrums associated with the frustration babies experience by not being able to communicate. Signing may not completely stop a tantrum when your baby doesn't get what they want (as any parent knows, few things can do that!), but because you understand what your baby wants, you can try to avoid these situations or offer an alternative.

Q. Is Baby Sign Language Universal?

A. Sign Language is NOT a universal language; each country has its own version and usually within each country, including Australia, there are several ’dialects’. For instance, states within Australia differ with certain signs for certain words and if you have learnt to sign in Queensland you will have to learn some new signs to communicate with someone in Victoria. This makes it very difficult when producing a national system and therefore NO system in Australia is 100% compatible within each state with Australian Sign Language, AUSLAN. For this reason Tinytalk takes many common sign language signs but also uses universal natural gestures.

Q. Is Tinytalk based on Auslan?

A. Baby sign is a temporary communication system used with 6 – 30 month old babies as a form of communication before they can talk. As such, it is not designed as a replacement for traditional sign language. Baby sign is designed for hearing babies and as those babies begin talking, the signs are dropped as speech takes over.

The Tinytalk signs are based on Auslan as it makes sense to use a sytem already in use Australia wide, however some of the signs have been modified or changed to make them easier for babies and parents / carers to learn and use in the short term (70% of signs are compatible with Auslan and can be used with the hearing impaired, with the remainder of the signs being based on natural gestures).

Q. Why doesn't Tinytalk use 100% Auslan/Makaton Signs?

A. Baby signing is very different from adult signing. With babies it is very important to use easy signs and keep signing fun, so it is not as important which hand is used or how precise you and your baby are as long as you understand each other. With traditional sign language it is important to master the signs and grammar correctly as it is a language used to communicate within a whole community and you are not always speaking to familiar people. Therefore everyone needs to be performing the signs the same way (although even within Auslan different states sometimes have different signs). It can take years to perfect Auslan.

Babies do not have the motor skills to perfect a lot of the Auslan signs, therefore signing with babies needs to be kept simple. Babies who grow up using Auslan as their first language will often not master a lot of the signs until they are around 3 years old. As hearing babies drop signs as they start to talk, there is obviously no point pushing them to use a sign that they will never master because by the time they are physically able to, they are no longer using it. Therefore the signs and techniques Tinytalk use are a lot simpler. Tinytalk signs are based on what babies can physically do. Using 100% Auslan is too difficult for a baby to manage. However if parents want to teach their children Auslan at a later date, the foundation laid using Tinytalk baby signs would be beneficial as children would already understand the concept of communicating with their hands and would be familiar with a number of Auslan signs.