Baby ASL is educational and nurturing American Sign Language instruction for caregivers and babies!
At Columbus Speech & Hearing, it is our mission to help all people improve communication for life. This includes people of all ages and developmental stages. We’re here to foster improved communication between you and your child!
Early exposure to signing helps babies to develop their language and reasoning skills. Sign language will allow your child to express their needs before they learn to articulate words.
Studies show signing with your baby can reduce tantrums and frustration while increasing the child/caregiver bond!
Our Baby ASL program is designed to teach parents and babies 0 months-2 years old to use sign language to increase and improve communication.
Classes will meet for 8 weeks for 1 hour per week. Each class will include time to learn different signs that your child can use to communicate simple things. The class also includes individual instructor time, educational resources on early childhood development, and Q&A with guest speakers. Our guest speakers are experts from the speech language and hearing development fields.
Here are the dates for the upcoming classes:
Tuesdays, July 6 – August 24, 11 a.m. – noon Register Here
Tuesdays, September 28 – November 16, 11 a.m. – noon Register Here
Don’t see a class that meets your needs? Sign up to be notified when more classes are available, or leave us a note with your preferred day/time! We will be creating additional classes to accommodate interests.
Each eight-week course is $150 per family.
Courses are presented online and provide sign language education for both babies and parents.
Limited class sizes provide an intimate environment for optimal learning. Only one registration is required per family.
Classes will include sign language instruction, guest speakers, educational resources on early childhood development, individual instructor time, and additional resources for families.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What signs will we learn?
Baby ASL will cover signs to make daily life easier by helping babies express more clearly what they are needing and/or wanting!
- Mealtime signs, examples include: “eat,” “more,” “yes,” “no,” “want,” “need,” “please,” thank you”
- Bathroom signs, examples include: “diaper,” “bathroom,” “clean,” “dirty”
- Pet signs, examples include: “dog,” “cat,” “fish”
- Playtime signs, examples include: “play,” “book,” “toys,” “music,” “outside”
- Colors
- Family Members
- Bath-time signs, examples include: “bath,” “soap,” “pajamas,” “clean”
- Bedtime signs, examples include: “bedtime,” “brush teeth,” “bed or crib,” “blanket”
When should our family enroll?
Our Baby ASL program is designed to teach parents and 0-2 years old. We offer the courses listed above, but are able to accommodate different days/times if there is a need. We allow seven families per class, if you’re interested in a different day/time than listed above, let us know!
What can Baby ASL offer our family?
We know it can be hard caring for an infant, so that’s why we offer this program! Sign language makes it easier to communicate with your little one. Studies have shown using sign language with babies and children can reduce tantrums and frustration, boost self-esteem and confidence, stimulate intellectual development, and strengthen the parent-infant bond.
Will learning sign language delay my child’s speech?
No! In fact, giving your child an early form of communication, like sign language, has been proven in research to promote a desire to learn more communication techniques, including talking. In Baby ASL, we encourage our parents to simultaneously sign and say words for maximum benefit!
I’m in a parenting group, can our group enroll?
Certainly! It’s not uncommon for already-formed parent groups to want to add Baby ASL. It can even make ongoing group time more fun! If you have a group you’d like to enroll in Baby ASL together, please email us at asl@columbusspeech.org. Our minimum class size is five families.
I don’t live in Columbus…
That’s okay! You don’t even need to live in Ohio. Our virtual classes provide the opportunity for our classes to be taken anywhere. Just note the times listed in our course offerings are EST.
I don’t see a time or day that fits my needs…
Let us know! We will be creating additional classes to accommodate interests. Our classes require a minimum of five families, and a maximum of seven, to allow for optimal learning and engagement.
PRO TIP: A great way to get a class started is to share our course with friends and family! The more interest we have in a time/day the easier to accommodate!
What comes after Baby ASL?
That’s up to you and your family! If you’d like to continue using ASL in your household, let your instructor know. Future course offerings based on interest and demand could include a 2-5 year old class. And for some families, once their little one is verbalizing their needs, they choose to stop the use of ASL. This is a personal decision, you can discuss with your instructor and guest speakers who are experts in the field of speech language and hearing development!
Other questions, concerns or comments?
Email asl@columbusspeech.org.