From the Director
My wife read "Baby Signs: How To Talk With Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk" when she was pregnant. I was skeptical, but we started using Baby Signs for our son when he was six or seven months old. His first sign was "moon". It was a summer night and we were out in the backyard, enjoying a barbecue when our son looked up, then made the sign for "moon". There, indeed, was a beautiful full moon, just like the one in his favorite book! It was a revelation. He soon began to use signs to tell us if he was hungry or thirsty, his feelings, even where he wanted to go on his walks! I had the reaction all Baby Signs parents have: I was amazed at how much my baby knew and how tuned in he was to the world around him. He even made up a few signs and taught them to us (something I thought was a sign of his personal genius but that I've learned is quite common with signing babies). Using Baby Signs will give you a tremendous amount of respect for your baby, and that fact alone makes this one of the most worthwhile things you can do with your child. Eventually, I contacted the authors of "Baby Signs" because I wanted to buy a baby sign language video to watch with my son. When they informed me that they hadn't made one yet I began clearing my schedule. The project was much more than I had bargained for. Creating the animation, shooting the live action and animal footage... everything took three times longer than anticipated, but the effort has been incredibly rewarding. Throughout the process, I sent copies of the work-in-progress to families with infants. All of these babies have learned to sign and sign fluently! I really believe in this. I know it works, I know it can change people's lives and that's a great feeling. Try it! I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments: NoPangloss@aol.com
About the Authors
Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn are internationally known scholars in the field of child development and pioneers in the field of non-verbal communication with infants. After discovering the "Baby Signs" phenomenon in the early 1980's, Linda and Susan launched over 20 years of research on non-verbal communication with infants and its positive effects -- effects that their studies show reach into elementary school and beyond. For more on Linda and Susan's research, go to:
BABYSIGNS.COM.
For this project, Linda and Susan teamed with established film production team (and enthusiastic Baby Signs parents!) Lisa Onodera and Greg Spence. Lisa's producing credits include "Picture Bride" and "The Debut." Spence's filmmking experience includes writing and directing two feature films and a career as an executive at a major U.S. film production and distribution company. The music in "Baby Signs" (Bach and Mozart pieces, as well as an original score) was arranged by composer John M. Davis, whose son, Theo, uses his Baby Signs to make French/English puns.
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