If sign language is used, will verbal communication be delayed?
According to Garcia, the reverse is true. “One of the best things about the trend of teaching sign language for early communication is that the research has clearly demonstrated that the use of sign language does NOT mean that child will not learn to talk.” Studies have shown that not only do signing children tend to learn to speak sooner, but by age two, they have a vocabulary of 50 or more real words, on average, than their non-signing counterparts. By age three, children exposed to signing had language skills approaching that expected of four year olds.