If you get past the title and incorrect information...

This is not a bad post per se though there are several inaccuracies in it. I think of it as a good place to start a dialog about ASL and our little ones...

Bad Parent: Use Your Words — Please! I regret teaching my child sign language.

Of course, her son does not have delayed speaking because of teaching him sign language. And, I do think he understands what more means (though it may have multiple meanings for him). The comments for the article are also a good spot to get a more "balanced" view of ASL and babies.

I did have to laugh a little as M has started to sign eat to only mean that she wants "Mommy's milk." She used to sign eat and milk but that has been shortened to just eat and I do have days where I get tired of being greeted after a long day with eat, eat, eat!

Old article but good one...

Can baby sign language delay speech?

“Communication is communication. Signing, gesturing, using communication boards and other assistive methods are all acceptable in the very young child who is trying to get his message across and understand what others say to him,” says Wegner.

....

"Talking and signing together flood the baby with language," says Acredolo whose research, published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, indicates signing may even give children a slight future verbal edge. "At 36 months, the [signing] babies in our study were speaking, on average, the equivalent of non-signing 47 month olds," she says.

She can read thanks to signing?

I'm sure many of you saw this on tv or read about it last spring. A 17 month old girl could read:

NBC's TODAY show

From the show:

when Elizabeth was born,...they started teaching her sign language along with spoken language. They read to her often, and her favorite television program — the only one her parents let her watch — was a PBS show called “Signing Times,” which teaches kids sign language.
...
“We tried to do everything we could to try to stimulate her language growth,” Michael Barrett told Curry. “From day one Katy has been using sign language with her. We think anything relating to language is a good thing to nurture.”

I agree! I think that all babies/children should be exposed to several languages at as early an age as possible.

Obviously, this 17 month old girl is special but did the word association between speaking, watching, and signing help her to read so early?

- Lori

Edited to add additional information from Rachel from Signing Time:
http://www.signingtime.com/rachel/2008/11/07/meet-elizabeth/