Language Acquisition in Signing and Non-Signing Children

I found this chart on the Baby Sign Shine blog. It compares the language acquisition of signing and non-signing babies and toddlers. My daughter signed her first word at 7.5 months. She was saying her first word by 9 months. She signed her first two-word sentence at 13 months and used at least 250 signs by 18 months. At 2.5 she knows all her letters, and some of their sounds.

Language Acquisition of Hearing Children from Baby Sign Shine

Age	Non-ASL Child	ASL Child
6-8 months	-	Signs first word
9 months	Understands simple words (mom & dad)	Signs up to 75 signs
10 months	Says first word	Understands signed phrases
12 months	One or more real words spoken	Real words spoken Signs 2-3 word phrases Can sit & watch a picture book signed
18 months	Understands simple phrases Says 20-50 words Uses 2 word phrases	Says 30-70 words Uses 2-5 word phrases Looks at picture book with Mom
24 months	Says at least 150 words Can sit & listen to a picture book	Says at least 150 words Can understand everything that is said
3-5 years	Can understand everything that is said Says 1000-2000 words Knows 10 Letters	Says 1000-2000 Words Reads a picture book with a little help Knows all the Letters