Date of Award

2015-01-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Speech-Language Pathology

Advisor(s)

Vannesa T. Mueller

Abstract

Introduction: Past research has indicated that teaching baby sign language to infants can be stressful for parents. Thus, a previous study to test this assertion was conducted. A baby sign workshop was conducted and consisted of teaching the parents approximately 200 signs and information on implementation. Results indicated that parents did not report stress as a result of using baby sign with their children. The current case study administered a modified version of the baby sign workshop survey one year post hoc. Purpose: To observe continued use of baby sign, as well as parental perception of the impact of baby sign on parental stress and/or parent-child interaction. Methods: Participants of a single group case study completed a qualitative follow-up survey and participated in a brief interview.

Results: The results indicate that the majority of the families continued to use baby sign after the workshop until their children began using spoken communication to a greater extent. Parent-reported responses have remained consistent from the previous study, indicating parents did not report stress as a result of using baby sign with their children. Additionally, parents reported positive impacts of baby sign on child development and parent-child interaction. Conclusions: Continued use of baby sign with infants and young children does not produce stress in parents. Some limitations and a discussion for future research are presented.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

24 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Brenda G. Compean

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