Parents' attitudes on teaching American Sign Language to their infant

This action research project examined parents' attitudes about teaching American Sign Language to their infants in a western community in Minnesota during the 2009--2010 school year. A total of 8 families in the early childhood special education class participated in the study. Analysis of the data consisted of qualitative and descriptive summaries and one open ended question for each of the four research questions. Findings indicated the parents did have an understanding of the potential benefits of using infant sign language and are willing to use signs. The parents indicated they did not observe their infants using signs to express their needs, but do believe when the parent used a sign the infant did know what the sign meant. Even though the parents did not see a decrease in infant frustration or observe their infant using signs, parents stated they planned to continue using signs after the initial training period concluded.