As an Auslan interpreter I’m in the incredibly privileged position to have a deep understanding of Auslan, a skill that I use when teaching families to sign with their babies. However, often I hear people use Auslan and baby sign language interchangeably, but they are actually quite different.

Firstly, let’s look at Auslan – Australian Sign Language. It’s the language of the Australia Deaf community. I bet you’re thinking – “Wait, isn’t sign language the same all over the world?” No. No it isn’t. There are hundreds of signs languages, just like there are hundreds of spoken languages (I have whole blog on just this!). Sign languages the world over are unique, beautiful languages that are formed naturally by their communities. It takes many, many years to master a sign language. Auslan has it’s own unique sentence structure that is quite different to English, which is why generally speaking you don’t sign Auslan and speak English at the same time – because Auslan is not a visual representation of English. There are a bunch of differences that I won’t go into here, but I guess the main take away is: Auslan is Australian Sign Language – the language of the Australian Deaf community.

Now, baby sign language. Firstly, it’s actually not a language at all. As such, I do try to avoid using the phrase “baby sign language”. Baby signing is more technically correct. It is sometimes also referred to as “key word signing” (more on that on this blog). Baby signing is a wonderful tool that has many benefits and that parents can use to support their child’s language development. It’s not intended to replace spoken word. It is used to enhance understanding and speech. The signs used in a Baby Sign course are borrowed from Auslan. I draw on my extensive sign vocabulary as an Interpreter and knowledge of language development as a speech and language specialist teacher, to teach families how to support their child’s language development (and literacy). Supporting children’s spoken language through visual cues is a foundation skill that speech therapists and speech and language specialists use all the time. Sometimes it might be with a card, other times it’s with signs. Using visual cues is a well known and accepted way of supporting spoken language development.

So, what are the key take aways?

Auslan is “Australian Sign Language” the language of the Australian Deaf community.

Baby signing – is not a language – but is the use of visual cues (signs) to support spoken language development. At Baby Sign, we borrow signs from Auslan to do this.

Ready to learn more, check out this blog for my top 5 start signs, or subscribe for a copy of my free eBook – An introduction to baby signing