Our "Dr mum’s" started the worldwide Baby Sign language movement

It was 1982 when our founders Drs. Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn observed that infants and toddlers were instinctively using simple gestures to signify words and concepts they were not yet able to verbalise.

Some would tap their head for ‘hat’, blow out for ‘hot’, raise their arms for ‘up’, or raise and smell their hand for 'flower’. This inspired Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn to research further into what would occur, if the process was encouraged along?

Breakthrough Infant-Parent Communication

This observation heralded a major innovation in the parent-baby communication process. The Baby Signs® Program- a natural baby sign language that encourages simple gestures to convey important things between baby and parent. Needs such as thirst, hunger, being tired or sad can be conveyed by baby up to 12 months before they could otherwise talk.

Our baby sign language program shows your baby how to communicate using natural gestures which are instinctual and simple to learn. Combined with some AUSLAN signs, these signs provide an avenue for your child to talk with you before they are physically able to talk. The “sign” or gestures are used to signify a need or item such as “drink”, or a concept such as "all done."

Two Decades of Research

Through research funded by the American National Institutes of Health over two decades, Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn have established that the Baby Signs program produces remarkable benefits including reinforcing the bond between parent and child, promoting intellectual development, encouraging positive emotional maturity, raised IQ and improved self-confidence.

3 International Bestselling books

Published in 1996, the ground-breaking book, Baby Signs: How to Talk to Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk, rapidly became a bestseller and was translated into 14 languages around the world.

Over the years Baby Signs has been featured in national news papers, Child and Parenting magazines and on programs such as;

The Oprah Winfrey Show
NBC Today and Nightly News
20/20 ABC
Dateline NBC
CBS Morning Show
Good Morning America

Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn moved on to publish their next best selling parenting title Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love, in 2000 and has been translated across eight languages.

Produced by Dr. Benjamin Spock Foundation, this book was featured in the;

PBS Child Development series
and presented on NBC and Good Morning America.

Baby Hearts: A Guide to Giving Your Baby an Emotional Head Start, was Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn’s third book. Focusing on the results of new research revealing the emotional and rich lives of babies, this book shows caregivers techniques to encourage their babies emotional intelligence.

This book focuses on new research that reveals the rich, emotional lives of young babies and teaches parents ways to cultivate their child’s emotional intelligence. Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn offer parents a complete method to encourage childrens;