The Myths of Sign Language and Speaking Devices

So Brecken is dong GREAT on his signing and his speaking machine.  We obviously have people who comment on if he does this stuff he will not talk.  So I decided to write a quick quip on that being a complete myth.  As humans we be LAZY!  Learning to sign with your hands and figure out a machine to talk for you by looking for pictures and pushing is a lot harder then just saying the words so actually if a child wants to get his or her lazy on, talking is the way to go.  I have found signing and that machine are A LOT harder then just saying a word.  Research also shows that kids who sign actually have a wider vocabulary once they start talking and are much more intelligent speakers.  Plus the strength in their hands are better being that they are using muscles that us normal people do not use.  The speaking machine that people think may make my son lazy actually will help him learn to talk.  The repetitive speaking of the word will help him to hear it and copy the sounds.  I have had multiple speech therapists tell us (all of his have agreed) that it is the opposite of what people think and that it actually helps not hinders.  As a tiny bit of proof my 19 month old learned sign first from just watching us teach Brecken.  She signed everything and her and Brecken sign to each other all the time however she speaks to us.  She does have conversations in sign with Brecken but with us she does vocally speak. Also keep in mind that my 19 month old daughter can now speak 2 languages:)  ASL is an actual language so she is considered bilingual with the rest of us:)  I too used to think that signing was going to make my kids fall behind and that they would not speak on time.  Let me tell you the first thing to do before making this assumption is to get educated!  Most people who make these false assumptions are just not educated on the subject whatsoever.  First get educated and then realize that these things are to help!  Not hurt.