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My son is almost 10 months old and we have been teaching him signs since he was 6 months. Even though he can't verbally "talk" yet, he can now commnicate ideas such as "more", "milk", "food" and "up", just to name a few. My wife and I used a book called "Baby Signs", which is great for beginning sign language and getting the basic ideas down. We plan on moving up to more advanced signing as the boy continues to grow.
Oh, and just to clarify, there is nothing "wrong" with my son physically or mentally, and his speech is developing right on schedule. My wife was a pre-school teacher for many years and found that teaching kids some form of sign language early on cut back on tantroms and general fussiness, and gave kids an outlet for communication when they hadn't yet learned how to speak certain words. Hand dexiterity matures much more quickly in children than speech does.
Best wishes for you and your niece.
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