Guelph, Ontario. It’s lunch time in the Psychology Department at the University of Guelph and graduate student Laura Johnson is talking with a friend: “I’d love to go to the party at Professor Evans’ house,” she bemoans, “but I never know what to say!” Ironically, following this conversation Laura returns to the Child Development Lab where she continues to help Professor Mary Ann Evans demonstrate the connection between shyness and language ability.

It turns out that, just as is true for adults, shy children often avoid social situations altogether rather than stand awkwardly in silence. And with good reason, it seems. In study after study, Dr. Evans consistently finds that children as young as 36 months who are shy also tend to be less facile with language than their more outgoing peers. Because their language skills are no match for their more verbal playmates—or for the unfamiliar adults who try engaging them in conversation at the grocery store—they quickly learn to withdraw completely or to rely on their parents rather than risk being judged as inadequate or dumb.

What’s a parent to do? Of course, we here at the Baby Signs Institute have some excellent advice—at least for how to help prevent the problem in the first place. By encouraging their babies to use signs, parents can help them get a jumpstart on learning to talk, thereby increasing the chance that they will be comfortable talking with their peers as they move into the toddler and preschool years.

Another plus when it comes to peer interaction is the effect of signing on aggression. Because the ability to use signs enables children to get their needs met through calm communication, they are less likely to feel the frustration that so often fuels biting and hitting during the toddler period. In fact, being able to sign also benefits potential victims of attacks by enabling them to sign an emphatic "Stop!” or a reminder to be “Gentle!” If all else fails, they at least have a way to explicitly ask for “help” from an adult and indicate where they “hurt.”

Finally, the sense of being effective in the world that signing allows increases the chance that children will develop self-confidence and self-esteem – two vital ingredients in the recipe for social success.

For all these reasons, encouraging babies to sign is a great first step toward helping them be comfortable in their social worlds and avoid the feelings of self-consciousness, fear, and loneliness that all too frequently plague the “shy” child.