However, several key individuals and movements played a significant role in popularizing and developing it:
* Dr. Joseph Garcia: A pioneer in the field of early childhood education, Garcia was a strong advocate for incorporating sign language into early communication with babies. He believed it could bridge the gap between a baby's nonverbal communication and their caregivers' understanding.
* Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn: These researchers conducted groundbreaking studies in the 1980s, demonstrating that babies can understand and use signs before they can speak. Their research provided scientific backing for the benefits of baby sign language.
* The "Baby Signing" Movement: This movement emerged in the 1990s and gained widespread popularity, largely thanks to the work of Dr. Acredolo and Dr. Goodwyn, and the publication of several books and resources on the topic.
* The Deaf Community: The deaf community has long recognized the importance of sign language in communication, and their expertise and knowledge have influenced the development of baby sign language.
It's important to understand that baby sign language is not a standardized language like American Sign Language (ASL). It's more of a set of simplified signs and gestures adapted from ASL and other sign languages, designed to be easy for babies to learn and use.
While there's no singular "founder," the combined efforts of researchers, educators, and the deaf community have helped make baby sign language a popular and valuable tool for early communication.