Our Mission
Baby Fingers aims to make language and communication more accessible for Deaf and hearing individuals and families through music and sign language.
Our teaching team includes qualified Deaf and hearing professionals — educators, therapists, interpreters, and teaching artists — who support language development, strengthen family relationships, provide education and resources, and help build connections between Deaf and hearing communities.
Baby Fingers is not a “baby sign language” program. Our work is rooted in authentic language and culture, informed by research and evidence-based practice, and developed from the combined perspectives of music therapy, Deaf education, family experience, and more than 25 years of practice.
Deaf members of our team teach ASL and Deaf culture. Hearing members of our team use ASL to support expressive and receptive communication, bilingualism, literacy, self-expression, and family connection.
Music is an essential part of our approach, offering repetition, rhythm, engagement, memory support, vocal exploration, movement, and joy.
Our goal is simple: help make communication accessible, meaningful, and connected.
Our Philosophy
We believe that early access to language and communication matters.
Through our research and practice, we have seen how music and sign language can support language development, relationships, self-expression, cultural identity, and connection while helping reduce barriers between people and communities.
Our approach is humanistic and family-centered. We respect each learner’s communication needs, strengths, culture, identity, and individual path.
Deaf perspectives are not merely included in Baby Fingers but helped to lay the foundation for our program. These perspectives continue to shape how we understand language, access, and culture.
In 2000, Baby Fingers was founded on the following principles:
- At Baby Fingers, we believe that all children are born with the capacity to learn, and that music is one of the most effective mediators in that process.
- Babies understand the world around them much sooner than they are able to respond in kind, and it is our belief that American Sign Language is one of the most effective means of supporting expressive communication for all children.
- Parent-Child relationships are the key to healthy development; we believe that engaging together in music and sign will help to foster that bond.
- Myths surrounding the use of ASL are only one of many barriers between the Deaf and hearing communities and in successful education practices for children who are Deaf, have progressive hearing loss, speech disorders, and language delays. In addition, Deaf children can enjoy and benefit from involvement with music.
- ASL makes language accessible for hearing and Deaf children alike, regardless of ability or disability, and provides an essential component in language development and cultural connection/identity for young Deaf children.