On Mother’s Day, Irvine mom Kim Fry received flowers from her husband and 21-month-old son, Chris, whose speech development has been delayed. Although he was not able to say “flower,” Chris made the sign for the word with his hands.

“There is such joy on his face when he’s understood,” Kim Fry said. “We’d both be very frustrated if not for sign language.”

Signing for “hearing” babies has become a growing trend in recent years and was even a plot point in the movie “Meet the Fockers.” Children as young as 6 months old have been taught sign language to communicate what they are feeling, what they want and when they want it.

Barbara Granoff of ABC me Sign, a Costa Mesa-based organization, taught sign language to her deaf daughter who is now 6 years old. When parents of hearing babies noticed how quickly Granoff’s daughter could communicate, they asked her to teach sign to their kids and the demand for baby sign language grew.

The organization offers classes and seminars for parents and children from 7 months to 7 years old.

The Frys take weekly classes along with friend Robin Rubino, also of Irvine, and her daughter Madison, 21 months. Maddie, as her mom likes to call her, has been signing with ABC me Sign for 14 weeks and knows 30 different signs.

“Her favorite word is elephant,” says Rubino, who has also taught Maddie the sound that elephants make. She says that learning to sign words really helped with her daughter’s speech development because of the repetition used in the training.

An expecting mom, (she’s eight months pregnant) Rubino plans to teach sign language to the newest edition to her family.

Research has shown that the benefits of sign language reach far beyond communication before speech. Children develop a larger vocabulary, spelling and reading ability is heightened and IQ scores can be 10-12 points higher than non-signing children.

Teachers of children who signed at an early age say that the experience boosts enthusiasm for learning and increases self-esteem. Conflicts in classrooms are reduced.

“Sign language uses both the left and right hemispheres of the brain and really helps to develop creativity,” said Cheri Donato, advocacy services manager for Independent Living Inc. in Newburgh, N.Y.

Donato was recently promoted after serving as the organization’s community outreach and deaf and hard of hearing specialist for 3 1/2 years. Independent Living describes itself as an organization “dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for persons with disabilities.”

The ability to sign is developed before children can speak, so communicating with tiny fingers can be especially helpful for children with speech development issues, such as Chris.

“It’s been a godsend,” says Fry. Her son understands about 60 signs and can answer with upward of 20 signs. He uses the words “more” and “cookies” the most, but didn’t sign anything for the first three months of classes. Just when his mom was about to give up, Chris signed the word for “more” during lunch one day.

“Keep with it,” she advises moms of future signing babies. “They have to figure out how to use their hands!”