Sign language has always been associated the Deaf Community, and rightly so.  However, there are many other contexts where it shows its beneficial capacities.   Some of the many areas where successful progress is made are with children with special needs, such as:

Apraxia

Autism

Cerebral Palsy

Down Syndrome LLD - Language Learning Disability

Sign language offers children with special needs access to communication, which in turn strengthens their ability to produce expressive speech.

Research indicates that children with special needs benefit emotionally, academically and socially. 

Emotionally:  Sign language tears down the communication barriers and builds the skills necessary to become less dependent and that means a happier and confident child; a child with self esteem. 

Academically:  Language begins to develop in children from day 1.  Auditory and visual input enables the brain to make connections.  Because children with special needs may have multi-impairments, normal brain development is affected.  Language is the most important tool for academic development.  By adding sign language, they are able to retain information longer

Socially:  Coping with life's everyday situations without language or the means to communicate is quite frustrating.  This frustration results in aggression, depression, emotional outbursts and socially inappropriate behaviors.  But, when given the necessary tools and opportunity to expressively communicate in place of verbal language, levels of frustration drop.