When I tell someone he's speech delayed and reading, they usually laugh into my face!
Not me. I don't know what it's like to have a non-reading child, because DS was reading at least somewhat before he could talk (I still feel the curiosity about how much, but at the time I was squeamish about doing the deliberate tests it would have taken to find out, so I only have the bits we found out by accident!) and then he learned to speak and read better in parallel. There was a delightful phase in which he could speak in 4-5 word "newly minted" sentences, or in paragraphs from Thomas the Tank Engine!
Let me just add that although Dude's suggestion to forget sign language may seem logical, I think it would be beyond cruel. She already has plenty of incentive to speak; you described her trying to communicate with other children and failing because they don't sign.
