The other day someone asked me if Owen could talk yet. I said yes, and then this person asked if he used any words we could actually understand. I was a bit offended. You see, it was asked in such a way that it sounded as if this person equated intelligence with the ability to speak. Of course, anyone watching the political campaign can definitely see the flaw in that thinking.
Owen does have many words, and I debated listing them all here, but instead I'd rather list how he communicates without words.
Since I was pregnant with Owen we've had this crazy bond--almost as if I can hear his voice in my head. Even now, he can just look at me, and I usually can get it. I say usually, because sometimes I'm not a very good listener.
His eyes speak volumes. I can always tell when he's getting ill or tired just by looking in his eyes. They also get bright when he's excited, and he gets a sprite-like twinkle when he's up to no good.
Technically, Owen is bi-lingual. We taught him to sign at 9 months. He's almost 3, and he still signs several words. I'm hoping to start teaching him another language in 2008--just can't decide which one.
Matt would debate that Owen is already tri-lingual. He says that Owen speaks "Owenese." It's his own jibberish language, but sometimes we totally understand what he's saying. I can't explain it, but somehow he gets his point across.
That's what it's about, right? Communication isn't about intelligence, or using the right words. It's getting your point across. So, if you can't understand Owen, maybe you're just not listening.
2 comments:
Oh and he has beautiful eyes, thelma!!! Love the current pics of your kiddos
Any speech therapist will tell ya: it's about 'total' communication. Signing, jibberish, pointing at pictures, 'real' words...the kit and kaboodle. No linguist, speech therapist, psychologist, neurobiologist, minister, or fortune-teller can explain HOW children aquire language and grammar; we can only describe the process, and each process is individual and unique.
Western culture (and probably others, but I'm not really familiar with non-Western culture) does treat verbal intelligence as the benchmark for overall intelligence. I.Q. tests, standardized tests, school exams and many other evaluations are skewed in favor of people who have a high verbal acuity.
Take Peyton. At three, Peyton rarely spoke, and when he did it was usually only a word. He did not even sign or point or grunt in effort to communicate; he observed things and often went about his business as though 'talking' to other people just wasn't important. A lot of people assumed that Peyton was slow, because he didn't/wouldn't talk.
Very few teachers recognized that Peyton's physical and mechanical intelligence was through the ROOF. He was building things with blocks that were more developmentally appropriate for a 4 or 5 year old. He took EVERYTHING apart that he could, and sometimes when he put it back together he put it back together -better-. Peyton was extraordinarily smart, but he was not verbal.
Then there was London. London never shut up by 18 months. She was speaking sentences. She could spell her name. She could get halfway through the alphabet song, without any assistance or prompting whatsoever. London had a very high verbal intelligence, but in every other respect (social skills, imaginative play, fine and gross motor) she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Yet people raved about her as though she were a 'genius'...because she talked a lot. London wasn't a genius (at least not a well-rounded one). She was just very verbal.
The sad fact of all of this is that American schools, colleges, and workplaces have heavy verbal requirements. Even math majors have to write papers, is what I'm saying. It's the struggle a lot of very perceptive parents and early childhood teachers have to deal with: when you realize that your culture is biased, do you reject that bias completely (ie, pretend it doesn't exist), or do you try to prepare your child for the world as it is so that they can be successful?
For parents and teachers and caregivers and family members who have any spiritual awareness at all, you eventually get to the answer: Neither. You prepare your child to use their strengths to CHANGE the way the world is, because you KNOW they will be successful.
...This essay was fueled by baked potatoes. Thank you.
Post a Comment