Yesterday I was reading an article about a girl who, by the time she started school, hadn't yet developed language. (She was obviously excluded and bullied a by the other children). Eventually, after trying everything else, her parents sent her to an unorthodox speech therapist who slowly managed to teach her the skill. It took years and years, and very hard work, but eventually she got to the same level as everyone else. She had then been diagnosed with Specific Language Impairment.
One part of the article that got me thinking said she could remember clearly one day during her speech therapy years when she finally had a sort of epiphany: It was when her 'inner voice' started speaking. Before that, she had not been able to think 'inside her head' - she had always said the words out loud, often to her classmates' despair when they were trying to concentrate. After the epiphany, she was also able to think beyond the now, about past and future. It was a major, life-changing development leap.
This made me think about the importance of language. Without language, I don't think we're able to think very detailed about and understand the world around us to any great extent. We will lack concepts about past, present, future. We will be unable to do math. And so on.
What do you think?
One part of the article that got me thinking said she could remember clearly one day during her speech therapy years when she finally had a sort of epiphany: It was when her 'inner voice' started speaking. Before that, she had not been able to think 'inside her head' - she had always said the words out loud, often to her classmates' despair when they were trying to concentrate. After the epiphany, she was also able to think beyond the now, about past and future. It was a major, life-changing development leap.
This made me think about the importance of language. Without language, I don't think we're able to think very detailed about and understand the world around us to any great extent. We will lack concepts about past, present, future. We will be unable to do math. And so on.
What do you think?
