I have a 2 year old daughter named Laura. She is incredibly bright and incredibly strong-willed. Communication is one of the things we are working on with her, and that she is working on with us. At first I was worried that she could not talk. I have slowly begun to realize that she merely chooses not to talk.
This has become clear as we will try to teach her a new word, like "Daddy" or "Juice" or such. Each time she will say the word once. Then she never says it again. It is as if she is trying to show great patience and say, "Yes, large humans, I can speak your language, it is just such a bother. My life would be better served by you continuing to run around attempting to read my mind... plus that is more entertaining for me."
At other times I get the feeling that she has consented to verbal communication, she is just not sure English is the language we should choose. I am not against new languages, but the problem is that no one in the world except Laura can understand her personal language.
Just this morning after breakfast it became clear that she wanted down from her chair. (Clear meaning she was thrashing around screaming at me... I picked up on the subtle hint.) I calmed her down and asked, "What do we say when we want down?" She answered me with a clear sentence made up of at least 7 distinct words, and then stared at me.
So, I re-phrased my question and said, "What do we say in English when we want down?", to which she answered, "All done" with her arms outstretched.
It appears that I am either winning the battle of wills, or she has decided that I am completely unteachable. Either way I am hopeful that verbal communication will continue to increase in our home.
On an organizational note this reminds me just how important and how difficult communication can be. The ability to clearly express expectations and assumptions is a highly valuable skill. The ability to hear others and perceive their expectations and assumptions is almost priceless.
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