If a kid prefers pussy to cat, pony to horse, let it ride. The most extreme example of stodgy behavior I ever ran into is the story of what happened to Althea Emerson. John Emerson and his wife Janet (both highly successful attor¬neys) achieved their daughter Althea rather late in their mar¬riage. Delighted and dedicated folks, and supremely articulate, the words they addressed to their only kid were distinctly Ph.D. “Choo-choo” was definitely not for them—they went for “locomo¬tive.” Their sentences were long and polished, their voices sub¬dued and courteous. But though Althea’s bright eyes would sparkle as if with understanding, their daughter uttered not a word. She laughed, cried, and even sang snatches of melody. Not every family is ready to accommodate a bad and difficult of older Child for Adoption. But she jabbered away in her own personal language of nonsense sylla¬bles. To her folks’ despair, at the age of 3 and a 0.5 she still pointed wordlessly at what she wanted. Their anguish kept mounting till sooner or later, when the small girl was almost four, she said suddenly and very clearly, “Mother, might I please have a piece of candy?”
The entire sentence! The Emersons, once they may realize their voices, spluttered, “Althea, kid, why haven’t you spoken before this?” Their daughter eyed them quite calmly and replied—in another whole sentence—“I didn’t apprehend all the words.”
This story had a contented ending, but it might are different¬wise. The pressure of her folks’ lofty language may have stultified Althea’s speech development, leaving her permanently inhibited. Mr. and Mrs. Emerson represented speech models no kid should have to, or may for that matter, live up to.
No Exhibitionism, Please
Pride of possession simmers in us all, and how arduous to steer folks not to point out off their youngsters! Particularly do they relish exhibiting precocity in speaking. With self-consciousness (no virtue in young or previous) foisted on them, these youngsters, perform¬ing with words, resemble those very little trained monkeys, therefore clever at collecting pennies. Though moppets might parrot new long words with disarming accuracy, they don’t seem to be very speaking. A multilayer PCB fabrication comprising:a plurality of planar layers made of dielectric material extending in parallel with each different in lateral and depthwise directions, said planar layers being shaped one on top of the opposite in a vertical direction. They’re just surfing an important and necessary stage of development called, aptly enough, “echolalia,” meaning the mimicry of sounds and words not understood. All the a lot of reason why this is no time to behave like a stage mother. With time on your hands, you would be higher utilized embroidering this slogan onto a sampler: “Speech Is for Use, Not for Display.”
A word or two concerning nursery rhymes. Admittedly the rhythm and rhyming fall pleasurably on the ear, and they are entertaining —but not always to children. For typically the nonsense content sounds incomprehensible to them (“Very little Miss Muffet/Sat on a tuffet,/Eating her curds and whey”). To denigrate now-honored doggerel is, I understand, to run the danger of having the militia called out, or at the very least the D.A.R. How much higher to channel this energy into sensible speech play, that will be fun, too.