Learning to communicate starts at birth

摘要

As a speech and language therapist working in community clinics for the NHS during the 1980s, I became aware that there is much more to communication than language development alone and that children can grow up knowing how to 'talk', but be unable to participate in conversations. It was also evident that bonding is only possible through communication. It is well understood that 60-90% of communication is non-verbal, but all our support for parents has been based on developing language skills in their children. Perhaps it is no surprise that many children learn to talk well but grow up only able to give information and find participating in conversations very challenging.