In my Preschool Language Disorders class we've been learning about the prerequisites for verbal communication. That is to say, before children are ready to communicate using language there are a few mile-markers they need to achieve. This got me thinking.
For starters, young children who are learning to speak need to be vocalizing. Let me tell you, my cat vocalizes. We can check that off the list. They should be able to recognize and respond to their name. Check, again. Kids need to exhibit joint gaze with others. Vespa can stare me down like a pro. Children who are ready to start speaking should be able to participate in turn-taking exchanges. Vespa does this too - if I say "meow" she will respond "meow" and then I say "meow" and she says it back ad infinitum. Child-preverbal communicative acts should be represent a variety of communications such as greeting, calling, and protesting. Again, Vespa will vocalize in each of these contexts. A crucial pre-linguistic accomplishment is the concept of intentionality. A child needs to be able to communicatively express an intention, need, or desire. When I am eating my chicken soup, Vespa can tell me, unambiguously, that she wants some.
As far as I can tell, my cat is ready to say her first word.
I will keep you posted.
