Kitty - Kitty....

 There are so many things I would like to better understand about autism and about language acquisition.  Research has demonstrated many earlier theories and modern technology such as the PET scan has allowed us to actually see what parts of the brain are activated when a child speaks or attempts to retrieve information to answer a question.

When Lynda came to live with us in 1975, she could say about 7 or 8 words and one of them was "kitty- kitty".  Kitty-kitty meant any four legged animal (cows, horses, dogs) but nothing that wasn't an animal.  It's so interesting to me what words "stick" and Lynda's use of kitty-kitty to signify any animal was certainly  an economic use of a vocabulary consisting of no more than eight individual words.  She combined those eight words to create new meanings, as you have probably read in previous posts.  Like so many children with autism, Lynda had much better receptive language (understanding what is being said to her) than expressive language (verbal language, sign language).

I don't have any videos of Lynda when she was little.  We were using reel to reel at that time.  LOL  I do have her sweet voice on a cassette tape ---the forerunner of CDs and DVDs for those of you who are too young to know what cassette tapes are. 

Kitty-kitty was one of Lynda's words when she came to live with us at three years old and was a word she still used when she went to Millcreek prior the stroke when she was ten.  During the years she would say a new word but where our short term memory can only hold seven new pieces of information before having to transfer it to long term memory, Lynda was unable to hold more than seven words in long-term memory at that time.  I'm sure her continuing seizures contributed to her cognitive impairments.  Her stroke interrupted any chance of language acquisition.

I don't know how old she was when she said her first word.  I don't even know what her first word was.  I just know that kitty-kitty was a favorite word. I would love to know what it was about that word that "stuck".  The more I understand about autism the more I realize that our knowledge about autism is still very limited.  That's why this population of children are so fascinating to work with.  Each child is uniquely and wonderfully made.

My little girl who could only say a few words for her first ten years of life and no words at all for the last thirty years has a limitless vocabulary and the ability to communicate with the saints.  I can't wait to get to heaven to be able to talk to my daughter and to thank Jesus for loving us enough to die for us.  I cannot ever stop praising God for promising that we will see Lynda again and spend eternity together.