The Language Link to Human Survival

It was the aha moment I had been thinking about for most of my life - without realizing it. Speech, not just language, is the link to our survival. I was shocked. I had felt its significance all along -for the past 3 decades - but had not thought of speech in that most dramatic way. Language and the expression of it was the key to learning but most important to our survival as the human race.

While reading the February 19^th copy of the National Post, a Canadian newspaper chain, I began to immerse myself in the chain of events that followed the Delta commercial jet crash as it tried to land on the runway of Toronto's Pearson Airport. The miraculous survival of the 80 passengers was indeed a story to tell. The details of this miracle landing with its trail of smoke and fire was riveting. How could anyone survive the crash? .Bu they all did.... As I turned the page I read about a different kind of miracle - that of human speech. It caught my attention in a most provocative way. There was a genetic link, the secret to our survival. It was a secret no more.

For decades I have enjoyed my subscription to Scientific America. But today's aha moment came from a newspaper where scientists from the University of Minnesota had discovered a genetic link to speech. I have always believed that the ability to speak is the beginning of learning and the building of cognition. but now it was more than that. (Scientists had been studying a protein variant found in our species to address our ability to speak. )

Telling little children to be quiet might not be the best route to follow as we try to teach them. They are innocent little scientists with no barometer of anything. They talk because they must. Their burgeoning brain beckons. The world is waiting. They must follow. Whatever we hear and whatever they say is reality in the moment. Correct pronunciation, though important, eventually, has no place here, yet.

As I have written previously, for a special needs child to learn, engagement is paramount in any way it manifests itself. Curriculum is irrelevant. Keeping things simple, structured, exciting, and sometimes very quiet for this unique child helps their learning style and life itself. (Balance is necessary in all we do.) 

Special education is just that - education that is special and working with yeast dough is the miracle at the center of this approach for them. Yes, the children are baking according to them. but more importantly they are learning to think, a crucial life skill for success and happiness. 

The  ultimate test for learning is speech. How else do we know what they know or want to know. It's the beginning of their evolution as a primary learner in the complicated world in which we live. (I was a former secondary school special needs teacher,  a parent of three former preemie boys and the recipient of an elementary education award for outstanding contribution.) Hopefully soon the magic will spread.

Extensive spoken language must be at the core of daily interaction with children. Who the child is takes shape through the medium of spoken language. Nothing else matters more. Hear me roar! 

Tied to a Post!

It was time for her to go. What better way than to tie her to a post in the frigidly cold night time air,  between zero and mind numbing temperatures, in an off leash park in Keswick, Ontario, Canada. Mother Nature can be so savage in her delivery. (A human nose can freeze in less than 5 minutes in mind numbing cold.) Parents have been known to keep children home from school on those days.

Dogs do not burrow into the ground during winter till Spring arrives nor do they hibernate till the warmer state of climes begins to showcase its sunnier side. Dogs kinda die a horrible death left on their own to figure it out. Dogs hide for warmth and protection, I imagine, but it is hard to do when they are glued to a frozen post. Thank goodness for the modern age of cameras everywhere. The precious 'pup', was seen on video, nearby, languishing next to its savior, an animal shelter. What a stroke of luck!

Responsible pet owners find loving forever homes for their beloved animal companions when caring for them is no longer possible. To tie an adult pup to a post in the middle of a nasty cold winter's spell at night where no one is seen is cruelty at its worst. Must be nice to be all powerful, Mr. human. How do you manage to look at yourself in a mirror from now on? An innocent was sentenced to death by you.

Why did you bother to adopt the dog? Did your children fail to care for it? Have you since gotten tired of the tiresome routine as it -the dog- decided to become more burdensome, just like that? Since when are children responsible for a living creature with multiple daily needs anyway?  ..Any adoption of a pet is a whole home responsibility. 

The video showed you dropping off your puppy- and she was that! You walked her to her place of death. The temperatures were mind-numbing. Do you know what that means? Of course you do. We all do. As you walked away to your truck she watched you, wondering why you were not taking her with you. She is a puppy, an innocent creature, the officials discovered. She trusted you but was now confused by your actions. How could you do that her, a 'toddler' of the canine world? What was her crime?

She was just learning about life. Giving her to someone else else would have been a better decision. In an off-leash park late at night in winter was a terrible choice of locations. The mall would have been better. But she had no say in what you did to her. Thank God she was found alive. ... Now she is with strangers and soon to be adopted. I pay homage to the world of cameras and videos. Those sometimes loathsome tools saved her life!

Every person within the confines of a group called family are duty bound in the care of any pet residing there. A bearded dragon lived with us over the summer one school year. I participated when called upon. It was strange. He was a prickly little thing. But I loved him, nonetheless.  One day, a power outage lasting 33 hours made me nervous.  Could he die? (The dragon requires non-stop heat and red light overhead.) Upon his death, later in life, and the death of our 16 year old cat, found on a country road one mind numbing -25 day, affected me in ways that defy anything I had ever experienced. Living with family does that. I had bonded with creatures the moment they became ours. Family is family, after all.

A pet deserves respect, care and a learning curve that honours its limitless intelligence. Where is your humanity? Nowadays, help is but a click away or a chance encounter with an animal shelter. There is no excuse. Your cowardice act was despicable. The animal was powerless. Was she hungry, in pain or thirsty? Do you know? Did you care?

Decades ago,we adopted a 3-month-old puppy. This precious mini Labrador Retriever was dumped into a massive park in Toronto, surrounded by busy streets, city buses and other animals. She was caught just before the 'slam' happened and she was ours for the rest of her life. We were moving up north to nowhere, nothing rented. We adopted her without papers or thought. She needed a home and we were it. (We were all homeless together.) We loved her, cared for her and protected her  till her forever came to an end. ... Her death tore me apart. 

We kept one of her pups, born in her second year. Her 8 other children were sold quickly, at nominal price, to help cover the costs of care. Never again. (Animals given away might be treated with less regard than those 'paid for'.)

As new owners in the world of dogs, we never forgot to neuter our jewels at the right time. To set them free in the freezing temperatures of a Canadian winter is beyond belief. You took the time to adopt her yet discarded her later.  Did the seller care who got her? Did the almighty dollar dictate? She was powerless with no rights. But she does have them! We all do!Taking her anywhere for help was better than what you did. And you knew it!