Mia McDavid wrote: > If this child cannot master functional language by the age of about 7, > s/he will never, no matter what later developments occur, be able to > advance to symbolic language; to the abstract thought. Philosophy, > theology, honor, duty, ideals, will forever be a closed book to this > person; and for this reason, history, politics, economics, literature. > A developmental window closes, and a mind is forever crippled. Is the failure to master language the cause of the handicap or simply symptomatic? I am keying on your use of cannot rather than doesn't in the first sentence. Which do you mean? Casey