QUESTION: Do we know how language develops in a baby’s brain?

 ANSWER: The dedicated work of research scientists and the advancements in neuroimaging (MRIs) has made it possible for us to understand that just like there are 206 bones in the human body, there are major cables in our brain. The circuitry of the brain can be compared to highways, with off-ramps and crossroads. Dr. Walter Schneider, a scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, provides a clear description of early language development shared by Temple Grandin in her latest book The Autistic Brain, Helping Different Kinds of Minds Succeed.

Between birth and the age of one, infants engage in verbal babbling and motor babbling. Verbal babbling is a baby making noises to hear what the noises sound like. Motor babbling describes a baby’s actions such as waving a hand just to watch it move. During verbal babbling fibers are growing to make the connection between the “what you’re hearing” and “what you’re saying” part of the brain. During motor babbling fibers are growing between “what you’re seeing” and “what you’re doing” part of the brain.

Between the ages of one and two, children reach a stage where they can say single words. It’s at this point in brain development that fibers are forming an interlink between those two fiber systems that were constructed during the verbal and motor babbling period. The brain is connecting “what you’re seeing” with “what you’re saying” until “out pops” Mama, Dada, ball and then all the other words of language that will follow.

So much is happening developmentally in an infant’s brain during the first year of life and positive adult interactions are so very valuable. We need to talk to our babies, sing to our babies, read to our babies and move with our babies. We — parents, grandparents, older siblings, caregivers — teach first.

 If you would like to talk about the challenges in raising children, call the toll-free Parent WarmLine at 1-888-584-2204/Linea de Apoyo at 1-877-434-9528. For free emergency child care call Crisis Nursery at 1-877-434-9599. Check out www.familiesandcommunities.org and free resources at the PRC Specialty Library (105 First Street SE, Austin)