Birth to Three Matters assumes that young children are skilful communicators and social beings from birth. However, communication is about more than simply making contact with others through words, it is about relating to others through gestures, listening, conveying meaning and understanding other people's messages.
All children, regardless of special needs or individual differences, are skilful at communicating in some way, and adults need to tune into children's messages.
Even in the womb, babies learn to attune to the sound of their mother's heartbeat and voice. Soon after birth, they are able to imitate facial and manual gestures, and before long, provided others encourage them, they are able to hold 'conversations' that in time approximate adults'.
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