This was a while back but for some reason it stuck with me. Imagine this, you’re at a BBQ and one of the mothers keeps boosting about how her six month old baby said his first word. I wish I could remember the word but alas I don’t. Now don’t get me wrong, that’s exciting news for any parent and I can't say I wouldn’t want to tell the whole world about it, I probably would do just that. So what about this scene was so memorable?
As as she kept on going about how smart her baby is, one of the mothers looked awful, kinda pale even. I couldn’t understand what happened so I went over to see if she’s okay. She ended up opening up to me (by the way we became great friends ever since!)
So here's the story, her little one never spoke a word and he’s a bit over two years. Boy ‘oh boy, it bothered her so hearing someone else talk about how smart their child is, really took a toll on her.
So what does this mean? The earlier a baby starts talking the smarter he or she is? Not exactly! As a matter of fact, there are multiple intelligence types which can be seen and detected in children as young as 9 months old. But more about that later. I’m still doing my research on that one so you don’t have to :)
For now, have you ever heard of the Einstein theory? Well, you’re about to!
Did you know Albert Einstein started talking when he was three years old and he wasn’t fluent until he turned nine! Surprised? Well how about Edward Teller, who said his first word when he was four! These where renowned physicists guys, geniuses! So why did they start talking later on in life and does this mean there are multiple forms of intelligence? Is the part of the brain that is responsible for speech blocked? Possibly, but know one knows for sure. There is a theory however that has been suggested after an autopsy on Einstein's brain. It showed unusual development in his brain.
The way the brain works is, it is split into multiple sections. Each section of the brain is responsible for something specific. For example, there is a section called the medulla which is part of the brain stem responsible for our involuntary life. We just breath right? we do it without thinking about it, its a vital part of our survival. But this part of our brain is responsible for each breath we take in and take out it’s also responsible for our heart rate and swallowing. Another example is the primary motor cortex which is responsible for voluntary movement. Say you’re exercising your biceps: you need to tell your biceps to curl. The primary motor cortex will generate neural impulses that will control the execution of that specific muscle.
In Einstein’s case, the autopsy showed: the portion of the brain responsible for analytical thinking spread out and spilled over into nearby regions. One of those regions included the area where speech is controlled. This gave rise to the assumption that his genius in analytical thinking and his discoveries in physics where due to an extensive growth in his brain which also hindered the part of the brain responsible for speech. Making the area involved in speech development take place much later on in life.
What does this mean for you? Well its possible that you may have a future genius on your hands but its also possible your child may need sometime to feel comfortable enough to talk. My friend, the who was worried her child hasn’t said his first word at two years old, lets call her Betty. Well, Betty’s little boy spoke a week after that BBQ. Maybe he just needed some time but his first word I clearly remember because when she called me to give me the news the excitement in Betty’s voice was so real it was oozing from the phone. Juice, Juice was his first word. Who would’ve thought? I wonder if she gave him a juice box after that, hmmm. I gotta go call her now, I’m curious.