12 Chapter 1
Head Start director and teachers, the boys’ mother and grand mother, the social worker, and rep-
resentatives from the Department of Child Welfare.
Chris and Karl were gradually separated from each other. Initially, they were placed in sepa-
rate study and play groups in the classroom. Later, Chris was placed in the morning session and
Karl in the after noon session. At first, this separation was distressing. They cried for each other
and refused to interact with the other children. Because they were in dif fer ent sessions, they also
had less interaction with each other after preschool. Chris and Karl were also placed in language
therapy. They were seen daily by a certified speech- language pathologist.
The language therapy was unique in several ways. One of the main differences between tradi-
tional language therapy and that given to Chris and Karl was that their vocabulary needed to be
unlearned. The symbols they had used to refer to thoughts, feelings, and objects were unique to
them, but were not meaningful to others and therefore had to be eliminated. For example, while
naming activities using f lash cards, the clinician would correct Chris or Karl when they called a
knife a nuga, saying, “No, it is not a ‘nuga,’ it is a ‘k– n– i– f– e.’ ” In addition, the clinician did not
grant their requests or talk to them when they spoke in their unique language even if what they
were saying was understood.
Another unique aspect of the boys’ language therapy involved the role of idioglossia in thought.
Although much of their language simply ref lected their thought pro cesses, they also were begin-
ning to pro cess information internally with inappropriate symbols. This was particularly apparent
during categorization activities. For example, they had to relearn shapes and colors by categories
and redefine their perceptual bound aries.
Much of the language therapy provided to Chris and Karl was aty pi cal because of the idio-
glossia, and the social- communicative (pragmatic) aspects of language required special goals and
methods of achieving them. Both boys had short conversations with their schoolmates, but their
communications were often ineffectual. They seemed not to understand the idea of taking turns
and never initiated a conversation.
Although Navajo cultural norms concerning social communication were respected, goals and
therapies were established to improve Chris and Karl’s pragmatic language skills. They first were
seen individually, and the clinician worked to increase the length of conversational episodes and
improve their effectiveness. The boys were shown how turn- taking works and when to initiate a
conversation. Then, in small groups with other children who had similar prob lems, they practiced
the social- communicative functions of language under the clinician’s direction.
Chris and Karl received therapy throughout the Head Start program and the elementary
grades. Gradually, their language abilities improved to age- specific levels. However, their mother
reported that the boys had a special bond, and when they were alone, they frequently used the
unique language they had developed while growing up on the reservation. The idioglossia was a
testimony to that special bond.