My Doctoral Research

Maybe writing about people without language is a bit too sensitive or too heavy for social media. Perhaps it feels remote, unrelated to what most of you tend to think about, work at, imagine, or create. And yet—this is precisely why I feel an urgent need to pause, deepen our dive, and get this story even more vivid. Yes, through my doctoral research.

How, you may wonder, could a doctoral research possibly be interesting? I promise this study is truly interesting, and I hope, for your sake and for our sake as a society, to gain a better understanding of this point: why we language-speakers must reconsider non-linguistic individuals who live among us. So, I will continue, little by little, a story at a time, hoping it will become an engaging journey for you as well.

In my doctoral research, seemingly a modest interview study, I talked with parents of children and adolescents born with such extensive disabilities that none of them could speak. Most could not understand language; No language. Nothing. There are such children, you know. I met with each family three times. At first, the parents and I got more deeply acquainted, then we watched videos of their children, engaged in musical moments—listening closely, joining a birthday celebration, participating in a school music lesson, or listening to music at concerts.

During these interviews, countless questions were asked and answered, but two questions were the most challenging: "Is your child communicative?" and "Is your child musical?"

From these questions, countless stories emerged, some of which I hope to share with you in the posts ahead, as we also try to understand what they might reveal—about us as society, the ways we might see and engage with divergent communicators, and most importantly, how understanding and embracing their presence may contribute to everyone's wellbeing.

Just stay with me.