Words-we take them for granted, but the normal way of thinking (not just communicating) is with words. Some people have more visual thinking than I do. Sometimes we think in sound or pure emotion, but all of us think with words. Can you imagine what it would be like to try to communicate without having learned words? Or to communicate with someone else who hasn’t? That is what this whole story hinges on. Helen was just starting to learn a few words at six months when she became so ill that she lost her sight and hearing.











