I made standard cooing and crying noises as the situation warranted, but I never even appeared to be trying to sound out words even under encouragement (again, I have to take the word of my parents and siblings on this, as I was far too young to remember any of it). Urgings of "Say Mommy!" were rewarded, I am told, with smiles and coos, but no apparent understanding of what was being asked of me or any indication that I knew how to consciously produce sounds vocally that had any meaning to anyone else.

Then, pretty much overnight (as my mother tells it), I began speaking in complete sentences. I went from appearing developmentally challenged to speaking as well as or better than an average toddler without really going through any of the preliminary steps. One day, I couldn't be pressed into saying "mama," and the next I was lucidly...
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