BY VICTORIA STUART

ong before babies utter their first "da-da" or "goo-goo," they have already learned how to speak volumes. They understand when they are being spokento. They can tell the difference between their native language and other languages. Their gestures, their body language, even the way they focus their attention-all have meaning. Understanding these early forms of communication has traditionally been a parent's prerogative.

"Oh, see the way little Johnny is pointing to the toy box? That means he wants his stuffed elephant toy," a proud mom might reveal. Or, "See the way little Beatriz is kicking her feet? That means she wants to get out of her high chair," an attentive dad might explain.

Beyond impressing relatives and friends, the secret language of infants was never thought to have much significance-until a pioneering psychology professor discovered that the way infants communicate provides a key to predicting their future social and language development.

"The idea of studying infant communication grew out of my experience in working with autistic and mentally handicapped or impaired children," says Peter Mundy (Ph.D. '81), professor of psychology and executive director of the University of Miami Center for Autism and Related Disabilities.

Mundy began to study social communication in infants while a graduate student in developmental psychology at the University during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

"Back then, medicine had reached a point where we were able to keep more at-risk infants alive after birth. But along with the increased survival rate, there was a corresponding increased risk of these infants acquiring developmental problems, due to the fact that they are more prone to both physical and emotional stress and other difficulties," he says. "Scientists quickly recognized the need to identify these children as early as possible in order to provide the appropriate interventions."

he scope of the problem was enormous. In 1993, for example, there were nearly four million births in the United States. Of those, approximately 520,000 were babies born to teens, another 300,000 were low-birth-weight babies (who are particularly vulnerable to developmental delays), and another 100,000 babies were born with other disabling conditions. There was also an uncounted number of babies born with fetal alcohol syndrome or addicted to cocaine or other drugs.

"That's nearly a million children born at-risk each year for one reason or another," Mundy says, "and we can't provide blanket interventions to all of them. We need to be able to individualize the treatment for each child."

While other researchers around the country were only just beginning to suggest that, prior to language development, children can communicate with eye contact and gestures, Mundy began some specific exploratory research. In 1980 with Jeff Seibert, then the director of the University of Miami Department of Pediatrics' Debbie School, and colleague Anne Hogan, Mundy began to work on new methods to identify children with developmental problems.

"At that time, one of the only developmental ability tests available was the time-worn 'round peg in a square hole'-what we call an object-oriented test," Mundy explains. "But that test involves motor skills, and many of the children in the Debbie School had multiple physical problems as well as developmental problems. It was hard to determine their needs with that test."

So, together, Mundy, Seibert, and Hogan developed a new test, called the Early Social Communication Scales, for assessing nonverbal communication in infants. It measured infants' command of proto-imperative communication skills-or gestures, meaning anything from "get me a cookie" to "hand me my toy"-and proto-declarative skills-that is, showing an object or a person to share an experience.

The test was so effective, even in its early stages, that it came to the attention of psychiatry and psychology professor Marian Sigman of the University of California at Los Angeles, who recognized that it would be helpful in assessing and treating children with autism. She invited Mundy to join her research team at UCLA, where he spent the next seven years.

"Back then, there was very little information about the nature of the social deficits of autism, and this test turned out to be very useful," he explains. "We were able to define a specific developmental deficit that was characteristic of autism. Children with autism do okay with proto-imperative skills, but they display a clear deficit in their proto-declarative skills."

From these results, Mundy began to suspect that all children, not just disabled or emotionally handicapped children, might benefit from this test. In 1991 he returned to the University of Miami to research his theory. Three years ago, he got his answer: The results of this test revealed more about a child's future language development than any other predictor.

Mundy discovered that, as early as six months old, the way infants communicate can accurately predict their potential for language development, IQ, and social and emotional development.

"This is important news for parents, health care providers, and care givers who need to identify any child who may be at-risk," he says. "If problems are not recognized early on, they tend to have a 'snowball effect.' For example, a child who does poorly in the first years of school will have increasingly greater difficulties down the road, perhaps even for an entire lifetime.

"Language and reading are essential to success in any modern society, and most children learn their language long before their school years," Mundy points out. "We need to start helping children before the age of three, because that's the time when the most language development occurs."

It has been estimated that more than 2 percent of all children will experience some form of developmental disability, which may be severe enough to have a significant effect on the child's personal life, social development, and academic achievement.

Some of the early clues a parent can look for include a lack of speech development by the child's first birthday, unclear speech, or language or speech that is different from that of other children of the same age. If a disabling condition is suspected, early identification can begin in infants as young as six months old, thanks to Mundy's research. One of the main techniques he uses is something that comes naturally to everyone-the need to share pleasure.

"These messages might be, 'Watch me, Daddy!', 'This is delicious, have a bite of my dinner!', or, 'Come here and play with my toy!'" Mundy says. "Whether verbal or nonverbal, this is one of the primary communication behaviors of human beings."

Mundy has developed several ways of assessing this communication in babies and toddlers. For example, he will evaluate a child's ability to respond to an adult pointing to a balloon or other object across the room. He will watch to see how quickly the child's eyes follow the direction of the pointing finger, whether or not the child turns the head or entire body, and how the child responds emotionally to the object and shared pleasure experience.

Other methods involve watching to see if the child can initiate a shared experience, and how a child responds to someone else calling his name.

ver the past several years, Mundy and his staff have tested more than 200 children from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and from parents with a variety of educational levels. The children were first tested at the age of six months, then retested every three or four months until the age of three. The results have held true in all cases.

Currently, researchers around the world are using Mundy's means of evaluation so frequently that he has developed his own web site devoted to the method. The Early Social Communication Scales test has been translated into French and is being used to assess children in preschool programs in France. It also is being employed in Canada and Scotland, as well as in research settings at universities around the country, including UCLA, Harvard University, the University of Washington, the University of Maryland, and the University of Colorado.

"This research helps us understand that one of the major milestones of infancy is the capacity to share information with others," Mundy says. "This involves cognitive as well as emotional factors that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives."

Victoria Stuart is a frequent contributor to Miami magazine. Illustration by James Steinberg.
Photography by Donna Victor.

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