Life without language

I wouldn't be too hasty about using Genie's case study to generalize about language acquisition. Genie was also horribly abused and neglected, without adequate access to sunlight or nutrition, for the formative years of her life.

In other words, lack of access to language was not the only variable in her case. Of course, a controlled study of this would be unethical, so case studies are all we have, and we can't be picky about them. But neither should we make assumptions about what variables are actually being measured in a case study. That requires a controlled experiment.

There is more than just this case to suggest this. There were other Feral children who developed to a similar level to Genie (though, as pointed out by another commenter, it's impossible to say how much of their lack of development is a result of the abuse itself and has nothing to do with language). There is the Pirahã who don't have numbers as part of their language and are apparently unable to learn them passed a certain age (note: AFAIK both these points are contested). Another part of the idea comes from the observation that our brains stop forming new connections at some point.

But I think all of this is touched on in the article. I was in the "language first" camp until I read this. Fantastic stuff.

(sigh) I wish calmly and rationally stating your opinion got people's attention, but it doesn't.

Fact is, cochlear implants are very obviously a good thing, and the arguments against them are stupid. There are many issues that are polarizing, but where the right answer is completely obvious to anyone who is thinking clearly and doesn't have a hidden agenda. This is one of them.

There is an entire movement to teach babies sign language. One of my friends did it for her kids. The idea is not, however, using sign language to fluency (though, let's be honest, you're not trying to teach your child any language to fluency in their first few years of life).