Elective Mutism: A Handbook for Educators, Counsellors and Health Care Professionals

Undeniably, language is at the core of human existence. Merleau-Ponty (1945) posited that thought and language are one - cognition being language; language, cognition. Although such a categorical stance can be challenged from a number of theoretical perspectives as dogmatic and nonveridical, the critical role of language in humanness is irrefutable. It is what defines and distinguishes creatures at the apex of the phylogenetic scale. The fact that cognition predates verbal fluency and can t...