Even babies need acknowledgement
This is very true:
The very same basics that are used with adults to communicate with other adults absolutely apply to babies as well, a fantastic example of such L. Ron Hubbard singles out in a December 1954 talk on communication, where he says:
“Kids, kids that come around and they say — I have noticed this with parents… . kids will come around and they’ll say,’Jabber-jabber-wog-wog-yag-yem-gillilyogo-wabble.’
And you say, ‘My golly is that so?’
And they will say, ‘Yboggle-yoggle-jobber-jobber-wobble-wob.’
And you say, ‘Holy cats, no!’
And they say, ‘Jobber-jobber-wobble-wobble-wobble-wobble-jabber-jabber-jabber.’
And well, I say, ‘Well, okay, if that’s the way it is’ and walk off. They’re perfectly satisfied.
And I have been watching people around kids and the kid says ‘Jabber-jabber-woggle-woggle’ and the person pays no attention to them, what they are saying, so the kid then starts getting on a stuck flow.
…They get frantic! And parents wonder why these kids have got to climb all over them all the time and mess up the furniture and spoil everything and knock everything down and so on, when it is obviously just as you’ve said; it’s a thirst, a craving for acknowledgment or originated communication.
If you don’t want any trouble from a kid, for God sakes always say ‘Hello’ when you see him. ‘How are you?’” — LRH (from lecture “One-Way Flows in Processing” from the 9th American Advanced Clinical Course – available here.)
It’s something I’ve noticed all too often with my kids, starting from an EXTREMELY young age. They grunt, smile, smack their chops, etc – it’s a COMMUNICATION. And you have to treat it like such, or they get upset. Don’t treat them like they’re just jabbering and aren’t really saying anything.
