Rethinking Communication guide to advanced dementia

36 Language and communication are not interchangeable, though. Let us consider again how babies communicate. Many adults believe that babies are not able to communicate until they reach the stage of being able to use language. Language, of course, might be spoken, as happens when babies finally start talking at around one year of age. The language could also be gestural, as happens around nine months of age or even before, when babies start using gestures to make a request. This could include lifting their arms to say, “Please pick me up.” They might reach for a bottle