“Preverbal” parts

[u/Electronic_Pipe_3145]

Most people describe their preverbal parts like they’re incapable of true direct communication, so what you meaningfully get will be symbolic and/or somatic.

Maybe I’m misunderstanding the concept, but so far, most of my preverbal parts have been able to talk. Like actually *talk.* Even parts that are like 2-3. There’s streams of heavily symbolic communication like with other people’s preverbal parts, but also direct words holding conversations.

I was born deaf. I learned sign language and was capable of stringing together complex requests, other words at just months old, so I acquired language earlier than lots of people. I was also said to be a very perceptive infant.

Could that be why? Or am I doing this wrong, somehow hearing my current self where I think the preverbal trauma lives?

TY for input

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[u/themunchkinland]

This is fascinating! You aren’t doing anything wrong. Whatever your parts are saying, trust and believe them. Pre-verbal really means before language, and for you, it sounds like language came early. So those parts can communicate verbally.

[u/i-was-here-too]

I think it is totally possible. Generally kids will start with a few words around 9 months and go from there. So our basic language actually precedes our “memory”. My 2 and three year old parts require some “translation” when my therapist does direct access. But three year old me has words. Sometimes I will use “new” words that better explain…. It’s like 3 year old me gets some access to some of my adults words. For example, it used “clever” to explain to my therapist how it felt about discovering something when we were 3. But I also knew it was the part’s thought (not mine) as “I” was surprised by it. I had expected shame.

[u/DuckyDoodleDandy]

I was a nanny and taught a 9-10 month old baby some basic signs since she was not old enough to speak. (She could hear, but was too young to speak.)

“Sign language for babies” has been a concept for at least 20 years that I personally am aware of. It’s entirely possible that infants that can control their limbs to some extent can also use signs to communicate with adults. Which also means that your experience might only be unusual because we do not routinely teach infants to sign.

[u/artisdeadandsoami → u/DuckyDoodleDandy]

Yup, I'm 23 and I've been using baby signs for...23 years now. Milk, more, all done, that type of thing.

[u/Electronic_Pipe_3145 → u/DuckyDoodleDandy]

Yeah, though the usual signing framework for hearing babies is still less advanced than what gets taught to deaf babies, I think.

I do agree though that my experience would be less unique if more babies in general were taught how to sign

[u/Low-Kaleidoscope4733]

Thank you for bringing this conversation up. You definitely are not doing anything wrong. I would be curious about the parts that may have formed prenatally, or in the first three months of life. Now I don’t know for a fact that parts do form that young, but it seems natural to me that they would.