Language is Not Necessary to Connect

On Friday we celebrated the International Day of Down Syndrome at my site's CEBE (school for special education).  One of our student's sister came with her 6 year old daughter to join in the celebration.  Neither our student nor his sister speak or hear, but I had a full conversation about our lives and shared a few jokes through gestures, noises, and lots of facial expressions.  It has never been more true that language - Spanish, English, or even proper sign language, is needed to communicate.