Dear Peter,

I would proceed the other way round. I would refer you to the literature on babies that have not yet been competent speakers of their own mother language. Gibbs (1994), for instance, documented the fact that babies are capable of producing metaphors in action (i.e. without words), which is evidence that they think to produce such metaphors. This is, in turn, evidence that thinking in this case is a pre-linguistic mental activity. By analogy, a baby who would eventually be a signer will certainly be capable of playing the same metaphor in action, otherwise we would be guilty of saying that signers cannot think altogether, which is not the case. There must be a huge literature on the subject, but I am answering on the fly.

I hope you will find this useful.

Maybe these links can be useful:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Has_anyone_tried_a_game_that_can_be_played_by_the_deaf_and_blind_community_simultaneously2

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_the_most_important_requirements_that_we_should_consider_when_developing_a_serious_game_for_the_blind_community

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_the_most_important_requirements_that_we_should_consider_when_developing_a_serious_game_for_the_deaf_community

Dear Peter,

I would proceed the other way round. I would refer you to the literature on babies that have not yet been competent speakers of their own mother language. Gibbs (1994), for instance, documented the fact that babies are capable of producing metaphors in action (i.e. without words), which is evidence that they think to produce such metaphors. This is, in turn, evidence that thinking in this case is a pre-linguistic mental activity. By analogy, a baby who would eventually be a signer will certainly be capable of playing the same metaphor in action, otherwise we would be guilty of saying that signers cannot think altogether, which is not the case. There must be a huge literature on the subject, but I am answering on the fly.

I hope you will find this useful.

Try also Lev Vygotsky "Thinking and speech"

Hi. This too... showing that a child can create a combinatorial linguistic system without external linguistic input :

Goldin-Meadow, S., and C. Yang. Statistical evidence that a child can create a combinatorial linguistic system without external linguistic input: Implications for language evolution, – Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763416301105.

Best

Please, who are , " people without language?" Those who cannot hear or speak or see have language.

I do not uderstand youc r comment /question.

Do you think language is only the spoken word? People use Braille, lip reading, sign language, which are all forms of the spoken work used by non speakers. No "should" bes-- things either are or are not.)

So who are people without language?

I don't know so I was asking who it was you referred to in your question: "Do babies and people without language think in words and language?

It is such an intersting question that I am going to share an ancedote with you. A dear friend of mine, an artist/painter, scupltor, (sees, speaks and hears) has a hard time experessing himself --ideas, feelings , wriyings, etc. One day a long time ago, he told me he does think with words-- imagine THAT!! Anyway, we had a long discussion and even though, I was finally convinced, I do not undetand to this day. He told me he is a visual person and all / most of his thoughts are visul and NOT words. ??!!!

Don't we all, you and me included, think in/with images sometimes?

Dear Deleted profile, you have raised an interesting and debatable issue.

It is possible to experience sensations, impressions, and feelings without language. I try to stop myself from using words to think sometimes as a mental exercise. Different languages all describe the same thing using different words. I think words are inferior to experience, and just a tool I use to converse with others. If you think in words you often find yourself thinking the thoughts of others. Without them you are free to be only yourself.

Naturally, there is a type of inner, explicitly linguistic thinking that allows us to bring our own thoughts into conscious awareness. We may be able to think without language, but language lets us know that we are thinking.

Many artists and scientists, in describing their own inner processes while they work, say they do not use words to solve problems, but images.

for me is possible other form of communication without words in babies, when you are mother you can understand what they are tried to said or express

Psychologists differ in answering this question. Some of them - like Gilbert Ryle - think that thinking has to be preceded by learning to speak aloud. The validity of his opinion indicates that the child acquires the language first before learning at a later stage to think with himself.

Others, such as the psychologist Jean Piaget, believe that the child's mental development progresses independently, generally followed by linguistic growth. Piaget explains that it is impossible for children to understand verbal expression before they can master the basic concept underlying this expression, meaning they do not understand words or words such as "next week", "money" and "death."

The psychologist Vijotsky believes that thinking and language begin as separate acts, and that the thinking of young children is like animal thinking because it occurs without language. An example is a child who has not yet learned to speak and who solves minor problems, such as eating things and opening doors (ie thinking without speaking)

My answer is not academic but merely first thoughts and I will research the many quality answers and links that have been given as I am interested in visual literacy through the use of pictorial symbols.

For me, the question contains too many variables: language, thinking, words (therefore letters, sounds, visuals) etc. Then adding the 'mindset of a baby' and the 'people without the fore mentioned skills/abilities' makes for a difficult discussion.

I can see what you are requesting however and personally think that any initial communication is in response to understanding and reacting to stimuli whether that be sound, visuals, touch, smells and even dreams. As it has been shown that a language 'module' is built into many animals, then possibly that module uses the stimuli to arrange and structure its responses as a 'language' for the capability of its host.

No. But I have observed and analysed that babies think and analyse Image to Image. First of all they recognise those of some images to which they are interested and after they think about that.

You may show to the child of 6-7 month a simple calendar and a colorful calendar, you may find the difference.