Little Nonya Escapades by Janice Wee

Is She Mute?

The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with Tammy. She'd just turned two. While other kids her age babbled away, little Tammy had yet to say a single word.

Mr. and Mrs. Wee, strong in the Christian faith, prayed, even as they searched for a medical solution to their daughter’s apparent lack of speech.

Mrs. Wee, a brilliant educator was heartbroken. What’s wrong with her firstborn? The toddler laughed as she played, oblivious to her parents' growing concern.

“It’s highly likely that Tammy’s mute,” the doctor broke the news in private, away from the little girl’s ears.

Her hearing’s fine. She loved music. As an infant, she refused to sleep unless Richie Valens’ La Bamba played in the background.

In conversations, her eyes followed whoever happened to be speaking. Most of the time, however, little Tammy was lost on her own world.

As a baby, she’d fallen out of the cot. When she could walk, her clumsiness knew no limits. Perhaps all those bumps her thick skull sustained affected her intellect.

Then Tammy spoke - not a tentative word, but full sentences in the Queen’s English. Mrs. Wee was gob smacked.

That led to another problem. Once Tammy started talking, she wouldn’t stop.

One thing Tammy loved more than talking was to listen to stories. Mrs. Wee would sit with Tammy and read her favorite tales. When she was too busy, she had the music player, initially vinyl records, later cassette tapes, play pre-recorded stories for her little girl. Tammy would turn the page every time Tinkerbell rang her bell.

A dedicated educator, Mrs. Wee made phonics flip cards for her little girl.

She took out the “AT” set for her eager little beaver.

“B,” she pronounced the consonant. “AT,” she covered the “B”. “Bat.” Smiling, she watched her child’s eyes light up.

Flipping the card to show “C,” she repeated the game with “Cat.”

Tammy laughed as they went through “FAT”, “HAT” and the rest of the words on that flip card set. The little girl loved it.

When they were done, they played with the “ET” set and then the other phonics rhyming flip cards she’d made for her little girl.

“Mummy, can I keep these?” Tammy’s pleading eyes tickled her.

“Sure,” she laughed. “Keep them in the box when you’re done.”

When Tammy was three, while Mrs. Wee busied herself with household chores, Tammy ran up to her, brimming with excitement. Mrs. Wee sat beside the little girl as she read the entire book on her own. It was a regular children’s story book with several sentences on each page. Tammy didn’t memorize and recite the book. She actually read it.