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Chapter 1
The Fundamental Interpersonal Skill
ne of the most memorable experiences in life is being
around a child at the very moment when he or she says
that first magic word, Mama (or perhaps it’s Dada). The
infant’s struggle to communicate begins to get a little easier
with name-to-person recognition ability. “Dog,” “cat,”
“book,” and other single-syllable words follow, and then on
to simple sentences, more-complex sentences, and multi-
syllabic words. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear young chil-
dren emphasize personal pronouns in their early efforts to be
understood: I, me, mine. When they can’t communicate what
they are feeling, ...