.... I made an interesting observation once, and I'd like to share it here. Bear with me for a bit of exposition, please.

I knew a fellow who was never sent to school. Because he was born stone deaf, to some of the worst hillbillies you ever did see, who didn't think he was worth educating, because they labour under the old myth that "dumb" = retarded. And he does seem to be mentally more or less normal, as he learned how to fix and do other things with cars simply by watching other people mess with them. He's my age, maybe a little older, and he never did bother to learn ASL or fingerspelling, because why? None of the guys he hangs around with know it, either, and they ain't going to learn. He lives and works in a scrapyard, and has a sort of rough sign language with his boss that Noam Chomsky would not approve of, and otherwise gets by Ok, so don't worry too much about him; the interesting thing is this: He tries to draw a picture sometimes in an effort to communicate more clearly (no, he can't read or write, either.) But he can't draw.

What he winds up with when he does try is a bunch of unconnected lines and curves. Like toddlers, chimps, and elephants will do, and, like them, will look at the thing when he decides he's finished, nod, and expect everyone else to see what he does. (Again, he seems reasonably cognitively normal, but can't communicate in any human manner.)

I think this is kind of a significant psychological insight, but I'm not sure how or why.