Eli5 What is the difference between being “mute” and being “nonverbal”?
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I knew someone who was a professional carer for people with autism, and most of the people she cared for were nonverbal. If someone is simply “mute” with no other qualifiers then you’d normally expect that they understand language fairly well- they can understand it when they’re spoken to, and they can read and write. Communicating with someone who is mute really isn’t that hard.
Someone who is “nonverbal” on the other hand, even if they can hear, may not understand what you’re saying to them, and may not be able to read or write. Communicating with someone who is nonverbal can be a specialized skill set, and often requires getting to know the individual person in question fairly well.
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