This provocative statement culminates a discussion of individual differences in language learning in Miller's pioneering text, which first appeared in 1951, for a fledgeling discipline that was to become known as developmental psycholinguistics. The book was the first to bring together various approaches for studying and analysing children's language and it was to influence several generations of child language researchers. While research techniques and the theories motivating them have changed, the text remains a fascinating historical document, articulating some important underlying assumptions about language learning.

Miller's description of the precocious child orator stems from an examination of factors in a child's environment and background that seem to be related to rapid language development. High family income, being a girl and being an only child have all been correlated, at least in surveys, with slightly facilitating language learning. But what possible advantage might blindness give a child?

In fact, the suggestion is derived from two interacting ideas about language acquisition. The first is what Miller calls “ear–voice reflexes” or the “ear-to-voice link” in infancy. Babbling stimulates a baby acoustically and kinesthetically, thereby encouraging the infant to continue making sounds. Eventually the child imitates sounds spoken by others and begins to learn words. Miller proposes that the blind may develop more rapidly in this area because of their verbal dependence on others.