“Why didn’t anyone tell me she could do that?” Desmond whispered behind us.

“Because we don’t know how much she can do,” I said.

“And because asking her to perform in front of adults who frighten her would tell us very little.”

I wrote three suggestions on the back of my repaired résumé: a qualified child psychologist, a speech-language professional familiar with alternative communication, and an independent pediatric assessment.

I would not diagnose a child from a staircase exchange.

Pearl watched my pen moving.