In Chapter 1 I outlined some of the similarities between the difficulties experienced by children in learning the language of complaining, that is the ways in which they can share their discomforts with others, and the problems which a researcher can have in trying to elicit children's views on illness. Inherent in both is a form of dialogue directed at sharing the nature of someone's internal world. A consultation consists of the same sort of dialogue in which one person is trying to present a problem and another is trying to be open enough to hear what that problem is. A shared language is required.

In order to lay the basis for research methods which can be used to explore children's views and at the same time point out the sorts of communicative skills held by children, I will summarise here some of what is known about the development of children's communication. This will not be a comprehensive documentation of child development and socialisation; my intention is rather to provide a theoretical framework that can be drawn on when evaluating both what children say about illness and the research on the subject. (For those readers who have a knowledge of the development of communication this part of the chapter could be unnecessary for their understanding of the rest of this book.)