[Destro]

Then they should CLAIM she makes consistant sounds - not words.

[MortMan]

You're missing the point. When the same sound is used to convey a meaning multiple times, that "sound" is a word. Words themselves are merely the arrangement of sounds.

Consider your screen name "Destro". Any GI Joe fan knows how to pronounce it - short E and long O. But if I consistently procounce it with a long E, I have not renamed you - I have merely altered the way I say your name. If I am only capable of saying "Detra" to represent your name, I may be mispronouncing it, but it is still your name. Given a few repetitions of this cycle, you may even come to recognize that this is my best effort at properly pronouncing your screen name.

Terri is not currently capable of properly pronouncing the English words she is alleged to be able to speak. But her consistent application of the same sounds in response to appropriate stimuli (i.e.: "mmmmaaaoooo" when her Mother comes into the room) gives those truncated or mishapen enunciations the quality of communicative speech, as long as the recipient can recognize them.