" . . . But she can still communicate."

I've been put in mind of Cody's emphatic line about Bidi last year, about how she did not have a mouth, but she could still communicate. Because that's something like where Cordelia is right now. Her refusal to use words is so total that you might, if you didn't know her, almost think that she was doing it willfully.

As it is, she has devised a little system where, through pointing, nodding, and assorted baby sign language signs, she is able to communicate her wishes quite effectively.