Books have been my dear friend as far as I can remember. More than a companion, they’ve come to my rescue my entire life. As a child, they gave me access to new worlds and new vocabulary. In primary school, never the social butterfly, I preferred to stay in and devour the adventures of Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Sweet Valley High. As a teen, Stephen King and Dean Koontz helped me escape the drudgery of adolescence. I embarrassingly remember binging on sleazy novels when I needed to detox from the heavy philosophical texts in grad school. Of late, non-fiction has been my jam. I read to grow and learn about parenting, about autism, about relationships, about being a better human, really. Books feed my soul. But perhaps the greatest gift books have given me is a way to connect with my son.
Just Talk To Him!
See, even before the autism diagnosis, a friend of mine encouraged me to talk to my baby. “Just talk to him!” she would urge me. “Narrate everything you’re doing as you’re doing it,” she said. “This is a spoon. This is a cup. I’m pouring the juice into the cup. Yummy. This juice is delicious.” And so on. She stressed to me how babies needed that interaction. “It teaches them language, helps them to absorb our words and our world.” Now, my friend is and has always been a natural talker. But I am not. I’m one of those quiet, shy, silent types. (Certain people who know me will beg to differ, but let’s just go with my version for now.) I found it so bizarre to be talking to a baby who didn’t talk back. I felt silly and didn’t know what to say. But I also knew how important it was to fill his world with words. Especially when I found out he had developmental delays in communication.
Dr. Seuss To The Rescue
Enter, Dr. Seuss. Since talking to my baby didn’t come naturally to me, I chose something that did. Reading. And that’s how I filled the silence in our home. Every day, I would read out loud to my baby. (I’d sing to him too, but we quickly learned that wasn’t my forte.) It was so much easier for me to read to him rather than holding a one-sided conversation. So read I did, consistently, from he was a teeny tot to the growing 5-year-old before me. We did picture books and fairy tales, nursery rhymes and sing-alongs. We read and re-read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Pout-Pout Fish, Giraffes Can’t Dance, Pete the Cat, and Curious George. But without a doubt, Dr. Seuss’ books have been our true favorite. His rhymes make for easy reading and fun listening. His characters are absurd, ridiculous, and absolutely entertaining for parent and child alike.
I think I connect with Dr. Seuss most of all because of the gems he hides in between the lines. These gems offer lessons for us all:
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” (Horton Hears a Who!)
“You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may!” (Green Eggs and Ham)
“You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.” (I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!)
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer that You.” (Happy Birthday to You!)
Now, we share a love too!
Maybe it’s in his genes, maybe it’s because of his early exposure to stories, whatever the case, Liam grew to love books. He’d be attentive for long periods, engaged in one of my animated narrations. Before long, he started choosing books on his own for me to read. And not long after that, he started reading on his own. Yes, we’re still working on functional communication, but most every day, Liam and I meet in another world and find new things to discuss. Thank you, Dr. Seuss. Thank you, all wordsmiths. Your stories have ignited my son’s imagination. He’s learning to empathize with characters. He’s learning new words as he’s learning new experiences.
I don’t know many, many things. But if you find yourself in a situation similar to mine, where you long to fill the silent space between you and a little one, perhaps give reading a try. Join the library and borrow some books for your child. Open a book and read that story aloud with all the gusto you can muster. You might be in for a wonderful surprise.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”—Dr. Seuss (I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!)