My boy and his books…

This week’s post is a little different.  Some of you who know me, probably know that my kids love to read.  Let me try and state that more clearly.  My kids L O V E to read especially my boy.  It’s actually become a bit of a problem because he is constantly reading.  I know that might possibly be the most ridiculous statement that I have ever written but if only you could witness firsthand the obsession that this boy has.   We’ve actually sat in with teachers and administrators and watched them very uncomfortably say that “the reading is a problem.”

And yet, I love that my kids love their books.  I love that they will re-read a book again and again and again.  That they have favorite characters but also love reading about science, about history, about dinosaurs, cats and the Bible.

Books are my boy’s way of coping with the world.  Of making sense of the world.  Kids with autism often rely on scripts (memorized dialogue from books, tv shows or movies) because there is familiarity and comfort in the predictability of scripts that isn’t there in everyday conversation.  When my boy was little, we didn’t recognize his scripts because he had memorized so many of them from his books.  It was only when we looked back, that we saw the scripts.  I believe that books helped him to be able to talk to us and so I love those books too.

I thought I might put together some images that show my boy’s love of books…

This is how it started.  Not even old enough to sit on his own but already flipping through his cloth book.

Then a little older.  We were even reading outside, surrounded by bubbles from a bubble machine (lower right)

Everyone would be recruited to read to Caleb.

He would read until he fell asleep each night.

And the library continues to be our favorite place.

I think you get the “picture.”  These are actually just a few of the many pictures I have of my boy reading and in all honesty, these are some of my favorite images.  I love them more than the formal, posed “say cheese” pictures because these pictures truly show who my boy is.

So my advice to you, if you’re setting out to take more pictures of your kids.  Don’t try to always get their attention and have them look at you and smile.  Just observe and click.  You may end up capturing just who your child is.