My son learned to read when he was about 2. By the time he was in preschool, he was reading books on a 2nd grade sight word level. Despite not really having functional speech, he was able to read books clearly, carefully enunciating each word. Despite that, he didn’t really talk to us or even with us. I didn’t get bombarded with the typical toddler why questions. However, he knew his sight words. He could recognize shapes and sounds and the world around him. He loved to spell too. He had a spelling toy that he quickly grew bored with because the words were not challenging enough. The most frustrating piece was that he would use phrases from books or movies as his conversation, which is called echolalia. Sometimes what he parroted was related to what the topic of conversation happened to be. Other times it wasn’t even close, and one had to decipher what was being said. Even today that happens when he’s super excited or very tired. He exhibited all the classic symptoms of hyperlexia, which is defined as:
The precocious ability to read words without the prior training in learning to read, typically before the age of 5.
It is extremely common in autistic kids. It is thought that somewhere between 5 and 10% are hyperlexic. As his verbal acuity developed, there was less of a dependence on reading, and more on speaking. By the time he was in 2nd grade, reading was now more of a chore than a desired activity. As part of his homework, he had to read for 20 minutes any day (not just limited to books-it could be anything). We were struggling to find something that would pique his interest and make him want to read. He loves dogs, and I found this great blog called Love Always, Bear.
It was the original “dog with a blog”. It was written from the dog’s point of view, and always was sweet and adorable. Bear was a golden retriever who was a rescue, who lived with his “parents”, and brothers Oliver and Fuzz (who predeceased him) and his two sisters Rosy and Annie. All were rescue dogs (my favorite breed). The mom liked to dress them up in outfits and take pictures, much like I used to do when our dog was a puppy. The posts were always entertaining, and Little Man looked forward to reading them daily. When the parents went on vacation to
Sadly, Bear became ill earlier this summer and had a poor prognosis. This past weekend, he crossed over the rainbow bridge. Our hearts break for Bear’s family as they mourn his loss. We are grateful that a dog encouraged a little man to read for pleasure and more. We will always love you, Bear.
4 comments:
Very sweet blog - I miss Bear too - Angus Fala
This is such an incredibly beautiful tribute. It warms my heart so much to know that Bear's blog could encourage Little Man to read. I love to have examples of how Bear touched and could make an impact on others lives. It especially helps me through my grief. Thank you so much again.
Bear'sMomHUGs.
This was such a sweet post. Bear was a very, very special dog, and I can certainly see why your son felt such a connection with him.
I was blessed to have followed LovAlways, Bear on twitter. I always looked forward to reading Bear's posts, as they were so endearing. During the last several months, I couldn't get on twitter so very much, so I learned of his passin a few days after. I cried as much as I did when my beloved springer died. Not only over his loss, but also knowing that we would most likely loose his blog page too. He brought so much joy into so many lives through his blog. I will miss that terribly.
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