Sunday, February 11, 2007

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut by Conor (and Dr. Seuss)



I sat at the computer a few minutes ago, the first one up and awake in the house, when I heard Conor in the kitchen reading I Can Read With My Eyes Shut by Dr. Seuss. I have mentioned before Conor's love of Dr. Seuss and his increasing ability to read and will probably do so again. For me it is remarkable that my soon to be 11 year old profoundly autistic son is able to,and wants to, read Dr. Seuss. He gets his Seuss books out and reads them on his own initiative with no prompting or cajoling. Conor's reading skills were developed through structured Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) intervention. While The Cat in the Hat and I Can Read With My Eyes Shut may not be the reading fare of most 11 year olds, it represents once unthinkable progress for Conor. It didn't happen without effort or without ABA. But Now Conor can enjoy the playful genius of Theodor Seuss Geisel, Dr. Seuss. And I can enjoy the sound of Conor reading aloud first thing in the morning.

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