“Nana,
can you read this book to me please?”
Lexi is two and a half years old.
Her voice is young and innocent as she hands the hard cover picture book
to me. I have to refuse, but of course,
I can’t read the book to her. I can’t see the text or the pictures.
We
have gradually been teaching Lexi to understand what it means that Nana has no
central vision. When Lexi was very little I could bluff “reading” to her by
making up stories as I turned the pages of a book. Now that she is older, she wants the text to
be read as it is printed on the page.
When Lexi first realized that Nana couldn’t see the small things in a
book, her initial reaction was to take the book from my hand and give it to
someone else to read to her.
Then
in this past week, we have begun experiencing a small miracle. Lexi has begun to read to Nana. Admittedly the only two books I have heard
her read so far are a five page counting book and a ten page book with pictures
of babies. Still, I am positively delighted!
There
is a picture with this post of the two of us sitting on the couch as Lexi reads
one of her books to me.
Did
you know that at the CNIB lending library there are children’s books with a
braille overlay accompanying the text? This means that a blind parent can read
a book alongside his/her sighted child. How wonderful!
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| Lexi reads to Nana |
