Elizabeth talks like she’s 1, but she reads like she’s 7.
A month ago, when I got an e-mail from a Lubbock mom who told me her 16-month-old baby could read, I didn’t really take it seriously – especially when she told me it was her first baby. But after a few weeks and a few more e-mails, I decided to meet her and see for myself.
Elizabeth Barrett is now 17 months old. She looks and acts like most babies her age, but her mom Katy says, “She can read sentences. She can read more words than we can count.”
So we watched as Elizabeth pulled out her favorite book, climbed in her favorite reading chair, and looked at pictures.
Katy, a speech pathologist who is married to Michael, another speech pathologist, told me that most people don’t believe their infant is a reader.
“The joke is that since we see kids with language problems, we think anybody with normal language skills is a genius. But as time goes on, it’s harder to deny that she’s exceptional,” said Katy.
What a relief to the Barretts that they can quiz Elizabeth on dozens of words but still enjoy playing, laughing, watching TV, and many other activities. I listened to Elizabeth read words like happy, puppy, penguin, vegetable, and kangaroo. That was impressive enough, but apparently, she’s inherited her parent’s love of music as well. When her mom wrote down Led Zeppelin, Buddy Holly, and the Beatles, she said those words too.
Again, Katy reminded me that it’s not bragging rights, but a call for help, that brings this family to NewsChannel 11 for this story. Dr. Stripling also told me he is very glad they are showing people what Elizabeth can do. The reason? When the parents contact major medical centers for advice on how to challenge their little girl, nobody calls or writes back. Because they don’t believe what she can do. Dr. Stripling says since seeing is believing, maybe the right people will contact them after seeing this story.
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