Library Visits Are More Than Simple Pleasures

One of my favorite dad-and-son activities with my seven-year-old is our weekly visit to the . 

On our latest visit, my son got a couple of books on elements. You know, as in the periodic table. Not exactly typical of kids his age, I know. But then, Kai is not your typical kid. That's partly because he has autism.

Although we love going to the library now, there was a time when the thought of going there with my son was intimidating. When you have a child with autism, going anywhere in public can be challenging. 

An autistic child is often much more prone to getting upset. Even seemingly minor things -- like taking a different route than usual, having to wait more than thirty seconds for a turn or getting his sleeves wet while washing hands -- can set my son off. Once upset, my son might have a full-blown meltdown with screaming, biting, kicking or self-injuring behavior. 

Dealing with a meltdown is hard enough in the privacy of my own home. Often it lasts for what feels like an eternity and nothing seems to calm my child down. But it’s even tougher to handle out in public when faced with the glare of strangers who appear to be giving you disapproving looks. 

And so the thought of going to the library, a place where you are supposed to be very quiet, and where a meltdown would really make you stick out, was once especially daunting.

But still, I wanted my son to experience what a library had to offer. When I was a child I loved browsing the shelves and finding a great new story that would occupy me for the next week. I wanted to introduce my son to that same feeling, and inculcate him to the joys of reading. So one day I drove him down to Laurel Street.

Short trips at first

Our first visits were relatively short. I tried to quickly find a few books for him that looked interesting and dash out before anything bad happened. 

When we discovered the computers that had games for young kids, we were able to stay longer. But at this point it was still usually just me searching for books while Kai played on the computer. 

The first time he showed much interest in finding books on his own was when he was five years old and wanted to learn the Hebrew alphabet. 

Now, ever since Kai was two, we saw that he had an unusual interest in letters and numbers. Before he could even talk, he spent a lot of his time looking at letters or clutching plastic ones in his hands. 

Apparently, this fascination with letters extended beyond our own ABC's and to the Hebrew alphabet as well. As neither my wife nor I have any knowledge of Hebrew, I thought we should find a book about it at the library.

When I had trouble finding a good one, I told Kai that I would have to ask a librarian for help. I explained that librarians know all about the books and are there to help us. As we approached the reference desk, Kai spoke up before I could say anything.  

“Um, excuse me,” he said. “Where do you keep the Hebrew alphabet books?” 

I was surprised. Kai has many challenges with social communication.  It had to have taken a lot of effort on his part to express his question. I think he was really motivated to learn the Hebrew alphabet.

The librarian led us to the proper shelf where we found a couple of great books. That week, Kai learned the Hebrew alphabet all on his own.

From alphabets to elements

These days, Kai is totally at ease at the library. A few weeks ago, he started to take an interest in the periodic table. Shockingly, there were no books on the topic in the little kids’ section of the library. But Kai went up to a librarian all by himself and asked her for help. She showed him a whole shelf of books in the area for older kids.

This week, his book selections are a book on iron and another one on all of the elements. It is certainly not what I was reading in first grade.  But I think he gets the same enjoyment out of going to the library that I did. 

And, for us, being able to enjoy this simple pleasure is simply wonderful.