For the past 30 plus years I have read to Micah most every night. We have probably read thousands of books written by many different authors. We read many classics as well as lesser known books that his siblings or I liked. Our family is heavy into Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, but I also loved the Little House On the Prairie books as well as everything by L. M. Montgomery, so Micah listened as I read him all my favorite books as well as many others year after year.
One of the most exciting changes brought about by Spelling to Communicate (S2C) is that we are finally learning about what Micah likes rather than guessing or assuming we know what he likes. So, when we recently finished a book series, I asked Melody to ask Micah what book he would like me to read to him next. (Micah and I are making progress in S2C, however he is openly communicating with Melody, so she is my go to person to make sure we know what Micah wants). Micah requested a book about String Theory. Neither Melody or I had heard of it, but a quick Google search helped locate books on this topic. Melody showed Micah the different options of book titles, then sent me the title “the Little Book of String Theory” by Steven S. Gubser.
How Micah even knew about String Theory, is a mystery that is most likely best explained if one listens to the Telepathy Tapes (refer back to my January 2025 blog). But the fact that this was his choice of reading material has been mind blowing for me. My father’s undergraduate degree was in Physics, but clearly I was not blessed with aptitude or interest in this area of science. Micah, however listens carefully as I struggle to read this book to him each night. I think I have a decent vocabulary, but this book is written in what seems like a whole different language to me. Some nights I struggle to get through two or three pages before telling Micah I am tired. I have asked him a few times if he likes what he is hearing, and he always quickly says “Yeah”! So we will continue to slog through this book and perhaps I will even learn something, although that is probably delusional on my part.
I am hoping his next book choice gets back to something a bit lighter, but we shall see. After 30 years of my choices, he is probably psyched to finally have input into what he is listening to. But if anyone is really into String Theory feel free to stop by and take over the nightly reading as I am sure Micah and I could both use a reprieve from me struggling through each mind boggling page of this book.
Jan Lessard Peightell March 11, 2025