Precerpt from Raising God's Rainbow Makers: Shane Reads Books
Shane reads, really reads. He started reading at the age of 23 months. He was barely talking at the time, and he was not yet walking. I figured he was just a little slower getting around to things, but it turns out he had set a different priority to things.
One day, I was working with Noelle with flashcards, using them to make sentences, trying to visually get her to understand how language works -- and reading is a big part of that. She struggled, and so I put the flashcards away and said we would try again in a few months.
Shane crawled over and said, "Read." It was his first word after he uttered "oh-oh" when he broke his arm at 6 months in an unexpected tumble. Not Mama, not Dada. But "read."
I told him sure, when he got a little bigger, we could play with the flashcards.
"Read now," he responded. Wow, he knew another word! But he had never said any of the words on the flashcards.
I laid them out for him; there were a dozen. Mommy, Daddy, loves, Shane, Noelle, Lizzie, Doah, hugs, kisses, tickles, Puff (the cat), likes. Sight reading, not phonics (too early for phonics). Whole word recognition from shape -- we would get to phonics a bit later. (I taught all the kids to read long before they entered kindergarten. As soon as their eyes could focus well enough and as soon as they displayed an interest in reading for themselves rather than being read to. Usually around 2.5 to 3 years old. Definitely not 23 months.
Shane pointed to and read all the words correctly. I did not even know he could say those words. What had he been keeping from us?
I made a sentence: Mommy loves Daddy. He read it. Then I asked, "Who else does Mommy love? Show me with the cards."
He removed Daddy and put in Shane, announcing "Mommy loves me." Saying "me" instead of "Shane" was not an error. It told me that he was processing meaning. That was good.
We played with the cards making new sentences for maybe ten minutes, after which he got bored. Shane, to this day, gets bored quickly and moves on to other activities in rapid response order. Noticing that he was getting bored, I commented, "Well, Shane, you really can read!"
He looked up at me and said, "Read more." He did not have more of the same in mind. He meant more as in more challenging reading.
He crawled over to the bookshelf, pulled a children's book off the shelf, and read it aloud. It turns out that Shane was not slow. He was gifted - confirmed by several school districts later as he grew up and by early entrance to first grade at age 3 and to college at age 14. He wasn't quiet because he was having a hard time processing things. He was quiet because he was busy processing things.
When Shane was 9, he was attending an ungraded private school, recommended by the public school district which really had nothing to offer him, especially after an altercation with his fourth grade teacher at age 7 when he stood up to give a book report, as required, on As I Lay Dying by Faulkner. The teacher said the book was not on the reading list. Shane said nothing on the reading list, and certainly not George, the Monkey, Goes to the Zoo, was worth his time reading. (To be fair, he had been reading for six years and increasingly difficult books, so he had had more time on task than the other fourth graders even though he was 3-4 years younger.) The teacher said reading a book not on the list would result in a zero. Shane said, "Fine; I'll take the zero, and read a good book." That sent him to the assessment clinic, and yeah, no programs were available that could meet his needs, so off he went to private school. Forty years later, Shane remembers the altercation with considerable annoyance.
There was no bus to the private school so Shane walked to the public library nearby after school and spent three hours completing his homework, which, like everything else, he did quickly, and then reading books. One day in May he announced he needed a different library. Why? He said he had read every book in the library. So, I checked the shelves. Pulled out The Joy of Sex and asked him, "Did you read this?"
"Mom," he said. "All these books in this section I have read. That's pretty weird stuff."
"Tell me that when you are a teenager," I responded and thought: When the time comes to discuss the birds and the bees, I guess we will be talking about technique!
His grandfather shares a birthday with Shane and was visiting us in California to celebrate the two birthdays when Shane turned 16. Living in Pittsburgh, he had not seen Shane since we moved away when Shane was still a toddler. He asked me what I should get him. A book, I suggested. For a teenager? Yep.
I directed him to a couple of interesting books on the Civil War, one being letters written home by soldiers. Shane at the time had been enamored with the Civil War from home schooling assignments in high school and could give a summary from the Northern, Southern, and British points of view. Skeptically, Grandpa purchased that book and one other the Civil War.
Back home, Shane unwrapped his gift and immediately sat on the couch, opened the book of letters, and started boring through it. (Shane was a fast reader.)
"Shane," I interrupted him. "What do you say to your grandfather?"
He looked up. "Oh, sorry, thank you!"
Grandpa answered, "You already thanked me by the way you quickly became so absorbed in the book."
Shane is now 48 years old. He still reads. Now, he prefers Kindle, and wherever he goes, he has his books on his cell phone and he can be found reading.
Indeed, Shane reads books.
Book Description:
Raising God's Rainbow Makers: A Family Memoir of Grace, Grit, and Growing Up Different
What happens when a military family welcomes four children—each with wildly different needs—into a world not always built to support them?
In Raising God’s Rainbow Makers, one mother shares the remarkable journey of raising two children with complex disabilities—one with spina bifida, one with CHARGE Syndrome—and two intellectually gifted children, all born in different states during years of military life. Through medical crises, educational challenges, and societal roadblocks (both intentional and unintentional), this honest and inspiring memoir tells the story of how one family built a life of strength, compassion, and resilience.
With warmth and unflinching honesty, the author reflects on emergency surgeries, IEP battles, unexpected victories, and the fierce sibling bonds that formed in the face of it all. The children—now grown—bear witness to the power of support, faith, and never giving up.
This is not just a story of survival. It is a celebration of difference, a chronicle of hope, and a powerful testament to what love and determination can build when the world says "impossible."
Keywords:
Parenting memoir; Special needs parenting; Raising children with disabilities; Military family life; Family resilience; Inspirational family story; Faith-based memoir; Coping with medical challenges; Sibling support stories; Gifted children; Spina bifida; CHARGE Syndrome; Hydrocephalus; Congenital disabilities; Complex medical needs; Pediatric neurosurgery; IEP and special education; Gifted education; Educational advocacy; Inclusive education; Hope and healing; Courage and strength; Love and perseverance; Raising different children; Disability acceptance; Parenting through adversity; Overcoming barriers; Finding joy in hardship; Special needs journey; Family unity and support; For parents of disabled children; For parents of gifted children; For educators and therapists; Christian parenting memoir; For families facing rare diagnoses; Real-life parenting stories; Memoirs about raising children; Stories of medical miracles
For more posts about Elizabeth and her books, click HERE.
Read more stories -- and photos -- about the Mahlou family in the blog (no longer maintained), Clan of Mahlou.
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