re: bystander denial of reading

Every time we go to the library DS3 reads something or other off a wall or book and it's all within earshot of the librarians. It's amazing to me that these 2 children's librarians, who know us well enough to have long conversations, nonetheless are really blind to noticing his literacy -- the very thing they are all about. Even when from the audience he reads words out of a book they are reading to the story hour kids, they just respond similarly to the person above: without pausing, "oh so you have this book at home!". Blows me away how boxed in they are by their expectations of normal.

Denial of reading ability is such a neat phenomenon... kind of analgous to a Piaget developmental stage or something... only this one is for adults, the definition would be: "a stage passed into right after open-mindedness ends". It's so common it should have a name -- could be called the "denial of ability phenomenon". Which can be shortened to DOAP. "What a doap", one could exclaim. wink

Polly