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Learning to Listen: A Life Caring for Children
From his childhood in Waco, Texas, where he took expert care of nine small cousins while the adults ate Sunday lunch, to Princeton and an offer from Broadway, to medical and psychoanalytic training, to the exquisite observations into newborn behavior that led babies to be seen in an entirely new light, Dr. T. Berry Brazelton's life has been one of innovation and caring. Known internationally for the Touchpoints theory of regression and growth in infants and young children, Brazelton is also credited for bringing the insights of child development into pediatrics, and for his powerful advocacy in Congress.
In Learning to Listen , fans of Brazelton and professionals in his field can follow both the roots of a brilliant career and the evolution of child-rearing into the twenty-first century.
In Learning to Listen , fans of Brazelton and professionals in his field can follow both the roots of a brilliant career and the evolution of child-rearing into the twenty-first century.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
10 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
T. Berry Brazelton
77 books31 followersThomas Berry Brazelton was an American pediatrician, author, and the developer of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 4, 2019
Long ago, the Brazelton's were summertime friends of my family so my reading this memoir was really to get a sense of who my parents socialized with and to get to know a little about the father of a childhood friend. I had no idea he was so notable a man until I had children of my own.
After meeting my eldest when he was a tot, Dr. Brazelton warmly said, "Oh, Everybody should have at least ten babies. I just loooove babies."
This sentiment is very evident in this autobiography.
We see where some of his core ideas came from and how they changed and developed over time. It certainly became his belief that it is okay to give even the youngest members of society choices and that to support the parents absolutely is to the benefit of the children. We see, if we didn't know this already, that he truly loved his work and his family. As a small child, I never found him to be a scary adult like so many of my parents friends, and now having read this book as an adult, I can see why this was. I always knew him to be quite a character and his sparkle really comes throughout this autobiography.
I particularly liked the stories about when his daughter Kitty accompanied him on research trips and turned out to be instrumental in getting the dialogue between him and the local mothers started.
Of course in a memoir, one absolutely talks about the people one has met over a lifetime but unless I was also a paediatrician or in a medical field, many of the people he refers to will mean nothing to the layman. This happens rather more often in the latter half of the book which is only natural of course as his life and work progressed. It was less engaging for me to read about. Now I know of course that in working with many of these individuals around the globe, Dr. Brazelton helped to advance the science behind how babies develop from the moment they are born and that he was instrumental in bringing good thoughtful care for children into the 21st century. As well, he opened up the dialogue for new parents who many not otherwise think they are doing a good job.
In terms of a life well lived, I give him a 10/10.
After meeting my eldest when he was a tot, Dr. Brazelton warmly said, "Oh, Everybody should have at least ten babies. I just loooove babies."
This sentiment is very evident in this autobiography.
We see where some of his core ideas came from and how they changed and developed over time. It certainly became his belief that it is okay to give even the youngest members of society choices and that to support the parents absolutely is to the benefit of the children. We see, if we didn't know this already, that he truly loved his work and his family. As a small child, I never found him to be a scary adult like so many of my parents friends, and now having read this book as an adult, I can see why this was. I always knew him to be quite a character and his sparkle really comes throughout this autobiography.
I particularly liked the stories about when his daughter Kitty accompanied him on research trips and turned out to be instrumental in getting the dialogue between him and the local mothers started.
Of course in a memoir, one absolutely talks about the people one has met over a lifetime but unless I was also a paediatrician or in a medical field, many of the people he refers to will mean nothing to the layman. This happens rather more often in the latter half of the book which is only natural of course as his life and work progressed. It was less engaging for me to read about. Now I know of course that in working with many of these individuals around the globe, Dr. Brazelton helped to advance the science behind how babies develop from the moment they are born and that he was instrumental in bringing good thoughtful care for children into the 21st century. As well, he opened up the dialogue for new parents who many not otherwise think they are doing a good job.
In terms of a life well lived, I give him a 10/10.
September 10, 2021
My very favorite chapter was 4: Listening to Other Cultures. I felt like I very much got to know this author personally through this book. His ideas and opinions were honest and were a fascinating look into his head, culture and era as much as anything. Overall, I found the concepts about newborns and their personalities very, very interesting!
July 27, 2014
I happened to grab this book at the public library while waiting for someone and I'm glad I did. This was my first book to read one of Brazelton's books despite having two kids. However, I plan to check out some of his others like infants and mothers and on becoming a family. I'm also very interested to read about touchpoints.
At times, his style of writing seems like he's name dropping and being a braggart, but this is more because he's very familiar with scholarly reports where such name dropping is crucial for acknowledging the others' contributions, and let's be real, the man has accomplished many things and deserves to brag a bit (it is his memoir after all)!
My favorite sections were his account of his family history and the explanations of babies behaviors in other parts of the world (e.g., Mayan babies in southern Mexico, Japan, China, etc.). The closing of the book broke my heart when he describes his experiences with children and families in war.
If you have interest in child development, pediatrics, attachment parenting, and/or family communication/social psychology, you're more likely to enjoy this read. You might also like this book if you saw the documentary Babies and liked it! If none of these things apply to you, you may still like the book, but you might not prefer his more factual reporting.
At times, his style of writing seems like he's name dropping and being a braggart, but this is more because he's very familiar with scholarly reports where such name dropping is crucial for acknowledging the others' contributions, and let's be real, the man has accomplished many things and deserves to brag a bit (it is his memoir after all)!
My favorite sections were his account of his family history and the explanations of babies behaviors in other parts of the world (e.g., Mayan babies in southern Mexico, Japan, China, etc.). The closing of the book broke my heart when he describes his experiences with children and families in war.
If you have interest in child development, pediatrics, attachment parenting, and/or family communication/social psychology, you're more likely to enjoy this read. You might also like this book if you saw the documentary Babies and liked it! If none of these things apply to you, you may still like the book, but you might not prefer his more factual reporting.
December 30, 2013
Berry Brazelton gave an interview on NPR that I found pretty fascinating, so I picked this up when I saw it at the library. It does not disappoint. He's been a part of so much interesting research and had such a long, mindful pediatric practice that he has quite a lot to share that hasn't already been published. His writing is clear and detailed and he's able to blend his own stories and memoir with insights into pediatrics and psychiatry and childbirth in multiple cultures over time I came away feeling smarter, and also feeling a bit in awe of this super-dedicated doctor and scholar. I will never be as much in love with my work as he is with his. :)
August 10, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed reading about Dr. Brazelton's research and experiences during a remarkable career. His passion as a pediatrician never wavered and our global community has prospered due to his outstanding commitment towards enriching family life.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews