How David Attenborough Helped My Non-Verbal Son Learn To Speak

When Kerri Cunningham’s son was around 18 months old, he could say a few words like bye, Dada and bee.

But as he grew, rather than gain more words, he lost the few he’d learned. At three years old, he was diagnosed with autism.

Kerri, who lives in Preston with her husband Jordan and their three children aged four, seven and 10, was unsure if she’d ever hear her son speak again.

But everything changed when, one day out of the blue, her son started to utter words he’d learned from an unlikely place: Sir David Attenborough’s nature documentaries.

In a heartfelt Instagram post shared a day after the documentarian’s 100th birthday, Kerri revealed how “Sir David Attenborough helped my son learn to speak”.

“Until last year he couldn’t say a word,” she shared on social media. That was, until he started watching Blue Planet…

People with autism can have special interests – according to the National Autistic Society, these are “subjects and/or activities that a person engages in very deeply – in the short term, long term or as a lifelong interest”.

For Kerri’s four-year-old son, sea creatures are his special interest. The mum said he loves fish, whales and sharks, so in 2025 they started putting on Blue Planet for him – “and he loved it”.

Then, slowly, something started to shift – he started to say new words.

“He’s a gestalt language processor which means he learns in scripts from books songs and shows he might watch,” said Kerri on Instagram.

Gestalt language processing was first mentioned by Ann Peters back in the eighties. It involves learning language in whole phrases or chunks, rather than individual words.

Per the Washington Autism Alliance, “many autistic individuals are Gestalt language learners, but not all Gestalt language learners are autistic”.

One day, Kerri’s son was sat in the living room playing with toys, when – to her surprise – he said “while they travel they play”.

It was a quote from the Blue Planet, which Sir David had used to describe a group of dolphins.

“We just couldn’t believe it, I think I said to my husband, ‘wow did you hear that?!’ And we knew immediately where it had come from,” Kerri told HuffPost UK in an email.

“He’s definitely learnt the names of lots of his favourite sea creatures from the show. He will also hum the score pitch-perfect!”

On 9 May, Kerri shared an illustration of a young boy sat cross-legged before sea creatures, and thanked the naturalist for “showing us all the world” and “helping me step into my son’s world”.

Her post resonated with lots of parents, who shared similar stories about how their children also found their voices thanks to the centenarian’s shows.

One commenter detailed how their son’s journey was “so incredibly similar”.

Their son, who is also a gestalt language processor and autistic, became captivated by the documentaries Our Planet and Frozen Planet.

“Hearing those first scripted phrases, then watching them slowly turn into connection, communication, and shared joy… there’s nothing quite like it,” said the mum.

“How amazing and special that two little boys connected to the world through the exact same kind of wonder and storytelling.”

Another shared how nature documentaries helped their daughter learn to speak.

“Our kids can be so different yet so beautifully similar,” said the parent. “Thank you for sharing this, I didn’t realise there were more of us…”

Kerri told us she “absolutely loved” seeing other parents share their stories: “It really surprised me and warmed my heart to see that we weren’t the only ones who had this same experience with David Attenborough shows in particular.”

The mum added: “I would just like to thank Sir David for helping my son let us into his world. For sparking such interest and curiosity in him and so many other children (and adults alike).

“I think his calm tone and the beautiful sensory visuals really have tapped into not only my son’s special interest, but many others as well.

“Thank you – hearing him speak and tell us the names of his favourite creatures will always be special.”

Last week, Sir David said he was “overwhelmed” by the love he’d received in the run up to his 100th birthday, which fell on 8 May.

“I had rather thought that I would celebrate my 100th birthday quietly, but it seems that many of you have had other ideas,” Sir David quipped in a recorded message shared by the BBC on Thursday (7 May).

He continued: “I have been completely overwhelmed by birthday greetings, from pre-school groups to care home residents, and countless individuals and families of all ages.”

His most recent on-screen work has included the BBC series Secret Garden, and Wild London, exploring the natural world in the UK capital.