Mom Says Watching Mister Rogers "Changed" Her Kids — Especially Her Toddler With a Speech Delay

Laci, a mom of two, was browsing the PBS app on her Apple TV, expecting her girls, Emilia and Isabella, to want to watch the same episode of Super WHY! for the millionth time, when she scrolled past Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Having watched Mister Rogers herself when she was little, the mom was excited to see it available and put an episode of the old show on for her 3- and 1-year-old daughters.

Upon watching the endearing, sweater-wearing Fred Rogers, Laci says there was "such a noticeable atmosphere difference" in her home. Not only that, but her 3-year-old, who has a speech delay, started interacting with Mister Rogers in a way her parents had never seen before.

"When we turned on Mister Rogers, it just seemed so calm and peaceful," Laci, who says her girls really seemed to enjoy the singing and when Mister Rogers spoke straight to the camera, told POPSUGAR. "Even the parts that didn't hold their attention 100 percent, they seemed to play nicer and then go back to watching. It was also not something that I minded being on. There wasn't this noise that I felt I had to talk over."

Laci says that she thinks it's really good for both Emilia and Isabella to see an adult talking "normally" to them. "Even shows with real people have them acting all zany and crazy, but most are animated. Not that that's bad, but it sure was a nice change to see."

However, the change Laci was most impressed and excited to see occurred in 3-year-old Isabella. "My daughter has a little speech delay where we have trouble getting her to respond to what we're saying and not just responding with something unrelated or repeating what we say back. She has been improving, but she has never answered a prompt from a television show. I couldn't believe when she started answering Mister Rogers's questions with correct, relevant answers!" Adding, "Mister Rogers has changed the game!"