I think Chris got this when he was older, but you reminded me how Barb would use toy packaging to get Chris to talk after being mute for the first 6 years of his life (instead of reading a book to him like a normal person would). That is poetic.
Damn, their relationship is more toxic than Barb's relationship with Cole. Chris should've made out like his bro and left, but because Chris is autistic, and Borb had to play mind games with him, Chris was into this arrested development that continues on today, and the fact that he actually moves (albeit forcefully) away is an indictment of what the Chandler family is all about. Ironically, Bob said they would do better together by being a unit. But let's be honest, he never knew when he died, things would go worse for his family. His mistake were trusting Barb, and expecting too much of Chris.