Brain Man

[jj]

For those of you who do not use Yahoo they have a video about this guy with mild Autism. He is an amazing human calculator. You have to watch this....I am fascinated by it.

60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/44/brain_man

[misty]

THANKS for posting that, JJ! That man is just amazing! I watched ALL the little movies on that page...he just amazed & mesmerized me! Its sad that he was treated badly by his classmates as a child & he himself was sad that he has trouble remembering everyday details like what the person interviewing him looked like, but he seems to have adjusted well...a very personable young man!

[charliegirl]

I didn't get to watch all of them yet but you are right, he is fascinating!

[jj]

I know Misty, I liked him immediately!

One thing that struck a cord in me was when he said coming from such a large family he had to learn on his own how to adapt.
I don't have Aspergers of course (although I too had to teach my self eye-contact which to this day is one of the most difficult things I have to do...urgh) but I came from a large family and I wonder if I too learned to adapt - learned to compensate for my forgetfullness and wishy-washy ways.

I just wonder how much of a difference it makes, for a child with ADHD or Autism, to be raised in a small or large family. Hmmm.

[jfla]

jj,
thanks for posting Brain Man. I found it so interesting to actually hear someone talk about what it was like growing up with autistic behavior, their perspective and how he learned to modify his behavior through his own will. Amazing person.

I used to team teach with an autistic class (age 14-22) and some of my Deaf MH kids (also dispalyed some of the autistic behaviors. One of them was savant in the area of the calendar. If you gave him any date he could tell you what day of the week it was. It was interesting how I discovered this ability. In setting up beh mod plans, I'd try to figure out what each child would work for. For him, he loved being given a blank calendar to fill out if he completed a task. Then one day I was writing on the board a date from the past and trying to figure out what day it had been. He came up to the board, took my chalk and wrote the piece of missing information. It was so exciting because suddenly we were communicating in

I also interested in how he would count by powers of two when he was trying to shut out taunting children. Sometimes I suddenly find myself counting to myself (by ones, for I am no math wizard) when I find that I have forgotten what I was going to do. I think it is probably a way of ordering my thoughts and trying to regain my train of thought.

[jj]

No wonder you remember that moment that kid wrote in the missing info. How awesome.

I think I am especially intrigued by this guy in the video because math was my worst subject. And this seeing numbers as shapes and textures....now that..... my wee pea brain just can't comprehend at all.