Thursday, May 15, 2008

Strange but True Story

No. 5 on the Read for a Lifetime list is Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet - another glimpse into a new world, which is the best kind of reading for me. He has lived in a world of numbers that have definite personalities for him, but also in a world that has little connection to anyone else's world. That he was able to find a way to bridge the gap is an amazing story.

I had a chance recently to meet another young person with Asperger's Syndrome who also has high intelligence and many developed social skills that made it easy and fun to talk to him. Not sure what the future holds for him, but Daniel Tammet shows the immense possibilities.

Interesting brief sidelight to the story is Tammet's account of how he decided to become a Christian in his twenties (!), despite his inability to sit in a church for any length of time. This book is a trip!

2 comments:

  1. There is a woman in the village whose daughter was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I am all for finding new ways to be supportive. Maybe this book will help!

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  2. It's interesting what different forms of reality people experience. I read The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nighttime and had similar reflections on autism. -H

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