Different Minds
Some of the books we have been reading to better understand my kids include "Emergence: Labeled Autistic" by Temple Grandin, "Thinking in Pictures" also by Temple Grandin, "The Gift of Dyslexia" by Ronald D. Davis, and "Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner" by Linda Kreger Silverman. (There is also a book called "Different Minds" that comes highly recommended by folks I know.)
Of the books we have been reading, a common thread is some kind of visual-spatial mind. Like Temple Grandin, my oldest and most Aspie child thinks in pictures. I cannot prove it, but everything I have read and with my experiences with my oldest child, I think that at least SOME Aspies are extremely visual thinkers -- people who think in pictures, like Temple Grandin and like my 17 year old -- and this means that they do not innately think in words and language is not as "natural" for them as it is for normal people. Perhaps they also have some brain glitch. I don't have this idea fully developed in my mind. But it is clear to me that I had to force my 17 year old to speak and he reports to me that he thinks in pictures and then laboriously translates his pictorial ideas into language. Since "a picture is a worth a thousand words", that contributes to how talkative he tends to be -- his ideas are very rich or dense compared to someone who thinks in words. I don't remember the statistics he quoted to me, but there is research on how much more data the brain can process visually compared to verbally. Anyway, what I have concluded is that I have had to work hard at helping my son express himself verbally because words are so painstakingly slow and limited and do not come naturally for him. I also begin to think that "thinking in pictures" may be why he is so literal -- his ideas are very concrete and he hears words and turns them into pictures and ....it just doesn't always translate...just like when you translate between any two languages.
These aren't fully developed ideas but I thought it might help you think about possible interactions between a gifted mind and aspie traits. I think that giftedness may well be part of why some kids are Aspie: they think too fast, they don't translate it into words readily -- which they find slow, inefficient and tedious -- and they may need more nutrition and more environmental stimuli than they are getting and this interferes with their development. Throw in allergies and/or other health problems....and, gee, who wouldn't be a little weird and difficult??
Additional Resources:
- Visual Spatial Resource
- This is an online resources for those whose kids are visual-spatial learners. My understanding is that a high percentage of gifted kids are visual-spatial learners. Therefore, even if your child is not twice exceptional but is gifted, information on visual-spatial learners may be rellevant to your needs.
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- Autism.org
- This site has a lot of information but I am listing it primarily because you can find articles by Temple Grandin here. You have to scroll down to the section titled "Temple Grandin", where you can find links to the following articles:
- An Inside View of Autism
- Choosing the Right Job for People with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome
- Evaluating the Effects of Medication
- Frequently Asked Questions about Autism
- Genius May Be an Abnormality: Educating Students with Asperger's
Syndrome, or High Functioning Autism
- Interview
- Making the Transition from the World of School into the World of Work
- My Experiences with Visual Thinking Sensory Problems and Comm.
Difficulties (Rev. 6/2000)
- Social Problems: Understanding Emotions and Developing Talents
- Teaching Tips for Children and Adults with Autism (Revised 12/2002)
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Asperger's Syndrome: A Working Hypothesis
- Giftedness
- Personality Type
- Sensory Issues
- Compounding (Biomedical) Factors
- Eccentric Geniuses
- The Big Disconnect
- Socially Deaf
- Time Blind
- Rapid Brain Growth and Vitamin Deficiencies
- Different Minds
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