Here is a clip of my son Noah. I just discovered about a week ago he has an ability to now do math problems very quickly.......similar to a human calculator. I am sure it has a lot to do with his autism and how his brain works......but while he has always liked numbers....this ability just emerged. He has always been fascinated with maps and highways and interstates and road signs and speed limits and house plans and now traffic lights. He can tell you what highway runs where......where it ends......what intersects with it....etc. He is amazing. BUT this is a new ability I have discovered he has. You can ask him what age he will be in any year and he INSTANTLY knows the answer. I am anxious to see how this blossoms! I know it is difficult to hear....it was hard to get him to sit still as you will see in the video
http://media.putfile.com/Noah-doing-math
This website is part of the autism-assembly, this is a coalition of
members of the autistic community who share the common goal of seeking
acceptance for those on the autistic spectrum, who aim to educate about
autism, and who are not seeking a cure for autism. This is part of the
global autism rights movement.
8 comments:
that's cool, but you do realize it's only 1 number off, right? He'll be 35 in 2034, etc...
well he for some reason was having a hard time hearing what years I was saying......she he may have made a mistake or two. Like when I asked him the 3000 plus year question he kept thinking I had asked him 2000 plus whatever......when he sits still and I ask him.....like out at the kitchen table...he is correct each and every time. I sit there with a calculator and check his answers as he goes along. I guess I should make a clip like that.......but I just wanted to at least get the essence of what he was doing out here.
Was he born in 99, that's what I mean, he will always be off one year. "how old will you be in 2055" "I'll be 54" "2076" I'll be 75, and so on....
oh I see what you were meaning....dummie me...hahahaa.....yeah...simple math can give me a headache! hee hee....
Noah was born in 1998.....so yes...it does appear he would be off by 1 on most of the questions......it is amazing he figured that out so quickly on his own....so in 2055 he would be 56.......2056......57....etc.
BUT it could get sticky I guess on WHEN you ask him.....his birthday is at the end of the year......so while he is 7 now....this year he would really turn 8....so that makes things a bit messier I guess....as he would have to add one more year on......but....he apparently already knows this too because I can ask him "how old will you be in 2055 for example based on him being only 7 right NOW...and once he is 8......which again really only involves the ONE year issue....
thanks for the heads up!
The fact that he figured out the simplicity of the pattern so quickly while adults have to pause to think about it is pretty neat nonetheless.
It reminds me of my autistic son-- I was doing multiplication flash cards with my oldest son (then in 3rd grade) and my youngest son started out calling out answers before my oldest son could answer. He hardly glanced at the problem (most of the time he was looking from across the room while he paced back and forth) and knew the answer instantly. I talked with his teacher and she hadn't realized he was so good at math because he was so slow at completing worksheets. As it turned out, he is able to solve math problems instantly but has great difficulty writing the answers down. Part of the reason is he has a severe motor delay (he still can't hold his pencil correctly and he's now in 3rd grade) but the biggest issue is he just "knows" the answer and can't show his work.
This sounds a lot like Noah - you asked him how he was able to do it and he responded "I don't know." He knew the answer, and that's that. I've heard this is very common of autistic individuals and visual-spatial thinkers.
OMG! This is amazing:) Noah is a little genius! Melinda may I put a link on my blog so others can watch your amazing guy doing math so quickly? It is so inspiring!
thanks for the comments....and yes......feel free to link to me anytime anyone wants!
for some reason, i can't see this! my computer says it was 'compressed' in such a way that it won't work. bummer.
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