Tom is a three-year-old with autism. When I arrived at his home one day, he greeted me and said, “Hi G3245U!” which he knew to be my license plate number. Inside, I saw that his parents had covered the clocks on the stereo and microwave with masking tape. A wall clock had been turned around to cover it up. His parents explained they were trying to curb his ritualistic behavior of hyper-focusing on numbers. They also told me he would sit with a Reader’s Digest in the bathroom, but they weren’t sure how much he really understood.
It was clear that Tom’s parents saw his obsession with numbers as something negative that they had to suppress in order to encourage more normal social interaction. He often said the wrong things in social situations, never played with his brother, and had no friends. However, I saw things somewhat differently. Tom had an excellent memory for strings of numbers and letters, and he was strongly motivated to involve himself in activities concerning numeracy or literacy. This was both a talent and a springboard for development.
I happened to have a piano book with me — a song picture book with physical keys on the cover. There are colored numbers under each word in the song that correspond with the numbers on the piano keys. I introduced the toy to Tom and within seconds he was happily playing a tune correctly. I spoke to his mother and encouraged her to do several things:
a) enroll Tom in piano lessons
b) build on his interest in numeracy by using number-based games and songs to develop play between him and his brother, as well as other peers
c) build on his interest in reading with text-based cue cards, which could be used to cue appropriate social interaction, such as using appropriate greetings
His mother contacted me three years later to tell me about Tom’s progress. By turning what she saw as a weakness into a strength and building upon it, she had dramatically improved her view of her child and accelerated his social development. She explained that Tom gave his first concert at age 4 and even became a member of the band when he began school. Through the band, he had made new friends and become accepted by his peers. His talents in reading and numeracy had helped him develop a large variety of interests and he no longer obsessed over just numbers.
Although autism can bring weaknesses in social and communication development, it can also bring surprising strengths. Strong rote auditory memory means a child may have an excellent capacity for remembering musical tones and patterns, playing and tuning instruments, or for reading and performing poetry. Strong visual memory can lead to talents in art, computer modeling, mapping, and architecture. A strong ability to focus on and remember details can lead to talents in detecting errors and patterns, such as in quality assurance or decoding work.
When educators and parents can recognize these strengths in their children and build on them, the rewards for everyone are enormous.
