More Autism Links
Fascinating profile of an autistic savant in the Grauniad this week. Apparently he's particularly interesting to researchers because he's unusually articulate about the synasthetic experiences that accompany his feats of arithmetic.
Since his epileptic fit, he has been able to see numbers as shapes, colours and textures. The number two, for instance, is a motion, and five is a clap of thunder. "When I multiply numbers together, I see two shapes. The image starts to change and evolve, and a third shape emerges. That's the answer. It's mental imagery. It's like maths without having to think."
Also, while I'm on the subject, I must plug The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a recent novel whose narrator is an autistic teenager. I thought it was funny, thought-provoking, and immensely engaging.