After seeing the interview with Daniel Tammet on Good Morning America, I knew this would be the next book about Autism that I would read. Born On A Blue Day is best quoted by Temple Grandin, "It was fascinating to read how the mind of a mathematical savant is both similar to and different from my visual brain. Daniel thinks in patterns, colors and shapes, and relationships between numbers, instead of in photo -realistic images. This book is a must- read for anybody who is interested in how the mind works."I found that this story, like Temple Grandin's, brings hope and understanding. For me, it shed even more light on my brother. My brother, although not formally diagnosed, has Autistic Spectrum Disorder. It became so clear after Gabe's diagnosis that I almost called him after years of not speaking to one another to let him know. I ended up never making that call.
Was my brother a savant? Now, I'm not sure. I never thought so before. But, after reading Daniel's book, I wonder. I wonder, because my brother loved numbers passionately like Daniel. His physical world was very chaotic and unstructured, but his mental creations with his games and papers of statistics were very organized. He had numerous sheets of papers listing Kasey Kasem's top 40 countdown for every week, with mathematical equations that provided probabilities for the following week's song's placements.
"Who's going to come on top Kristin?" he would glance up at me.
"I have no idea." I stated and slowly walked away.
"Come on! Take a guess! Wanna bet?" my brother's eyes glistened.
I didn't, because it isn't fun when you always loose.
My brother had a huge gambling problem when I was in college. It wasn't that he lost a lot, he was very good. He loved the art of probability. What hurt him was his belief that people meant what they said and said what they meant. People bet, but never paid up. Sometimes my brother lost, and those same people made sure to collect.
Now, Daniel Tammet had a very supportive family. He was loved and accepted for exactly who he was. Both his parents encouraged his passions, no matter how different they seemed. My brother came from a very different background of judgment, harsh criticism and wavering acceptance. The similarities I saw between the two were startling to me, even considering those differences. Daniel had a love for numbers, mostly prime, my brother loved all numbers the same, because they were a constant, easy to understand. They represented stability to my brother. They were safe in a world that wasn't.
Language was a love of Daniel's. In fact, in his book, he makes some languages sound so beautiful, so easy to understand. I can see how he affected his students the way that he did when he taught. My brother's wish was to travel to every continent. He also had a list of every city he wanted to go to. If you asked him, he could tell you the city of every country in the world. It was customary for him too learn the language before traveling to a country. The last I heard, he traveled to Romania, fluently speaking Romanian.
This all never seemed all that remarkable to me. I just always admired how brilliant my brother was. I also felt so frustrated when he "just didn't get" life's innuendoes. I remember saying to him, "How can you be so smart,but lack so much common sense?" Now it makes sense. It all makes sense. I bet my brother would love this book, all the equations and mathematical reasoning. To him, a math concept is to me,children's artwork, something to celebrate. I'm hoping he picks up Born On A Blue Day soon and it can shed some needed light for him too.
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My brother and I on my parents sailboat in 1975. I was Gabe's age (3 years old) my brother was seven. You can even see in the picture how different we were. He is shadowed in the background and I am trying so hard just to be seen.
