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read between the lines
another good read speaking of born on a blue day: a memoir of aspergers and an extraordinary mind, i saw daniel tammet on tv this monday. he was on this documentary where they gave him all sorts of mind-boggling challenges (like learning icelandic in a week and reciting the pi to over 22 000 decimal places) that demonstrated his intelligence, yet pointed out that unlike most savants, he had adjusted well socially with society.i liked his book, not only because i've always had this fascination for reading up on savants, but because his experiences were so relatable. his book was sort of a biography, even though he's only in his twenties, but it's a rare glimpse into the life of an autistic savant and were written in a style i rather enjoyed -- candid, honest, humble and funny at times. kinda cool too that he became a christian (also mentioned on his blog). okay when i say relatable, in no way do i mean in terms of intelligence, but in his early struggles with socialising and his synaesthetic tendencies, especially so the former. in the book he describes doing or saying things considered eccentric or taboo when he was young while unaware that they were inappropriate or 'weird' things to say or do, being very compulsive or meticulous about the way certain things must be done, or (in his childhood years) not being able to express or communicate his thoughts and feelings clearly....which i totally get, having done (and still do) all of the above. he also mentioned how his mother and his experience as a volunteer teacher overseas helped him adapt and pick up social skills, which shows that such skills can be learnt and one doesn't have to remain socially inadequate forever -- hopeful news for me, haha. i've also discovered how true it is when i assess myself now and who i was even up until a few months ago. in fact, during a recent job interview, the interviewer told me her posting better suited a quiet, unsociable, independent-worker person and found difficulty believing i was actually such a person at heart! as for his synaesthetia, while i am not a synaethetic myself and cannot taste, smell or see a colour, number, word or music, i do understand the strength of feelings attached to inanimate subjects (in his case, with numbers and words). his book title is a reference to the fact that he associates the numbers in his birthdate strongly with the colour blue (so no, it's not related to depression). i would say i relate most with how i view songs. okay, so you'd have to be a robot not to feel anything when you hear a song, but for me, the feelings that wash over me when i hear a certain song being played is much stronger than most people's, at least among the people around me, even though like everyone else, i associate certain events, experiences or people's personalities with certain songs. for instance if it's a song that reminds me of a particularly tragic event, i will start tearing up even if i'm not downcast at the time. or maybe i'm just talking rubbish and just haven't met as emotional a music enthusiast yet. but anyway, in conclusion, his book was great to read and it's definitely one of those books i wouldn't mind re-reading over and over again (and i do that very rarely nowadays compared to back when i was a kid with very little spending power and couldn't visit bookstores as often as i liked). |
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