( Everyday Life with Autism )

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Jacob Barnett, who was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism at the age of 2, is now studying for a master’s degree in quantum phyisics.

Below you will discover an intriguing research about a link found between child prodegies and autism. The research is preliminarey, and results are still to be continued and confirmed, but it has very surprising findings. It has opened the door for new possibilities and potentials.

Definition: A prodigy is a child or a young person endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities.

Mozart was a child prodigy, and is believed to be on the autism spectrum. He composed music before he knew his alphabet.

What do child prodegies and some children with autism spectrum disorders have in common?

Just to mention a few, they enjoy:

• A striking memory.
• Posessing a certain talents, like math, science, music or other forms of art, from a very young age.
• The ability to perform assignments with exceptional accuracy.
• Unlimited patience for doing tedious tasks.

Read here what the research has to say.

“The researchers found there were genetic markers on chromosome 1 that were shared between the prodigies and their relatives with autism, the study authors said, though they have yet to find the specific mutations involved.”

David Henry Feldman, chair of the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University, agreed, telling Live Science in an email, “On the behavioral side, there seems to be a correlation between prodigies and autistic children that is hard to ignore.”

Tip 1

Expose your child since an early age to hands on activities for math, science, and language arts.

Tip 2

If you have a musical instrument at home expose/show your child to how to play on it. Also try to take her to a store where she can see for herself all different kinds of instruments. Music is great place for kids to prosper and discover their talents.

Tip 3

Let your child follow and persue her/his passion.

I am not surprised, given the fact the numerous gifted children with autism we keep hearing about in the news every day.

To support the above research here is a story. The cofounder of the software company SAP, and father of a son on the autism spectrum, made it a requirement for the company’s profile to include empolyees on the autism spectrum to be part of the staff. A quota of empolyees with autism should be hired to fulfill the company’s configuration. Read more about SAP.

Having common traits between some individuals on the autism spectrum and child prodegies doesn’t mean that all child prodegies have ASD, and vice versa.

This is one of the bright sides of the condition. Some children and individuals with autism when given enough attention from a very early age they are able to excell and reach their full potential.

nadia shanab

Tags: asperger's syndrome, autism, early intervention, hands on activities, manipulatives for math science language arts, Mozart, music, music therapy, parenting, research, SAP, social interaction, speech