From time to time Darren will find topics that are extremely fascinating to him. Together we have learned everything about THX (surround sound ), floor plans, volcanoes, weather systems, planets, coins, movie ratings, the Titanic, ancient cultures, and many more. Most of his free time nowadays is spent on line looking into cosmology and different theories of the universe, its formation, evolution and ultimate fate. Yes, it's exhausting! Most of the time I have no clue what he's talking about and the answers to his questions are hard to find and extremely complicated to explain...at least to me anyway. Darren is very bright but let's not forget he's still 7 years old and some things are just too hard to understand, like physics, theories of relativity, math, etc.
In trying to nurture his desire for knowledge I went, yet again, to the library to find books about his new interest. The question is,
how long are these books going to last him before I have to go back and get some more?
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| Darren and astronaut Kent Rominger |
Darren is a very special boy, with a special way of thinking. Many of his strengths come because of his diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, he's helped me see the world in a different way and even though this comes with MANY challenges I can also see the MANY BENEFITS of being an "Aspie". Yesterday, as I was doing some research, I came across this website called
yourlittleprofessor.com and I read an interesting article on the benefits of Asperger's Syndrome. Here's some excerpts:
Many people who are experts in Asperger Syndrome such as Dr. Teresa Bolick, Dr. Tony Attwood, and Dierdre Lovecky write about the positive aspects of Asperger Syndrome without focusing on the idea of genius. Lovecky notes how Aspies often have advanced vocabularies, recognize patterns others do not, and pursue ideas despite evidence to the contrary because they are not easily swayed by others' opinions. Their ability to focus on details and their inability to see the big picture means they can often come up with solutions to problems others overlook. Aspies are often willing to spend long hours in laboratories and in front of computer screens because they do not mind being alone. All this enables them to make tremendous contributions at work and school. Author Patricia Bashe points out that people often admire those who can work independently. She writes, "Our society celebrates the individual who does what he thinks is right and goes his own way."
This is so true, Darren won't take a no for an answer until it makes sense to him, he has that ability to focus on specific things and analyze them in detail. He won't drop a topic until he has exhausted every article, every book, every detail.
Norm Ledgin wrote a book called Asperger's and Self-Esteem: Insight and Hope through Famous Role Models which claims that thirteen giants of history - Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and Mozart among them- also had Asperger's Syndrome. Some people believe that Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Darwin, Galileo, Pablo Picasso, Benjamin Franklin, Margaret Mead and Aristotle had Asperger's Syndrome.
Lately authors are adding Bill Gates to the list of famous Aspies because of his lack of social skills, inability to make eye contact and tendency to rock back and forth coupled with his obsession with technology. Diane Kennedy, an author and advocate for AS, writes, "They are our visionaries, scientists, diplomats, inventors, chefs, artists, writers and musicians. They are the original thinkers and a driving force in our culture."
Hans Asperger, the German doctor who discovered the syndrome, would agree with Kennedy's assessment. He believed that "for success in science or art, a dash of autism is essential. The essential ingredient may be an ability to turn away from everyday world, for the simply practical and to rethink a subject with originality so as to create in new untrodden ways with all abilities canalized into one specialty."
So I say to Darren: go ahead, explore away and don't give up until you find the edge of the Universe! Mom will keep going back and forth to the library until you get all your answers...Because I love you :)
UPDATE:
I did go back to the library the next day, Darren had to come with me because apparently I didn't get enough "information" *roll eyes*. As we were looking through some books I showed him one and he looked at the author's name and said : "Stephen Hawkin!!" and I said: "Do you know who he is?" his response was: "no, but I've read his theories" BAHAHA. Yes, we checked them all out :)
