Earlier this evening I phoned my Brother, mainly to check my contacts details were up to date, and that I had the right Phone No., Address, etc., so they can be added to my Next of Kin at work.
Now, although we've always been very close, we are at opposite ends of the country. He has his own family up there & I'm very solitary down here, so we are very rarely in touch. In fact, the last time we spoke was a couple of years ago when he had problems tracking down my contact details to tell me my Father had died.
The interesting thing is, though, that whilst we were talking it came to light that his younger son (my nephew) has Autism, and as such is very computer orientated or, as my Brother puts it, always sitting at Mission Control in his bedroom, even though he hates games. What I found interesting, though, is that I, too, have been diagnosed as borderline Asbergers, which is a form of Autism, which explains my own rapport with computers. When I checked it up online, my suspicions were confirmed that Autism is Genetic & apparently has a slight higher frequency among families who have a history of twins. My mother was one of a pair of twins, although her sister was stillborn, as was the case with her Grandmother.
My nephew, apparently 14 years old, and this is the first time I've ever known about it. The last time I saw them both the boys were in matching Buck Rogers jim-jams, aged about 2, and the older one (17) is just about to go up to Edinburgh for his final stage recruitment exams for the Navy. Naturally, I wish him all the very best.
Family Ties
Family Ties
Asbergers is a very interesting syndrome to me. I have had a few students with it over the years and each was exceptional in some way. Many were astounding natural mathematicians, as a matter of fact, I have one right now who can multiply multi-digit numbers in his head. I had a student that would turn around three times in the doorframe when entering or leaving a room.
Some, as is the case of my current student seemed to have traded some abilities for others in an almost savant way. For example, despite his incredible multiplication skill, he seems to have some serious problems with geometric figures and abstract reasoning.
I've found that visual teaching, putting everything in terms of pictures works wonders for most students, but not for these. They are much more at home with algorithms and formulas.
Some, as is the case of my current student seemed to have traded some abilities for others in an almost savant way. For example, despite his incredible multiplication skill, he seems to have some serious problems with geometric figures and abstract reasoning.
I've found that visual teaching, putting everything in terms of pictures works wonders for most students, but not for these. They are much more at home with algorithms and formulas.
Family Ties
Saint_;1465486 wrote: Asbergers is a very interesting syndrome to me. I have had a few students with it over the years and each was exceptional in some way. Many were astounding natural mathematicians, as a matter of fact, I have one right now who can multiply multi-digit numbers in his head. I had a student that would turn around three times in the doorframe when entering or leaving a room.
Some, as is the case of my current student seemed to have traded some abilities for others in an almost savant way. For example, despite his incredible multiplication skill, he seems to have some serious problems with geometric figures and abstract reasoning.
I've found that visual teaching, putting everything in terms of pictures works wonders for most students, but not for these. They are much more at home with algorithms and formulas.
I tend to be a bit like that. When doing a Sudoku, for instance, I'll work it out in my head first & then fill in the numbers.
Some, as is the case of my current student seemed to have traded some abilities for others in an almost savant way. For example, despite his incredible multiplication skill, he seems to have some serious problems with geometric figures and abstract reasoning.
I've found that visual teaching, putting everything in terms of pictures works wonders for most students, but not for these. They are much more at home with algorithms and formulas.
I tend to be a bit like that. When doing a Sudoku, for instance, I'll work it out in my head first & then fill in the numbers.