What Kind of "Thinker" is my son?

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My 22 month old son was recently diagnosed with Autism in the moderate range. He has always had an obsession with numbers and letters. As of a few weeks ago we discovered he knows all the letters of the alphabet, can identify by their corresponding sounds, and can also perform the sound each letter makes. He also knows all the numbers from 1-10 & has indicated he understands that numbers have value. for instance if I ask his to give me 3 spoons, he will count out 3 spoons (in his head, he still has no words in his vocabulary) and hand them to me. I've been told by his ABA supervisor's this is advanced for his age.

Additionally, during his Developmental assesment the teacher testing him said he was advanced with the visual tests that had a definitive begining and end. (e.g. when given a puzzel he immediately knew where the shapes went and completed the puzzel 100% and also put peggs in a block peg board)

My assumption is to think he is a pattern thinker (Math & Music) but I really don't know and the only real indept examples of thinking are for visual thinkers per Temple Grandin's literature. I'm trying to dicifer what kind of thinker my son is to foster it and provide as many opporunities for exposure in that area. If any of you parents have experience with this same thing can you help me with some direction and some of your stories? Any parents out there have a math & music thinker? what were the indicaters and how soon did they appear in your child. Thank you so much.
~Mrs. Mornis

Science, music, and building (legos, blocks. etc) would strength his strength areas.

If he is showing this much promise, I would encourage you to have him read while the interest is still there.

That is quite amazing! He will be very intelligent when he is older.

Disclaimer: I am not a parent. However, I have lived the life as a person with Aspergers. I would say, just be matter-of-factly encouraging in his special area(s) and in other areas as well. In fact, he is going to pursue his special interests, unless you just out-and-out oppose him, and even then he'll probably find a way. It's the other areas in which he might really need some encouragement, including permission not to be perfect, and sometimes that good enough really is good enough.

Socially, you want him to understand that people are great, but that people are inherently unpredictable, that people have their moods and, no, we can't read them entirely, but again, good enough is really good enough (I know he's only 22 months! but whatever age appropriate way you think is best). I often preferred things like bike trips, science fairs (and it's not about the awards, it's about learning new things, and my mother, yeah, she did kind of over-emphasize the awards). It's about social interaction while you're doing a goal oriented activity and thus the social is incidental, that helps me. And sometimes it is just about hanging out, but that doesn't come on any kind of schedule. Anyway, these kind of things help me and then I can kind of believe, light touch and if we connect, that's fine, and if we don't, that's fine, too.

Sounds like your son is a lot like my daughter. She is a pattern thinker also. She was putting together 100 piece puzzles at 3 years old. Get him lots of puzzles!! ! You can never have too many. Also, pens and paper. If he is like my daughter he will like to draw geometric shapes. Encourage him to draw the shapes he likes-Spyrographs are a fun toy. Encourage him to sort and make patterns. Breakfast cereal, pens, paperclips, anything you have around is good to catch their interest. Once he has become quite comfortable with numbers you can start to introduce addition and subtraction which he will probably easily pick up. My daughter is now into multiplication, which she understood the concept of in Kinder. Geography will probably also be a great passion, as it is for my daughter because it relates spatial objects. Learning all 50 states or the planets can be a good outlet. Anything that can be related to math or spatial relations is very "fun" for my daughter. Be aware that might be a "finite" thinker like my daughter and will become somewhat OCD with things being the way they "should" be. This can lead to great inflexibility. I wish I had done more "crazy" days when she was young. Like backwards day or messy day or something that would get her used to things not being exact. I knew my daughter was a pattern thinker quite early, she was quite repetitive with things she did and has always been drawn to puzzles. She is now getting into music. Anything with a clear concise pattern is soothing and enjoyable for her. Since math is easy for these thinkers, focus on reading and writing as much as you can because they can be a weakness.

Thank you all so much, both for the encouraging words and also for your words of personal experience. All of this is really good to know. I just want to keep his strength areas challenged and to just identify his thinking type.

I have noticed that if one of his ABA therapists puts his schedule icon pocket in a different place than his other ABA therapist, he will "fix" it first before matching the icons by putting it in the proper place. I also noticed that before he hands me his P.E.C.S he will make sure that it's the correct icon and it's right side up before he hands it to me.

As for reading, my son LOVES books. our nighttime routine include about 30 - 40 minutes of books. He enjoys the pictures but he will always look to the words on the page first - it's the obsession with letter thing. In circle time when given the option of songs or read books, he will pick books EVERY time.

i apprieciate the "crazy" day idea too. That sounds like something my husband might actually enjoy more than my son. So I'm going to assume then that my son is a pattern thinker based on what you all have mentioned.

This all sounds very familiar. Your son might be hyperlexic, which means he will probably continue to be very attracted to letters and numbers. Incorporating them into anything you're trying to teach him will be helpful.

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