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Autism & Asperger's Syndrome (Expert Forum)
seeing in numbers
Answered by
Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA - autism
The New England Center for Children
MA
Questions in the Autism & Asperger's Syndrome forum are answered by researchers at the New England Center for Children. Topics covered include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Antisocial Personality Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Autism, blindness, bullying, clinical depression, deafness, dyslexia, mental retardation, and social alienation.
seeing in numbers
by gmalisa, Jun 16, 2009 11:30PM
my grandaughter is 5 years old and is autistic. she knows and says peoples names easily, but everyone is categorized by a number, such as, I am a number 5, her mom is a number 2, her dog is number 20. how do you go about determining why she numbers everyone and on what scale she uses?
Doctor's Answer
by Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA, Jun 17, 2009 01:28PM
, Jun 17, 2009 01:28PM
The numeric coding that you describe is not universal to all individuals with autism, and I suspect that only your grandaughter can help with the decoding. Rather than play along with the codes, you might consider just encouraging her to use peoples names, a skill that will be expected of her in the long run. If the family finds it enjoyable to play along, consider teaching her the conditions under which number codes are acceptable (e.g., at home) and those under which she should use peoples names.
