4 year old obsessed with numbers and counting

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This is going to come across like a stealth boast, but it really isn’t. It’s driving me crazy.

He literally starts first thing in the morning and doesn’t stop until bedtime. I even heard him in his sleep the other night.
He is obsessed with number blocks too.

His dad doesn’t help by joining in and when he asks for example “what’s 5 lots of 5?” DP will say “see if you can work it out on your own” and he does.

He writes numbers constantly. He can also read already so I’m wondering if he’s hyperlexic?

I guess I’ve wondered a few times if he’s on the autistic spectrum.
If you stop him mid counting flow he will get very upset and have to start all over again.

Over 80% of hyperlexics are autistic. It does sound very much like hyperlexia. Does he have any other autistic traits?

If you suspect autism ,push for a referral for assessment, no two children with autism are the same ,may be he is maybe he isn't but early assessment can only be a good thing .

My younger son went through a similar phase. He made his own Number Blocks, learnt about prime numbers and taught himself his times tables. He is now a very lovely, but fairly ordinary 9 year old. His older brother has ASD, but he does not.

If you have concerns about your son's development, maybe talking to your health visitor or GP might be useful. My son who does have ASD has his difficulties, but he is a fantastic young man who has benefited massively from support both inside and outside of school.

We love Numberblocks here too and DS (YR) taught himself the 3x table from watching it obsessively!

He doesn't have ASD (or at least doesn't have a diagnosis yet) but does have other developmental difficulties and is at higher risk for ASD as well. For him, I think he is partly so into numbers because he has a speech and language disorder and it is much easier for him to count to 100 than to engage in social conversation with his friends!

Sorry, no real advice but maybe just support his interest and have a chat to GP / HV as well.

Good luck

@Shakeitshakeitbaby Not really. His expressive and receptive language is good.
He is sociable and can play imaginatively.

He has been known to be quite controlling at times and want things done a certain way.

Sounds very much like DHs nephews. He, his dad and his sister did maths at university so I think there is an early interest or ease of understanding numbers. You see it sometimes on the child genius programme - kids at 2/3/4 doing fairly complex maths for their age. Usually levels out around 11/12.

DS went through a numberblocks phase.

Embrace it before he moves onto the next one. At least this one is educational.

You could teach him some games to engage and distract him - dominoes (first to 101 is out) or card games. My boys all love these and my eldest couldn't get enough maths when he was little. Not autistic but still very good at it.

Sign him up for a maths website with games on too.

That would enough to make me suspicious given the hyperlexia. Sounds like me at that age. I am not diagnosed autistic but ds is and since his diagnosis I have realised I most likely am too.

This was my DS. Bus journeys were a good way of channeling it. He loved helping old ladies who couldn't see the small print on the timetable, and in my town, the buses on each route are different colours - matching bus numbers and the colour of the routes he found to be loads of fun.

Also Panini sticker books for World Cups. Numbered stickers attracted him, but also widened his love of numbers to the love of football too.

While no one can say on the Internet whether your child has ASD or not, just having a preoccupation with numbers and counting is not an indication on its own. If he were interested in nothing else; had difficulties with communication and social interaction; and/or strong sensory issues, it could be a possibility; but even then you'd need assessment by a doctor or psychologist.

I have known a few young children who had strong interests in numbers and counting. None turned out to have ASD, and for that matter none became mathematicians, though all turned out to be intelligent and academically inclined.

And precocious reading is not usually an indication of problems in itself. If decoding is way ahead of comprehension. or reading is way ahead of spoken language, it could be associated with ASD; but not just reading earlier than average.

Mine was like that when they introduced Numberblocks at nursery. He was and still is obsessed! The first thing he says in the morning is something like "two twenties is forty", and he's whispering times tables to himself when he goes to bed. He has just finished reception now and many of his classmates sound the same, so I guess kids can really get into that sort of thing. Mine doesn't have ASD as far as I'm aware.

Actually his cousin was the same. Counting from a very early age and completely obsessed with it. Then he moved on to letters and now I think he's into dinosaurs. 😆

Hi OP,

Just pitching in, I have OCD - and this sounds a touch similar with the cycles, and starting again if interrupted, liking things a certain way etc. just something to think about perhaps - hope you're well.

I know this is an old thread but keen to hear if your son is still the same a couple of years later. My son is exactly the same (wakes up asking me maths questions, knows his times tables, has even started reciting numbers in Spanish!) and I’m really unsure whether to get him assessed of just see if he outgrows it (been going on about a year already).

Autistic child can have good expressive and receptive language, as well as be sociable and have great imaginative play.

Not at all saying your child is Autistic, though.

I know this is an old post but I'm scouring the internet for some answers. My 4 year old son is obsessed with numbers and gets really upset when I tell him it's enough for today. I mean it's all day everyday. His teacher even commented on it a few times. Everywhere he goes, he's looking out for numbers and knows his timetable already. He's not really interested in letters or reading just numbers. If he's reading a book, he's more interested in the page numbers then the actual book itself. The obsession is getting too much and I'm not sure what to do.

You may want to start your own thread as this is quite old and people will reply to the original poster than yourself.

As others have said, being hyper numeric can be a sign of autism. It’s less about intelligence and more a form of stimming, and stimming is a calming exercise so trying to make them stop is very upsetting. The fact that he gets upset at being told to stop does read more likely a stim than a general interest in numbers. As for a referral for further assessments in all areas, school should help with this. It sounds like he needs support to both be understood and in helping move on from his current hyperfocus into other activities if and when needed.

Thank you for replying and for the advice. Ill start my own thread xx

I have one child who was very numerate and interested in numbers at around this age. His mental arithmetic around age 4-6 was exceptional - multiplying three figure by two figure numbers etc. He was also brilliant at 'guestimating' higher figure answers. His mental maths at that age was noticeably better than his sister who was two years older and has continued to excel at Maths all through her education.

He's 16 now. He's good at maths (as in top 5/6 kids in the year type-good), but not exceptional by any means. He's generally a bright, lovely neurotypical kid.

Another child in the wider family was obsessed with numbers at that kind of age. He used to use them as a kind of comfort/security thing and loved counting. He did well in Maths - I think he got a 7 or 8 at GCSE - but didn't like it much and was happy to drop it as soon as he could. He tends to have one fairly extreme interest at a time, but they vary quite a bit (e.g., Harry Potter, birdwatching, darts). I think for him it was just one of his strong specific interests.

Hi did you get support for this? My 4 year old is displaying very similar tendencies and I can’t get him to stop without causing upset. Wondering if it’s neurodiversity or just an interest he’ll outgrow? Thanks xx

Back in the day, my 4 year old was the same. No traits or anything else though. He just grew out of it. 🤷‍♀️