Toddler obsessed with numbers . Is this normal?

[CraZypinkpants]

DS , 3 years and 1 month , was
jist watching football and shouting out the numbers from the players shirts -29/17/33

He can count to 100 and can do basic sums of one digit numbers - 3+5. 7+2

He can identify numbers up to 50. His favourite game is for me to write a number and he shouts it out.

If I say- go and get 12 leaves he will get 12. He can identify amounts correctly. There are 16 candles.

He loves shapes so and is now loving puzzles.

He is constantly counting or telling me the shapes me can see . I am slightly worried.

I am concerned he is obsessed with numbers. He constantly counts anything and everything. He isn’t advanced in any other ways e.g not overly chatty or identifying the alphabet .

I am concerned he has some
sort of number autism ??

He's not a toddler. He's a preschooler.

I work in a preschool and yes your kid is ahead in numbers but not massively so and it's really common. We get some every year that can do this kind of thing.

We get others who excel in different areas. Like can name every single make of car. Or use words of three syllables.

I love numbers. I'd be encouraging him to keep on finding them fun.

My 2 year DGS is the same. I think DD is sick to the teeth of numbers

@Brickiscool
Hi, sorry for incorrect title.
i thought 3 was a toddler . I am just worried as it seems like numbers are all he wants to talk about . He is definitely not advanced in terms of letters.
I guess I am worried he might he showing obsessive traits ?

My autistic child was obsessed with numbers at 3.

He also had a mild speech delay, mild gross and fine motor delay, limited joint attention, no interest in his peers, only ate six foods, couldn’t handle loud noises or crowded places, slept poorly, didn’t make eye contact with anyone, spun in circles constantly, hand flapped, didn’t play “normally” with toys, lined everything up in colour order and was completely obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine to an unusual degree.

If the only thing you’ve noticed about your child is they are very interested in numbers then they probably aren’t autistic, they’re just very interested in numbers. Good for them! There is no such thing as “number autism” though some autistic people are good at maths or interested in patterns or numbers - lots aren’t though. A few years later my child is probably just the upper end of average at maths, his interest in numbers at three had waned by the time he was six or seven.

Look up hyperlexia and hyper numeracy.

This is associated with autism, yes. I know that’s scary to hear (and people will usually start yelling that this is normal three year old behaviour - it isn’t, and giftedness merely looks like autism - it can be both!) but as the mum of an autistic hyperlexic / hypernumeric 9yo he’s brilliant and I wouldn’t change him.

My advice is don’t panic. Don’t try to quash his special interests, and please be open to the possibility of finding yourself on the autism pathway in the future. It’ll be OK I promise.

My kid loved numbers from before he could speak, he used to love me asking him where x number is and he’d toddle off and point to it on the hopscotch grid. He’s 9 now, the only “consequence” from this that I’ve seen is that he enjoys/is quite good at maths.

DS2 was exactly the same at that age.

He's distinctly average at maths now.

My child was like yours - I remember walks up from the childminders when he was 3, where we had to stop to look at every number on her road and then cross the main road and then stop at each door on our road. Then he noticed that there was only every other number on one side, so we had to check both sides! Then we noticed there is no number 1 on our road and had a chat about that. Eventually found out from a little old lady on the road, that no 1 was knocked down by a truck in the 70s!

Now my son is 11. Not autistic. Working around average or slightly below in English, (not worryingly so), working well above average in Maths. I work with adults retaking their Maths GCSEs and I am pretty sure he could do his GCSE in a year or so if he was introduced to the right work. So yes your child could be autistic, but he could also just be a maths whizz.

Only on Mumsnet. He is three. Depending on birthday and OP he could be three years away from school in Scotland.

He sounds wonderful OP. I have children this age who cannot yet talk. Every child is different.

Three years one month. So yes three years off school, two if parent wishes

He sounds wonderful, like the poster above said. The world needs people like him to code, plan and analyse. Embrace it!

My son was like this. I used to have to think of sums to give him on the way back from preschool!

It's always been a source of enjoyment and relaxation for him. Don't squash it, but don't push it either.

My son has lots of other interests too now but as a toddler he loved maths and a few niche things like railway tracks , the moon. I just went with it! If he wanted to do maths then we did it, but we did other things too

I'd just go with the flow for now as preschoolers all tend to have obsessions.

No hothousing, but no making him feel embarrassed about it either.

Son still enjoys maths but has plenty of other interests too. He loves learning still but has plenty of friends. He's top of top set maths but not some out of this world genius

On its own it is not enough to be really concerned about autism. However, it may be worth being open to the possibility and educating yourself about it. You will either notice more signs and be ready to act or you will realise that it doesn't fit and then you can put those worries aside.

DS (2 last week) is similar. His dad, grandparents and one uncle all did maths at uni so im not surprised. He loves Alexa counting for him

My two DSs were diagnosed with autism early on and an obsession with numbers was one of the red flags, and possibly the most prominent one for DS2. It was however ONE red flag and is a trait common enough at this age, as are obsessions in general. Like @Brickiscool I also work with preschoolers and we see this regularly enough. It would make us maybe a bit more wary of the child and more watchful of other behaviours but not a huge concern in its own right.

My advice would be enjoy him, try not to worry and keep it in the back of your mind so you will be mindful of any other typical autism behaviours and will be in a position to get early intervention if he needs it. Good luck

My ds was like this. He is very good at maths but not autistic

My 2 year old does this. He could count over 100 before he was 2! He wakes up and goes to play with his numbers. I think kids are generally obsessive and being clever isn't the same as being autistic. Plenty of stupid people are autistic. If you read books on neurodiversity and the nervous system then you can parent him in a sensitive way so if he is neurodiverse you know you were sensitive to his needs. I think just wait and see and don't be quick to label.

By the way has he watched Numberblocks on BBC? Show him this he will love it so much. We have got the set of Numberblocks mathlink toys. He had 1-10 and we just got him 11-20 for Christmas he loves them so much.

Your language seems to imply that neurodiversity is a disease that needs correcting. 'red flag' 'wary' 'concern' 'intervention'. It's not Cancer.

It's really cool that he's found something that excites and enthuses him.

Who knows where it might lead - enjoy!

Sounds like hyper numeracy. It can be a sign of autism but isn't necessarily. My DS2 was like that; at that age he was making infinity signs and maths puzzles out of Lego blocks. He doesn't have autism but he does have dyslexia. My DS3 had hyperlexia and could say the alphabet forward and backwards at age 3 plus read simple books. He isn't autistic either. Your child will probably be very good at maths at school.

My DS was like this too. He's 5 now and still loves maths. It's not a huge surprise given that most of this family are very mathematical.

Hi all ,
Thank you so much for the replies and responses. All noted.
I love that DS loves his numbers and won’t suppress it or over egg it!

To the person who mentioned number blocks - DS loves this show . I think if anything I had been slightly worried about DS speech. But he seems to be on track . He is just number crazy.
Thank you.

My son was/is like this and is autistic. Of course autism is a number of traits and not just one. I remember at peak obsession trying to get him to paint or play with playdough and he would just paint/make numbers with those. But it's still good for fine motor skills and fun.

My son was similar to that. He is now 11 and significantly above average at maths (120 on his Sats, at the top of the top set in secondary) but nothing extreme. He has two parents with 3 grade As at A level maths between them so it isn’t surprising.

As far as we know he isn’t neurodiverse although he is a bit quirky.

Water that seed op! Give him what he wants and see how he flies.

My nephew is one of the most maths gifted kids in the country, already down for university and he is 9. Go for it!