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Chanel 5 Now - The boy with the incredible brian

64 replies

Twiglett · 23/05/2005 21:01

no idea what this is like or whether you'd be interested but in case you didn't know its about a man with autism with mathematical kills (british rainman they said)

sorry might be cr@p

OP posts:
misdee · 23/05/2005 23:10

what was his full name aloha?

beccaboo · 23/05/2005 23:10

I just did a quick internet trawl - here's a preview of the show and the address for quite a long article in The Guardian about him. Sorry, rubbish at links , you'll have to cut and paste it.

The Boy with the Incredible Brain: Extraordinary People - Channel 5 21:00
It?s a fact of life that some people are good with numbers, while others struggle to tot up the cost of two items in their shopping basket. But Daniel Tammet?s mathematical ability is, to say the least, remarkable. At the age of four, Daniel suffered a series of epileptic seizures which appear to have caused changes in his cerebral chemistry. The result is an unusual emotional response to figures which allow him to perform extraordinary feats of maths and memory. Now 26, he is interested to learn more about his childhood problems and their long-term effects, so begins scientific investigations with experts who hope to discover new facts about the human brain

www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html

Blossomhill · 23/05/2005 23:12

So gutted as missed this. Is it going to be repeated at all ???

aloha · 23/05/2005 23:12

Tammet isn't his real name apparently. He changed it by deed poll. It is the Estonian for oak tree and he really likes Estonian, apparently.
He really reminded me of ds, and I don't think that is necessarily very good. Don't quite know what to think now.

misdee · 23/05/2005 23:14

aloha, sorry you are so confused. hope you get some answers or your mind gets put at ease somehow.

aloha · 23/05/2005 23:16

I actually really liked this guy, though. He seemed nice. But he does seem quite disabled by his autism in some ways. I know ds is different, not as different as Daniel, but definitely different.

misdee · 23/05/2005 23:17

i know my dd2 is different, but i'm not too bothered atm. somedays it bothers me, other days i think she is just a very different little girl who is mine, and lovely

Blossomhill · 23/05/2005 23:18

Aloha don't be worried Lots of these disorders do overlap so it is quite possible to see similarities with dyspraxia in someone with As (doesn't mean they have it though).
I know how you feel as I am like that with dd too.xxx

JoolsToo · 23/05/2005 23:19

sorry haven't read all the posts what fascinated me were those kids in Japan with the abacuses - WOW!

Blossomhill · 23/05/2005 23:19

Aloha your comment about being different is just how I feel about dd!

Blossomhill · 23/05/2005 23:20

Are you still having concerns about dd then misdee?

misdee · 23/05/2005 23:20

that amazed me too. how quick were their fingers!!

Pruni · 23/05/2005 23:21

Message withdrawn

misdee · 23/05/2005 23:21

yeah, she is alweays a bit 'odd'. she gets worse when dh is in hospital if she cant see him. managed to get through the last long stay by taking her to see him as she was actually well.

JoolsToo · 23/05/2005 23:22

misdee - and did you see them doing the test - twiddling their fingers like the abacus was there but it wasn't!

misdee · 23/05/2005 23:23

i know JT!! i only saw the last 30mins as was out, but oh my word!!

Blossomhill · 23/05/2005 23:24

misdee - i remember you posting a while back you thought dd had dyspraxia. Have u seen anyone about it?

aloha · 23/05/2005 23:25

BH, today ds was at the florist's with me. He could read all the prices outside - eg "that's two seventy five, that's three ninety-nine' then an older boy walked past & said something to ds I didn't catch. Ds was quite aggrieved and said, quite crossly, 'But I was counting backwards!" I asked what had happened and ds said, "I said 99 and that boy said, 'nearly 100', but I was counting backwards to one.'" He also counts in his bedroom for fun, and reads numbers everywhere and is so absolutely delighted by them. As I say, I'm proud he can do it, but it also freaks me out. I know it freaks dh out too.

aloha · 23/05/2005 23:26

BTW, I'm not sure he can count backwards from 100!
Misdee, do you think your dd is dyspraxic?

JoolsToo · 23/05/2005 23:26

wow aloha - I'm afraid numbers are Icelandic to me

aloha · 23/05/2005 23:27

Me too Joolstoo!

Blossomhill · 23/05/2005 23:27

Well Aloha dd is like that with words! She can read anything and at 3 could read all of the names of the children in her class. She can read anything and understand it too!
Now at nearly 6 she is excelling in all aspects of literacy - reading, writing and spelling and goes into the year above. I would say she was saying her alphabet before she could speak
It freaks me out too!

aloha · 23/05/2005 23:29

How is she socially BH? Ds is learning to read atm (can you imagine how pleased he was to read words like 'six' and 'seven' ) but he is definitely a bit odd socially- though he seems quite popular at nursery.

Blossomhill · 23/05/2005 23:30

Aloha - well she is sociable but finds it hard to maintain as she cannot have a conversation. So will play with other children but doesn't have any girlie friends as such.
Obviously being in the language unit they are constantly working on her social skills so that does help!

Blossomhill · 23/05/2005 23:31

Aloha - how old is ds now?