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Original poster

Do all asd kids supposed to have a talent?

34 replies

mysonben · 05/08/2009 13:23

Hi, my ds has mild asd , he is 3.9y, and so far we have not noticed any special talent or gift he may have.
At the moment all he has is struggles and mild difficulties for learning if anything.

He is no good at drawing or painting, not gifted with the pc (just average for his age)and not overly interested by it, he cannot write or read yet,
not brilliant with maths or music neither.

But he has good memory (remembers all his dvds by heart), he can count and recognize numbers up to 15 but for some reason will not perform well with numbers 1 to 10 at nursery ?, also he has very good pitch , rythm when he sings or humms.
He also pay attention to details concerning his beloved vehicles and trains, but that's it, nothing very special as of yet.
I'm waiting for him to suddendly amaze us with something...

OP posts:
siblingrivalry · 05/08/2009 13:34

I think that some children with ASD have a great ability in some areas eg exceptional memory skills. However,I think that they idea that all kids with ASD have a talent is a kind of urban myth.
The 'Rainman' film has a lot to answer for -my family still think dd will have a gift in card counting or some other random area!

bubblagirl · 05/08/2009 13:40

lol no not all ASD kids my ds has HFA and is very good with numbers letters he is 4 can write his full name first and last 14 letters in all

we knew he was high functioning as he knew all numbers and letters could use computer at 2

his now 4 and can do addition 8 plus 8 10 plus 10 and all the lower

he can write to over 200 he can recognise numbers over 400
his whizz with games can type his name on computer can play games for 6 yr old and has math skills of 6 yr old
everything else were behind on

thats his gift but not at 2 am when your being woken to be told 6 plus 6 is 12

bubblagirl · 05/08/2009 13:41

the age 2 thing was all before he could even talk but could say alphabet and numbers so we knew then he just obsessed with number mainly thats his thing

Original poster
mysonben · 05/08/2009 13:46

Maybe it is selfish of me to expect /want him to have a special talent, because at the moment i feel we are being shortchanged with lots of struggles and no special gift to help lift the mood on all his difficulties.

We 're still proud of him of course,(and he is gorgeous {grin]) maybe handsomeness is supposed to be his gift...ha ha ha

OP posts:
bubblagirl · 05/08/2009 13:50

he is just a gift regardless of his talents he is your handsome young man having a gift isnt always great obsessing over numbers not sleeping because you cant stop doing math have no other interest other than games or numbers

it doesnt feel like a gift its hard work to keep him mentally stimulated

your not short changed yes he has his problems but his still your son with the right help he will over come these problems he doesnt need a gift to make it acceptable lol as is ay a gift isnt always a gift its hard work

misscutandstick · 05/08/2009 13:51

I have 4 children on varying points of the spectrum, varying ages 16y - 3y, the only descernable gift any of them have is finding 'weak points' eg. point of irritation, loose point, boiling points, danger point (but only when they've passed it), moot points, point of interest to no-one but themselves, and point blank staring eyeball to eyeball.

other than that havent really noticed anything...

Marne · 05/08/2009 13:58

No, not all of them do.

I wouldn't really say my dd's have talents but there are a few things they are good at .

Dd1 (5.5) is 2 years ahead with reading at school and her teacher is always telling me that she draws great pictures and they have never seen art work that detailed from any 5 year old.

Dd2 (3.2) can complete a 50 piece jigsaw in less than 2 minutes and has great number skills.

flyingmum · 05/08/2009 14:07

Nope. The only thing is is that he seems to know how things work but not to any geeky type level (nothing usefu).

He's really good at breast stroke - does that count! Oh yes - he's very good at doing boring jobs like hoovering out the car and weeding the garden. He likes being helpful which is a gift to me!

sc13 · 05/08/2009 14:08

Tbh I'm still at the point where DS's so-called talent with numbers and stuff that is basically regular and ordered (shapes, colours, alphabet letters), makes me sad rather than proud.

WednesdaysChild · 05/08/2009 14:13

Situation in local A&E dept a couple of years ago...

DD had fallen at home {minor injury}, Junior Doctor turned to DS(then 6.5 and ASD) to ask what had happened. I explained that DS couldn't answer as he was AS and only minimum verbal. Doctors response...?

"Oh COOL! What's he good at?" WTF!

Apparently, in some medical circles ASD is a gift!

jennybensmummy · 05/08/2009 14:32

sadly my ds doesnt seem to have any great talent, unless you count the ability to knock holes into the walls with his head and throw objects at me that i swear are too heavy for any 3 year old to lift!!

wallyheidedcrawfinch · 05/08/2009 14:41

my ds has no special talent as such but last night he took my arm and was rubbing it gently i was amazed as i really like this he started doing it o last week and i said aw that feels nice and last night it was as if he was doing it to give me a treat or something we had fantastic eye contact last year he was digging his nails in and grabbing me hitting all the time so vast improvement could all change again tomorrow though ..oh and he has the worlds most beautiful smile thats not a talent either just wanted to say it

mum2fredandpudding · 05/08/2009 17:24

can kissing be a special talent? If so my DS (2.8) has one....

HecatesTwopenceworth · 05/08/2009 17:29

I blame Rainman how often have I been told that my children will have a special talent, be geniuses in some area or another, because of some film/tv prog/documentary where there was a bloke with autism who could tell you what day of the week every date in history was.

they're called savants and while some autistic people are savants, most are not.

The correct response to "What's his special skill?" is

"He can fly."

jemmm · 05/08/2009 17:36

roffles... can I please borrow that one HectatesT...!

HelensMelons · 05/08/2009 19:29

lol hecate.

I'm borrowing it!!

PeachyLaPeche · 05/08/2009 19:34

I aleways love Hecate's repsonse

DS1;s special skill is annoying me when it's the aschool holidyas, i think ds3's will turn out to be monkey noises

So not much different from the other two then

WednesdaysChild · 06/08/2009 09:29

If the date thing makes him a savant, then mine too!

HecatesTwopenceworth · 06/08/2009 09:48

Really? So if you said, I dunno, "3rd November 1926", your son would be able to tell you what day of the week that was? That's impressive! Well done him!

PeachyLaPeche · 06/08/2009 11:55

That is good, my boys can't tell you what months are even 9and they're HFA)

I used to know a kid who could give you the charts on any date you gave him (pop charts)- fab talent. But I bet if you asked her Mum about the talent she'd point out she'd rather he could converse / socialise / not have to live in a residential unit becuase of violence and want to whop you one.

asdx2 · 06/08/2009 12:43

Jack's talent used to be his ability to throw any object at a moving target and be guaranteed of hitting your head.
Used to muse the fact that if it could be harnessed he'd be a fantastic bowler for the England cricket team one day but never managed to remove the need for the target to be your head.
Nowadays he does maths at a level far beyond his comprehension and understanding and is considered mathematically gifted with moderate learning difficulties a tricky combination. Wouldn't say he's savant though although we never need a calculator lol.

Jux · 06/08/2009 12:54

Yes, I'm afraid the occurrence of special talents in people on the autistic spectrum is exactly the same as the occurrence in the general population - about 10%.

Rainman has a lot to answer for. I think Hecate's response is fabulous.

Geri2 · 06/08/2009 14:41

It does both amuse and annoy me that near enough as soon as someone hears that an adult/child is Autistic, the assumption is that they must either be great at Maths, playing the piano or have a photographic memory and can draw amazing pictures!!

Funny I have never seen the film rainman!

WednesdaysChild · 06/08/2009 14:44

Hectates - Yes that's it! Also able to memorise listings from the Yellow Pages or TV Guide.

Actually okay in itself until NT kids start knocking on your door, bringing along more with them for the circus show....

He's certainly not the only AS child I have met who can do this.

Great with numbers, to some extent, but money means absolutely nothing to him. His much younger sibling is able to persuade him to give over the silver and gold coins so he gets to keep the "nice brown ones" and paper money is just rubbish.

WednesdaysChild · 06/08/2009 14:48

Hectates: (hoping not to sound boastful but really just fyi) He allowes for leap years and will cover a year or two before and after the current year - super fast, does it in single figure seconds.