Finding his niche

Parents everywhere wonder what their children will become or what their abilities are or where their interests lie. These worries are more paramount for parents of autistic children. The famous song Que Sera Sera that Doris Day sings so beautifully may be warm and charming to most parents but unfortunately parents of autistic children do not have the luxury of subscribing to its tenants.

We knew Joel had certain gifts at a young age but we could not decide if those gifts were merely interests or special abilities. Nevertheless it was apparent that he had a thorough understanding and keen interest in the alphabet. Looking back, it should have been obvious that his abilities to sort in alphabetical order and memorize words and systems accordingly were his destiny for his career.

It began with saying the alphabet forward and backward followed by the ability to number the alphabet and identify the letter from its ordered number. This led to an exceptional ability to spell words and identify words misspelled. In school Joel did not win spelling contests partly due to his hesitancy to vocalize the correct spelling of the word and partly due to his not being able to operate within time constraints. That stated, his spelling prowess was and is simply an extension of his knowledge of the alphabet and how words are put together.

It was then logical that Joel would eventually end up in a library sorting books which is what he does every afternoon. While we have little first hand knowledge of his competency, neither have we heard any complaints. According to Joel, he has never made a mistake and puts away between 40 and 100 books each day. He further states that he knows every book in the library and can find any book that is requested. This makes his gifts extraordinary in some ways and invaluable to a library. It oddly renders a card catalog, particularly the title section, virtually ineffective as a distinguishing system for finding a book.

And yet, in spite of these unusual abilities, Joel does not seem to apply joyful emotion to his experience nor his competency. While most people would express pride at their ability to sort books and memorize a library, Joel approaches this skill with the same objectivity of most events. His emotion is stoic, neither joyful nor sad, neither prideful nor humble, simply factual without expressive intent. In spite of this seeming indifference, he is excellent at his job and for that we are grateful. We are fortunate to have found a skill for Joel that is both useful and unusual.