Thinking in pictures and ordered by numbers

Joel, our autistic 20 year old son, thinks in pictures and places everything in some sort of order. This is true in almost all instances from packing for a trip to words to music to eating, he orders his world, forcing it into a system that makes sense to him. Rather than responding to his sense needs, he responds to his unique need to have things prescribed and organized. This does not mean he is devoid of senses, but it does mean that the sensing is established as something familiar and orderly. New and unidentified smells concern him and events outside his mental framework are uncomfortable. A word not normally used becomes associated with a similar word, thus giving it absolution and a residence from which to draw.

After work, he works at the downtown public library, Joel seemed somewhat agitated and uncomfortable with his current state of affairs. For some reason this particular day at the library resulted in his having to shelve around 120 books. A normal day at the library involves around 40 books, so 120 is way beyond the expectation. Because of the volume of books, Joel did not complete his assignment until about 4:30 which is approximately 1 1/2 hours later than usual. His initial plan to practice organ at 3:30 was altered by the excessive amount of work to do at the library. In his irritated state, he demanded to practice organ although it was time to go home. The time issue was not as important as the need to keep things in sequence.

Later that evening when he was much calmer, I mentioned to him that he seemed quite flustered after work. He thought for a minute and said that he did not agree with me. He then said that he was a word with 10 letters rather than 9. Thinking through that odd statement, I asked him if he wasn't flustered, then what was he? He smiled and said he was frustrated. I then counted the letters in the word frustrated and discovered all my fingers were used up, revealing that indeed the word frustrated has 10 letters.

As I processed this unusual conversation, it occurred to me that perhaps Joel knows the number of letters in words that are spoken. I then asked him the number of letters in several long words, he responded quickly and accurately in all cases. Joel's words he says and hears from others are categorized in terms of numbers of letters. He sees the words in his mind according to their length before applying meaning. It is an odd and probably useless skill, but it does signify how Joel listens and learns. This helps us as parents seeking to help him cope in a difficult world.

He thinks in pictures, shapes, and in sequence, working to put things in order, and making things fit the puzzle piece before making sense of it. While we tend to see the larger picture and then put the pieces in place, Joel cannot always see the larger picture but can understand the individual pieces. Approaching conversations in more minute and specific ways means Joel can grasp the purpose of the word or sentence which in turn allows him a quicker understanding of the concept.

Good to know as we continue to train him to take care of himself as much as possible.