The Puzzles of Autism and Dyslexia

I met with my young friend Caleb, today, for the first time this year. Caleb is awesome. I love him. Caleb's brain is a puzzle. Caleb has autism. He can read most any word you put in front of him, but can't remember details or get the main idea of a simple first grade reading passage. Now that he is a sixth grader he has to change classes. He needs a chart on his locker to help him keep track of where he goes when and what he needs to take. Today, after working for a while and talking I decided to show him the pictures from my whale-watching trip, because I knew he'd be interested. I showed him my pictures and my videos and then a picture of Emily and the kids on the beach came up so I told him that it was my daughter Emily. He immediately said, "Born in 1977!" I don't remember when I told him about my children and when they were born (he always asks about birth years), but he remembered that Emily was born in 1977. The autistic brain is amazing and puzzling! Caleb is a delight!



I also met with Gavin and Libby today. Both of them have dyslexia. I brought in an article from the Ann Arbor News about a man with dyslexia who has earned eleven degrees - his latest a doctorate from the U of M. I read portions of it to Gavin who can barely read at a first grade level, but can tell you anything you ever wanted to know about any animal and who would like to be a zookeeper some day. He'll never be able to read lots of zoological books, but I'm confident that he can be a zookeeper if he wants too. He's amazingly intelligent--he just can't read! His eyes lit up when I told him that Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and other successful people are dyslexic. Libby, likewise, knows that she is very smart, but that she just can't read like her peers. She wants to go to a culinary arts school someday. I know she can do it. I love my job!