Autism. Scripts and more scripts

Bright Eyes' obsession with numbers transfers into his personal relationships and major memories.

The things that he considers important about people (and therefore keeps forefront in his memory) are their ages, their classes, their birthdays, and oddly enough, their shoe sizes.

He keeps dates high in his list too. Events such as parties or trips to Jamberoo Rec Park are remembered together with their dates (and sometimes their weather forecast too.)

His daily conversation is peppered with number-oriented scripts, such as:

"Mum, do you remember X? He's turning 9 in year 3 on the 31st of March."

"Imagine if my birthday was on the 25th of March?"

"Some people are 6 in year 1 and 7 in year 2."

"Hi X! Do you have size 10 shoes?" 

"When I'm 36, my sister will be 40."

"I'll be 30 in 2033. My brother will be 30 in 2035."

"You know Uncle Richard? He's turning 39 this year."

"Why am I turning 7 this year?"

"Today it's 23 degrees. On the 9 January it was 43 degrees."

"1, 4, 7, 10, 13... I'm counting by threes!"

.... and of course, there are the ever-popular arithmetic problems, including today's, which was announced as I sat chatting to my friend over a cup of tea.

Him: "What's 200 plus 2?"

Me: "I think you know."

Him: "202!"