Born On A Blue Day

Book Title: Born On A Blue Day
Author: Daniel Tammet
Amount of Pages: 287


Extract from Optimnem
Daniel sees numbers as shapes, colours and textures and can perform extraordinary maths in his head. He can also learn to speak a language fluently from scratch in a week. He has Savant Syndrome, an extremely rare form of Asperger's that gives him almost unimaginable mental powers, much like the Rain Man portrayed by Dustin Hoffman.

Daniel has a compulsive need for order and routine - he eats exactly 45 grams of porridge for breakfast and cannot leave the house without counting the number of items of clothing he's wearing. If he gets stressed or unhappy he closes his eyes and counts. But in some ways Daniel is not at all like the Rain Man. He is virtually unique amongst people who have severe autistic disorders in being capable of living a fully independent life. It is his incredible self-awareness and ability to communicate what it feels like to live in a unique way that makes his story so powerful.

This is one book my sister said I must read and read I did. Except that I skipped chapter one altogether plus a few more chapters nearing the end. It was simply too boring for me to even want to comprehend. It was too factual.

Anyhow, the personal bites in some of the chapters really did capture my heart to want to read more. Perhaps it's because I have a brother who suffers from Learning Disability. Thus, the interest to find out more about children who have difficulty dwelling among the normal people. Nope, I am not stereotyping. I am just saying that some children are born different from others and learning about their life can be one of the most interesting thing in the world.

Born On A Blue Day is not an easy book to read. A lot of things are being explained in long winded ways that actually made me feel pretty lost between the pages. There are also pages that were easy to read because the English used is simple and written in a narrative style about Daniel's life; they are like short stories.

In short, you may want to pick up this book if you are interested to find out more about Savant kids. Otherwise, don't pick this up. It's not worth your time.