Sylvia Rimm on Raising Kids by Dr. Sylvia Rimm

Q: I recently answered a column from a mother of a 6-year-old girl who had a photographic memory, more technically entitled eidetic memory. The mother also added the following question:

My daughter is constantly talking about numbers having assigned colors in her mind. Does this have anything to do with her memory?

While I responded to her mother's question about her synesthesia memory accurately, I knew nothing about why numbers took on color for this girl. Fortunately, my readers have enhanced my knowledge. I'll share some responses with you below:

This young girl may have special reasoning abilities related to synesthesia. Persons with these abilities have some of the most remarkable brains on the planet.

I recently learned about a condition called synesthesia, and it sounds like something the child might have. Her mom should definitely like to at least look into it. Would you consider passing it along to the family? I think it would be an extremely valuable piece of information for the mental, emotional and physical well-being of the child, if it indeed is something that she has.

The letter about the girl with a photographic memory reminded me of my own childhood experiences with colors and numbers, shapes and visions. Thinking everyone had the same experience, I mentioned my colorful life to a couple of friends and relatives, but they had no idea what I was talking about. After that, I kept my greens and nines to myself and eventually paid little attention to my oddities in life.

About 30 years later, while running a junior-high library, I noticed an article in a science magazine — I believe it was Discover — about a condition some people have called synesthesia. The situations mentioned in the article brought back memories of my own childhood. Though raising more questions than providing answers, the article made me finally feel like I was normal — just different. Any advice you have will help me as well.

A: I apologize for not being aware of synesthesia, but apparently, although it is not a common condition, some forms may exist in as many as 1 of 23 people, according to Wikipedia.

It is neurologically based and results when one sensory pathway of the brain automatically leads to another sensory pathway. People with synesthesia may actually see numbers as colors or hear sounds when things move, although most people may not see these colored numbers or hear the movements. Synesthesia isn't considered a disorder because it doesn't interfere with normal life. However, parents of children with synesthesia will need to understand it, so they can believe their children's observations and reassure them that their differences are acceptable, interesting and need not be considered problems.

Our reader above — from Elyria, Ohio, who shared her experiences as a child — said she was sometimes treated as if she had a "screw loose." The poor child had to wait 30 years before she could feel the reassurance that her experiences were understood in the scientific world. And although she was different, she was not weird or imagining her experiences. Consider how children with synesthesia must feel when they describe their color number experiences with friends, assuming they share the same experiences. Their friends and families will not understand unless our readers help spread the word.

Please read more about synesthesia, particularly if you know of children who tell you about colored numbers, letters or music. You will be able to reassure them. Thank you again, readers, for responding and informing us.

For a free newsletter about children who march to the beat of different drummers, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the address below.

Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm is the director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the author of many books on parenting. More information on raising kids is available at www.sylviarimm.com. Please send questions to: Sylvia B. Rimm on Raising Kids, P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI 53094 or srimm@sylviarimm.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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