Son obsessed with languages

I just joined today.My 9 year old autistic son is consumed with memorizing languages. Hebrew and Arabic seem to be his favorite lately,although he also loves French, Portugese, Spanish etc.. He also has memorized directors, producers, composers, animators of films. He searches on Wikipedia for their names or other related subjects, and then looks at the same page in different languages and matches up the words. He also has learned that on You Tube you can search on, let's say, The Little Mermaid "Under the Sea", and listen to it in every language imaginable. He then memorizes the song and sings it- ALL DAY LONG!
My dilemma is I don't know how to best channel this. I only speak Spanish, a little French, and even less German. Drawing is probably his biggest asset. He drew long before he spoke. I would love to introduce him to artists who could help him expand his abilities. But how?
Any ideas would be so much appreciated!

Welcome to IAN, sebastian's mom.

It is so amazing to hear of all your son's gifts. I hope our readers will share their ideas about how you might channel them!

Meanwhile, I thought you might be interested in an article we have called "Dinosaurs 24/7: Understanding the Special Interests of Children with Asperger's Syndrome." The article talks a lot about how to use these intense interests to help the child in areas where they are not doing as well. The article begins here:

http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/about_asds/the_special_interests_of_children_with_aspergers

I like your son listen to songs in multiple languages and even sing them.

Perhaps you could get him something like Rosetta Stone so he can become fluent in some of these languages that he has taken an interest in.

I have wanted to get him Rosetta Stone so badly. Problem is we can't afford it no matter how much we want to.
He was speaking French in his sleep last night. It cracked me up! He brings smiles to my face daily.

This is also my first day on IAN. First of all, WOW! What an amazing child you have.
Visits to art museums, perhaps buying a book of art on famous painters throughout history and their different styles might interest him? Visit local galleries if available. Also, have you tried this: buy some cheap picture frames, place some decent art paper inside and hang them on the wall, then he can paint inside the frame. My son and I have come up with some silly yet fun ideas with art. From coloring broken eggshells to make mosaic pictures to using colored tissue paper and making "stained glass windows".

Welcome, Django!

And sebastian's mom, if you wrote and told your story to the Rosetta Stone company, I wonder if they might consider providing something for free, especially if they could get some good PR out of it. Just a thought!

Connie is right, it is worth writing them and explain everything, they might not give you a free copy however a good discount. You know if you worked along side with him and learned new languages with him then it would really help I bet, because your sharing an activity and interest.

You could also buy him albums from different countries. Here is a link that plays a lot of oriental music.

http://www.animeacademyradio.net/

It also might be worth checking the library for Rosetta Stone programs. If the local library doesn't have copies of the languages you want, interlibrary loan might be an option. We went through this with our Aspie and she was able to become somewhat proficient.

Also, if you really would prefer owning a copy, sometimes copies can be found at reasonable prices on homeschooling sale boards or eBay.

Good luck!

You gals are great! I am going to email Rosetta Stone right now. Thanks for the positive, helpful replies.

That's awesome!! My son is obsessed with Spanish right now. He will put every TV in the house on Spanish audio. He watches youtube videos in Spanish, French, etc.

He has not spoke any other languages, but I know he understands them. How'd it go with Rosetta Stone?

Doyle

I rarely go online and to have y'all post your thoughts means a lot to me.

I contacted Rosetta Stone and they said they don't do "donations" and gave me the whole shpeel they give other customers. They are going to send a demo cd in Arabic for him. They do that for everybody. He is so excited for it to arrive. He cannot comprehend 4-6 weeks though! I can't keep up with him. He knows more about a computer than I do. I'm 32 and used to work in Silicon Valley,Ca. at a computer company.....and HE knows more than me. I kind of feel like I am not smart enough for him. I feel like I should be doing more for him. My husband and I always wanted to treat him as a "typical" child; but he is not. His latest language is Icelandic. HELP!

You might enjoy reading Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. It's a first-person account by a man who has Asperger's Syndrome--and who is phenomenally gifted at learning languages (including Icelandic which he taught himself in a week's time well enough to appear on an Icelandic talk show and acquit himself very well). He also has some other unique talents, like the ability to recite more than 20,000 digits of pi. I saw a television program about him last year that was very interesting. When you talk about your son, it reminds me of Daniel Tammet.

sebastian's mom, I just wondered: Is your son attending school, and has any of your son's love of languages been incorporated into his school program? It might be helpful to think of creative ways to work that into his program, and to use it to help him engage in subjects he likes less than languages.

Just a thought! (Or time to call an IEP.)

I think schools often find it tricky trying to devise a program that addresses special abilities and autistic social and sensory issues, but that is the challenge they need to take on when working with children like this.