Anthony: What is it about learning about things like astronomy, mass extinction and the Big Bang theory, things that are so complex and have so much detail, that interests your brain and keeps you digging for more?

Awesome 13 year old with Aspergers (ATWA): Umm. Often it’s because…to my brain that stuff just makes sense and I relate them (pieces of new information) to things…it clicks and when I start clicking i want to keep clicking and it (my brain) keeps relating more and more. Though, in astronomy…mostly in astronomy, but this applies to a lot of areas, this stuff’s fascinating and it’s beautiful. Einstein said, ‘the most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious’ which… astronomy is very mysterious.

Anthony:So when you said “things start clicking” for you, that makes me think you’re saying things just start making sense. And then you want more and more clicks.

ATWA: coming together…

Anthony: You just said “coming together”. What do you mean?

ATWA: I just want to keep building the thing that’s coming together, making it bigger and bigger. It turns into everything and how everything is.

Anthony: that’s the best explanation I’ve heard.

The short snippet of a longer conversation occurred recently as I was walking with a brilliant young man with Aspergers. He shared this insight into his brain and why he pursues to such great detail on specific topics of interest. I particularly like the concept of “clicks” and just wanting more “clicking”. When you think about ASD, it’s the lack of clicking that is so often described. The misinterpretation of cues, the sensory over/under-stimulation, the misunderstanding of expectations and what’s coming next. In this context, it makes all the more sense that this boy would want to keep moving towards the clicking. It feels good/correct, like things “coming together”.

I was so intrigued by this answer that I later shared it with another boy, 11 years old, with Aspergers. He immediately smiled and said, “Yeah… The same for me…I think about it (his love for radioactive material) like a puzzle and I’m putting the pieces together as I find them”. He also shared the idea that amassing this specific knowledge helps him relate it to other things in the world.

I’m going to keep asking.