Hi I am Professor Harris, I am pretty much an expert on all things dinosaur related. Actually I am pretty much an expert on lots of things.
When I was eighteen months old I started my PHD in Paleantology and my interest in all things dinosaur has only grown stronger and stronger. By the age of two, I could name and classify pretty much every dinosaur that was in Jurassic park. So my parents did the only thing proud parents should do, they rolled with it! They have spent the last seven years reading book after book on dinosaurs to me. I have read hundreds of encyclopaedias, watched hundreds of Dinosaur documentaries and what's more I remember every single word that was ever read to me. I can repeat word for word, the documentaries that I have watched. Ask me anything about pretty much any dinosaur ever found and the likelihood is that I will know the answer!
That's impossible you might say, but not for me. Have you heard of Temple Grandin? Yes you guessed right, the famous Autistic scientist. Temple and I share quite a few similarities. My Mum says, when other people think, they hear words inside their head (seriously? Is that true? Because isn't that like talking to yourself?). I find this concept very strange to understand. You see I have this Âûsome 3d computer inside my brain, full of pictures, say I plan something on paper, I can take my plan, turn it into a 2d model, then adjust it and fix it, until I have a functioning 3d model of what I want. Then I can rotate my model so I can see it at all angles and check that it is correct. If someone shouts tree I can recall all the trees I have ever seen, they are all right here in my head, kind of like google images in my head. Temple Grandin thinks like me too, it's called thinking in pictures, or visual thinking. When I am thinking, you might hear me talking to myself. My Mummy says that I say out loud what everyone else says inside their head. She calls this an inner monologue.
I don't have an inner monologue, thankfully the people who love me say this makes me a uniquely honest person. Although this does seem to get me into trouble. If you think something is a waste of time, you might just think it, I on the other hand say it out loud. Telling the Doctor that the late night visit to the hospital was a waste of time, was maybe not the best thing to do. Apparently he got mad, I don't really understand why, as it was a waste of my time! I had to go out, late at night, messing up my routine, to see a Doctor who said it was just a virus. I could have stayed at home in my nice warm bed and not have had to mess up my bedtime routine.
You may have guessed that I like routine, I don't like change, I don't like loud noises (apart from the noises that I make) and I find bright lights really painful. Smells can drive me absolutely CRAZY! And walking down a street full of people is like being crushed inside a sardine can in the middle of an extremely loud war zone.
The doctors say I have Autistic Spectrum Condition. But really I am just me, a kid who can do cool things with his brain. An eight year old kid who can do cool things with his brain. Being Autistic is pretty cool, as I know lots of things about lots of different subjects.
My Mummy has helped me set this blog up. She says it is to record all the cool stuff that we will be doing when she and Dad home school me. I told her she didn't have to do that, as my brain would do that anyway. But she thought it would be cool to share our home education journey. I can't wait to start being officially homeschooled. Finally, I can get back to studying for my PhD in Paleantology which is really Áûsome (in case you were wondering I do know the right spelling for Awesome, but I am not like everyone else I am Áû! ).
