The Hidden Sense: Synesthesia in Art and Science Cretien van Campen

What does it mean to hear music in colors, to taste voices, to see each letter of the alphabet as a different color? These uncommon sensory experiences are examples of synesthesia, when two or more senses cooperate in perception. Once dismissed as imagination or delusion, metaphor or drug-induced hallucination, the experience of synesthesia has now been documented by scans of synesthetes' brains that show "crosstalk" between areas of the brain that do not normally communicate. In The Hidden Sense, Cretien van Campen explores synesthesia from both artistic and scientific perspectives, looking at accounts of individual experiences, examples of synesthesia in visual art, music, and literature, and recent neurological research.

Aquamarine Blue 5: Personal Stories of College Students with Autism Dawn Prince-Hughes

Prince-Hughes, an adjunct professor of anthropology and author of a book about gorillas, prefaces the essays in this collection with biographical information about each writer. Crediting the Internet with a rise of an "autistic culture," the editor goes on to differentiate between classic autism and Asperger's syndrome (AS), a condition with which she herself struggles. Each contributor tells his or her story, helping to illuminate problems with relationships, communication, obsessions, sensory channels, jobs, etc. Moreover, the special talents of these bright individuals and their coping mechanisms come to light. Here neurotypicals, autistics' label for "normals," can get hints about using counterquestions to promote better conversations, and those with AS can follow suggestions such as seeing a career counselor before choosing a college major. Sharing their trials and tribulations, these adults offer their communities a certain expertise, especially in libraries and universities, where people with such conditions are often successful.

Synaesthesia - A "Golden Thread" through Life? Alexandra Dittmar

Subject: The theme of this book is synaesthesia - a different but naturally occurring form of perception in which sensations and perceptions are experienced in many different combined forms.
The book first provides an overview of the current state of knowledge relating to synaesthesia, from the diversity of synaesthetic experience to some of the many findings and theories yielded by synaesthesia research - a blossoming area of science - in recent years. After an introduction to the subject of orientation the principal thesis of the book is outlined - that synaesthesia can be a form of orientation. The idea has wide-ranging implications: for example, it is possible that a good many children are being identified as having a "learning disability" when the real problem is that teaching strategies used in schools run counter to the synaesthesia of a synaesthetically gifted child.
There then follow 21 accounts, some of them illustrated, of synaesthetic experience combined with reflection on the question of whether synaesthesia can be used for orientation. The 21 authors come from five countries (USA, Great Britain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany) and almost all of them are synaesthetes.

Embracing the Wide Sky: The Enormous Potential of Your Mind Daniel Tammet

Owner of "the most remarkable mind on the planet," (according to the US's Entertainment Weekly) Daniel Tammet captivated readers and won worldwide critical acclaim with the 2006 Sunday Times bestselling memoir, Born On A Blue Day, and its vivid depiction of a life with autistic savant syndrome. In his fascinating new book, he writes with characteristic clarity and personal awareness as he sheds light on the mysteries of savants' incredible mental abilities, and our own. Tammet explains that the differences between savant and non-savant minds have been exaggerated; his astonishing capacities in memory, math and language are neither due to a cerebral supercomputer nor any genetic quirk, but are rather the results of a highly rich and complex associative form of thinking and imagination. Autistic thought, he argues, is an extreme variation of a kind that we all do, from daydreaming to the use of puns and metaphors. Embracing the Wide Sky combines meticulous scientific research with Tammet's detailed descriptions of how his mind works to demonstrate the immense potential within us all. He explains how our natural intuitions can help us to learn a foreign language, why his memories are like symphonies, and what numbers and giraffes have in common. We also discover why there is more to intelligence than IQ, how optical illusions fool our brains, and why too much information can make you dumb. Many readers will be particularly intrigued by Tammet's original ideas concerning the genesis of genius and exceptional creativity. He illustrates his arguments with examples as diverse as the private languages of twins, the compositions of poets with autism, and the breakthroughs, and breakdowns, of some of history's greatest minds. Embracing the Wide Sky is a unique and brilliantly imaginative portrait of how we think, learn, remember and create, brimming with personal insights and anecdotes, and explanations of the most up-to-date, mind-bending discoveries from fields ranging from neuroscience to psychology and linguistics. This is a profound and provocative book that will transform our understanding and respect for every kind of mind.

Born on a Blue Day Daniel Tammet

'A memoir of outstanding lucidity and charm' -- The Sunday Times 'You close BORN ON A BLUE DAY with a sense of profound admiration' -- The Daily Mail 'A charmingly precise, tenderly honest account' -- The Daily Express 'Remarkable' -- Independent on Sunday 20060723 'Admirably modest but affecting autobiography by a man blessed with incredible mental gifts but struggling with Asperger's' -- The Sunday Times - top choice of books 'you really must read' 20060723 'So elegantly written... he tells his story dead straight' -- Daily Telegraph 20060710 'In BORN ON A BLUE DAY, both his difficulties and his awakening consciousness of himself and others are charted. The miracle is that he wrote it himself. It has a strange, quiet beauty' -- Scotland on Sunday 20060716 'Tammet's writing is eloquent and moving but always uncomplicated. And he succeeds in stripping away much of the misunderstanding and confusion that surrounds the unusual way autistic savants view the world' -- Radio Times 20060716