Quinn and the Fibonacci ducks?
Apr 02
Someone was kind enough to have sent me a really interesting and kind of amazing theory on this photo of my son Quinn – a pic that showed early on how his mind worked a little differently (eventually diagnosed as autism):
Here’s part of her note (actually sent to me as a comment on this site):
My primary research interest is autism and so I had of course seen the pictures you uploaded of Quinn onto the Wikipedia article on autism. I had first seen the “ducks in a row” picture a while ago and felt that there was something interesting going on with the spacing of the ducks in that line of toys. When I drew the pattern out, assigning shapes to the types of toys he had, it blew me away when I realized that Quinn, at two years old, had created a Fibonacci sequence with the ducks (I first learned of this sequence in my senior year of high school). A Fibonacci sequence is 0 1 1 2 3 5 8…continuing infinitely. It’s the pattern that’s found all over nature, in sunflower heads, pinecones, nautilus shells, etc. Furthermore, Quinn lined the toys up in a way that the “non-duck spacers” represent the previous number of ducks multiplied by themselves. So in order: 1 duck (x1) = 2 spacers (clock and teletubby), 1 duck (x1) = 2 spacers (2 shoes), 2 ducks (x2) = 4 spacers (frog, pig, cow, cow). Finally, if he has two of kind for the spacers, he puts them together. Although I have read of talents with prime numbers in autism, I have never come across anything with the Fibonacci sequence. I’m at the beginning of my studies, so I don’t have any concrete recommendations, but a fellow researcher I study with thought this was remarkable as well.
This is something I had never noticed before, but it wouldn’t be impossible to believe. (I will need to look over some of his other sets of lined-up toys and his artwork.)
What do you think?
Update: April 2, 2009
I just found another photo of Quinn doing pretty much the same thing with the ducks on a different day (but around the same age).
I wish I could find the original of this so I could see the ducks a little more closely! The 4 ducks should be 5, but maybe (lacking another yellow quacker) he put the green thing as a duck? I certainly don’t know all the ways his lovely mind works, but there’s definitely a pattern here…
Over the last 4 months, I have learned alot about both your son Quinn and Autism. and I have decided that when I graduate in 2012, I want to be a teacher for students just like your son Quinn he has taught me so much at school.
I read a lot about ADHD, Autism, AS…. ran across your youtube video about Quinn. I have found something that has helped my ADHD-OCD-AS son. I found it through several friends with that have Autistic children. Their kids were non verbal. Ones kid is an Autistic Non-verbal teenager who spoke his first words “Momma I love you” after taking this amazing product for several months. It has changed lives! I can’t imagine if someone had not shared it with my family. Email me back if you are interested to hear more.
One Mom to Another
Offering Hope.
I find this interesting, but I can’t seem to quite catch on to the pattern the poster suggested. I notice that the poster says a couple of times that 1 X 1 = 2, but of course 1 X 1 = 1, so that confused me a little too. this is interesting though. I’ve never heard of a Fibonacci sequence, but maybe I will see if I can figure it out!