Synaesthesia? Does anyone in your family have it?

[Mandamom]

I found it doing research for my blog.

Synaesthetes are people who experience a blending of senses, for example, the number six may have a person seeing the color blue, or the word table might taste like tuna.

A couple of my friends have family members with it -- one's child gave gender to numbers while another sees colors for names.

(The U.S. spelling is Synesthesia).

[Whisperlily]

Isn't some of that normal?

In order to have, err... Synaesthesia, is it overpowering, confusing, or disruptive in some way?

I associate all sorts of things with words, numbers, etc. The spoken word may have a different "feel, taste, etc." than the same written word. But I don't think it's anything outside of normal. Is it?

[Mandamom]

Isn't some of that normal?

In order to have, err... Synaesthesia, is it overpowering, confusing, or disruptive in some way?

I associate all sorts of things with words, numbers, etc. The spoken word may have a different "feel, taste, etc." than the same written word. But I don't think it's anything outside of normal. Is it?

Here's the original article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/03/18/scisyn118.xml

Yes, some of it is normal and even can benefit learning if a teacher knows a student has it they can teach to their color or whatever while it can also be a problem if a teacher, for example, might use color coded flash cards for teaching numbers and the color is "wrong" for a couple of students which might cause them to tune out to learning.

Anyway, it was interesting as I hadn't heard much about it before.

[DIY-DY]

I found it doing research for my blog.

Synaesthetes are people who experience a blending of senses, for example, the number six may have a person seeing the color blue, or the word table might taste like tuna.

A couple of my friends have family members with it -- one's child gave gender to numbers while another sees colors for names.

He's always said that colors have flavors. And just yesterday, he asked me if I had any associations with things, like he does. :blink: When I asked him what he meant (b/c he does just bring things up out of the blue like that, lol), he mentioned that even numbers are female and odd numbers are male.

I think he feels kind of bad for me that I don't have any "associations", as he calls them.

[WTMindy]

my 9yos was explaining to me the other day about how all kinds of things have colors associated with them and it was fascinating, so I'll have to look into this. He actually was describing this whole color spectrum that he has.

[Plaid Dad]

You mean numbers don't have gender? :001_huh:

I have many, many associations like this, although the only time I get the "hallucinatory" type of synaesthetic experience is during migraines. Feel free to PM me if I can be of help. :)

[nuthouse]

color for him. Words take on an blending rainbow of each individual letter color with the first letter playing a predominating roll. A page in a book is a color managerie, rather than plain old black and white. He has real trouble with places like discounts stores where the signage is in all colors. The "color" conflict is very hard for him to deal with. The word "sale" is green, red, blue, white. The total word "sale", for him should be green. This interesting bit of color sense makes him a killer speller, but I cannot get him to put any effort into practice for a spelling bee.

[Made Unfit]

You mean numbers don't have gender? :001_huh:

Wow! I've never met anyone else who thinks this! I was always pleased when I was growing up that my birthday was 22/4/76 because it's just full of feminine numbers! (I have a feeling I'm going to be faintly embarrassed about admitting this when I wake up tomorrow.)

[Amy in Orlando]

Wow! I've never met anyone else who thinks this! I was always pleased when I was growing up that my birthday was 22/4/76 because it's just full of feminine numbers! (I have a feeling I'm going to be faintly embarrassed about admitting this when I wake up tomorrow.)

You're not a nut, Jackie! I have this with words, but never with numbers. I also do it with smells - certain smells are definite color to me. I have to ask dh for hlep when I'm making soap so I don't freak people out with my color choices.

[*anj*]

color for him. Words take on an blending rainbow of each individual letter color with the first letter playing a predominating roll.

I was hoping you'd chime in on this! :D

[GraceinMD]

PLAID DAD: "You mean numbers don't have gender?"

I was in college before I realized that other people didn't have that number/gender association. (I wonder if that's the most common, as several of us have mentioned it?)

Most numbers have colors for me, too, but it's not as strong an association. I also have what I think of as a "place"/number association (e.g., verandah/17) - *that* one seems weird to even me :)

[Jennifer in MI]

My ds (11) talks about how different feelings that he has have different tastes. I'm not sure if this is the same thing though. He has Aspergers and he, for example, explains the feeling he gets when listening to other people talking about something they like as like the taste you get when you take a taste of orange juice after brushing your teeth. It really sets him on edge.

[dragons in the flower bed]

Synaesthetes are people who experience a blending of senses, for example, the number six may have a person seeing the color blue, or the word table might taste like tuna.(The U.S. spelling is Synesthesia).

It runs in my family. My father and I both associate colors with letters, which is a very common one, and I also experience a blending of touch and smell, and a blending of sounds and textures. Neither of these are particularly pleasant.

[Christi/NC]

None of my children seem to associate numbers, letters and colors. I also have this visual of a rotating calendar in my head. I can see each month and where it is on my calendar. I always thought it odd but found that others with synesthesia have reported the same kind of thing. One article even had a person who described their calendar---it was nearly the same as mine! So cool!

Christi

[Pegasus]

I just read a kids book in which this phenomenon played a major part in the story. I thought they made it up!

I must be very boring. I don't have any of these associations.

Oh, it's "The Name of this Book is Secret" by Pseudonymous Bosch.

Pegasus

[dirty ethel rackham]

That's funny you say that. Everyone I know who has it is shocked that not everyone experiences it, that most of the population doesn't. A lovely girl in our neighborhood who has been homeschooled most of her life has it. Her reaction to the news that she was the only one in her family who tasted colors and saw words in color.

[Angela]

Wow, I just watched a program on this http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/derek_trans.shtml
I had never heard of it before, it sounds like it might be pretty common. Angela

[Kay in Cal]

I'm not sure if this is really "synesthesia", but I do taste music, particularly instrumental music. Certain pitches or instruments have different "flavors"--strings are citrusy (the higher the pitch, usually the more sour), except for bass which is sort of cherry. Woodwinds are more herbal-y--can be licorice or peppermint or methol. Etc. I don't generally notice it in music with many instruments playing, but solo instruments will set off powerful flavors.

OK, now this is too weird... found this on wikipedia:
"In spatial-sequence, or number form (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_form) synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, and/or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be "farther away" than 1990), or may have a (three-dimensional) view of a year as a map (clockwise or counterclockwise)." Wait, doesn't EVERYONE have some sort of mental spacial map of time? How do you picture years, decades, centuries? For example, any given year starts on the lower left, and proceed clockwise to the right, ending with December, which is connected to the next January directly above it. I realize it isn't really that way, nor would I expect anyone else's to look like mine, but how can you "see" your calendar if you don't have a mental map? Same with numbers... how do you think of them if you don't have some sort of mental map? I had some idea that the other was unusual, but had never even heard of this being odd! Seriously?

[Catherine]

He told me often when he was younger that he sees colors when he plays his cello-each note is a color and he sees them in his mind when he's playing a song. They help him to rmember where his fingers go on the strings, what the note is supposed to sound like (I don't understand how). This child has always had a love of bright colors and rainbows in particular.

[Patty Joanna]

Here is a good essay on synesthesia, by one who experiences it. She's a good writer with a light touch, so it is an easy read, not a scholarly research paper.

http://www.frederica.com/writings/synesthesia.html

[Remudamom]

That reminds me of the movie, "The Village".

"Do you wonder what your color is.............? I won't tell you, it isn't ladylike to speak of such things."

[Kay in Cal]

So I've been talking to my ds 6. He says he sees letters in different colors. I've asked him a few times this morning, and his answers are consistent: A is purple, B is black, O is blue, I is white, I remember. He says he sees the letters in those colors when he reads words. Now THAT I think it weird.... maybe it's why he spells so well?