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Born on a Blue Day

A Memoir of Asperger's and an Extraordinary Mind

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About this listen

 "I was born on 31 January 1979: a Wednesday. I know it was a Wednesday, because the date is blue in my mind, and Wednesdays are always blue, like the number nine or the sound of loud voices arguing."

Like the character Dustin Hoffman portrayed in Rain Man, Daniel Tammet can perform extraordinary maths in his head, sees numbers as shapes, colours, textures, and motions, and can learn to speak a language fluently from scratch in three days. He also has a compulsive need for order and routine. He eats exactly 45 grams of porridge for breakfast and cannot leave the house without counting the number of items of clothing he's wearing. If he gets stressed or unhappy, he closes his eyes and counts. But in some ways, Daniel is not all like the Rain Man. He is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in being capable of living a fully-functioning, independent life. It is this incredible self-awareness and ability to communicate what it feels like to live in a totally extraordinary way that makes Born on a Blue Day so powerful.

©2006 Daniel Tammet (P)2006 Hodder and Stoughton Audiobooks Medical Mental Health Professionals & Academics Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Memoir Health

Critic reviews

"Read by Daniel, this memoir gives the listener a remarkable insight into the mysterious world of autism and pays homage to Daniel's parents." ( Observer)
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I have aspergers syndrome and certain things makes it feel as if Daniel is speaking about me, from my or my parents point of view. It is very interesting. Apart from that, learning more about Daniel and his brain was extremely interesting.

I would recommend this book to anyone with, know people with or people who want to learn more about aspergers especially and also being a savant.

Extreme Similarities

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This is one of the most beautiful and amazing books I have ever read x

Extraordinary amazing man . x.

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What a truly fascinating insight into a fascinating mind.
Even with his savant ability, there are aspects of his everyday life that are a constant challenge. It is inspiring how he has learnt to manage these problems.
I appreciate the time he has taken to describe his thoughts and feelings.

Truly Fascinating

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fascinating and inspiring to hear how Daniel has overcome his difficulties and achieved so much
well told,

fascinating and inspiring stuff

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Thank you so much for your book Daniel and for taking the time to narrate it. I bought the hard cover book when you wrote it and it kicked around the house for years without getting read. I find it quite hard to concentrate on books so I was really pleased to see the audiobook turn up here. Your story is really interesting and hearing someone else talk about autism and their experience of it always helps me with my own puzzling mind.
I really enjoyed the book and it is one I will listen to again.
Thanks.

I am diagnosed with Aspergers too

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