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My daughter sees odd things in her mind...


tntgoodwin
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A few months ago we were on a beach at night, before we left Hawaii. I showed DD6 the ocean, the city skyline, the trees blowing in the wind on the sand, and the stars. I asked her which was her favorite, She paused a second and said that the buildings (skyline) were her favorite. I asked her why, or how she was able to answer so quickly. She replied that in her mind, she associated the buildings with a bright green line, and the other views had shorter lines, that weren't as bright, or were different colors. So, she knew that she preferred the skyline.

 

Since then, there have been several times where she has described similar things. She and I had visited two different churches, and I asked her which one she liked better. She pondered for a moment, then picked one, explaining how it showed up differently in her mind (a rising green line vs a flat red line, I think).

 

Then tonight, she mentioned three songs she likes, and that in her mind Song A has a fat pink line, Song B has a medium brown line, and Song C has a thin brownish-gray line.

 

Has anyone else heard anything like this before? My Google skills are not having any success.

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I saw synesthesia, but she doesn't seem to associate sounds or letters with certain colors. More like, when she thinks of things to choose between them, her mind makes some kind of colorful graph or chart that she bases her decision/preference on.

 

She will say things like, "I know I like X more, because the line is thicker/brighter/longer/a certain color."

 

Edit: for what it is worth, she is an artsy girl.

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I saw synesthesia, but she doesn't seem to associate sounds or letters with certain colors. More like, when she thinks of things to choose between them, her mind makes some kind of colorful graph or chart that she bases her decision/preference on.

 

She will say things like, "I know I like X more, because the line is thicker/brighter/longer/a certain color."

 

Edit: for what it is worth, she is an artsy girl.

 

 

I think there are different kinds of synesthesia. My mom and I don't fit perfectly into the categories, but some of the things don't seem weird to me.

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I think this was the TED talk:

 

Sorry for the long link, on my phone.

 

ETA: I'm not suggesting this is your DD, only that it might be an interesting thing to watch as you ponder synesthesia. I learned about it from DH, who has a fascination with it.

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I don't get colors, or tastes, but I do have strong associations with certain places, or objects, or groups of objects. It is almost like they have a personality, but not quite that defined.

 

When I was picking pain colors for our new house I had 12 blobs of color ranging from cream to big bird, but most of them were only ever so slightly different shades of yellow. Some of them felt friendly, some felt harsh, some felt snobby....it makes no sense really, but I ended up going with the one that felt cheerful but not hyper. :)

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My daughter just read a book where the main character had synesthesia--A Mango Shaped Space. I don't know if it's all appropriate for a 6yo (there are some sad parts I think), but you might read some to her and see if it rings true to her.

 

 

My first thought was to recommend that book! Probably not right for a six year old (I've never read it) but it might help the OP.

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I see music as colored lines. Not always, not every piece or every kind of music, but often. I have since I was a kid, and it's one of those things I never knew was odd until I mentioned it to my husband as an adult. Certain pieces of classical music are like my own, private laser light show in my mind.

 

There are also certain words that look like the concept they represent to me.

 

That's pretty much the extent of my own experience with these kinds of things. I don't taste numbers or anything. But I do enjoy the colors.

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When DD was younger, words had pictures associated with them. But abstract pictures that seemed random to me. One time I said something about getting somewhere early, and she piped up, "early is a bright yellow helicopter!" Lots of things like that. I asked her one time if she made up the picture to go with the word, and she said, no, the picture just came with the word in her head.

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Well, I'm going to cast my vote for synthesia.

 

Quite honestly, I had no idea what it was until I saw it posted in this thread, but since everyone else seems to agree that it's the answer to tntgoodwin's question, I would like to be a part of the smart bandwagon, too.

 

Also, it's kind of a fancy-sounding word and heaven knows I like to use fancy words in my posts whenever possible, so there's that benefit as well -- and this particular word has an added benefit of others having already defined it for me so there's no pesky "looking it up" involved. :)

 

So it's synthesia.

 

And it actually sounds sort of cool. :)

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Well, I'm going to cast my vote for synthesia.

 

Quite honestly, I had no idea what it was until I saw it posted in this thread, but since everyone else seems to agree that it's the answer to tntgoodwin's question, I would like to be a part of the smart bandwagon, too.

 

Also, it's kind of a fancy-sounding word and heaven knows I like to use fancy words in my posts whenever possible, so there's that benefit as well -- and this particular word has an added benefit of others having already defined it for me so there's so pesky "looking it up" involved. :)

 

So it's synthesia.

 

And it actually sounds sort of cool. :)

 

I'm so glad you said it sounds sort of cool. I was just thinking that. How fascinating. I think I had a friend like this in highschool. A brilliant girl who just saw and felt colors everywhere. She was so artistic and talented, I actually envied her. I'm way too black and white.

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Well, I'm going to cast my vote for synthesia.

 

Quite honestly, I had no idea what it was until I saw it posted in this thread, but since everyone else seems to agree that it's the answer to tntgoodwin's question, I would like to be a part of the smart bandwagon, too.

 

Also, it's kind of a fancy-sounding word and heaven knows I like to use fancy words in my posts whenever possible, so there's that benefit as well -- and this particular word has an added benefit of others having already defined it for me so there's so pesky "looking it up" involved. :)

 

So it's synthesia.

 

And it actually sounds sort of cool. :)

 

Your post made me laugh! (but...you spelt it wrong, so it might detract a little from your credibility.. :leaving:)

And yeah, :iagree:, synesthesia!

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Yup, synesthesia.

 

There are many different kinds. I can smell a certain shade of blue. Other colors have scents too, but this specific blue is my most pronounced association.

 

:lol: Dh told me that I smelled really strongly of "purple" one night. (I had used a new lotion.) I haven't figured out if that was a good thing or not...

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Well, I'm going to cast my vote for synthesia.

 

Quite honestly, I had no idea what it was until I saw it posted in this thread, but since everyone else seems to agree that it's the answer to tntgoodwin's question, I would like to be a part of the smart bandwagon, too.

 

Also, it's kind of a fancy-sounding word and heaven knows I like to use fancy words in my posts whenever possible, so there's that benefit as well -- and this particular word has an added benefit of others having already defined it for me so there's so pesky "looking it up" involved. :)

 

So it's synthesia.

 

And it actually sounds sort of cool. :)

 

Hahahaha! I love your posts. I feel like you say what I want to say, or sometimes what I wish I thought of!!

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Your post made me laugh! (but...you spelt it wrong, so it might detract a little from your credibility.. :leaving:)

And yeah, :iagree:, synesthesia!

 

 

:D :D :D

 

OK, so maybe I fell off the back of the smart bandwagon when I misspelled synesthesia, but I felt a little bit smart for a couple of minutes there, though, so I'm still feeling pretty good about the whole thing. ;)

 

 

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:lol: Dh told me that I smelled really strongly of "purple" one night. (I had used a new lotion.) I haven't figured out if that was a good thing or not...

 

Purple is generally a nice smell. Now, if he had said you smelled light yellowish/orange...

 

:)

 

Then again, another person with synesthesia may say I'm wrong. A conversation between two people with synesthesia is entirely hilarious. A sound one person sees as a bright ascending color, another will hear/see as a gray triangle. The ascending and triangle part they can get over, but bright vs. gray is so "wrong" that they feel the need to explain their own pov which, obviously, only makes sense in their mind.

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I saw synesthesia, but she doesn't seem to associate sounds or letters with certain colors. More like, when she thinks of things to choose between them, her mind makes some kind of colorful graph or chart that she bases her decision/preference on.

 

She will say things like, "I know I like X more, because the line is thicker/brighter/longer/a certain color."

 

Edit: for what it is worth, she is an artsy girl.

 

She is an artist. What a gift. I have 2 children like this...one is grown and a working ( not starving) artist....the other is still a teen, a bit odd....lol...learning delayed in some areas, but ages ahead in others. She sees things differently....that is what makes her her. Fwiw, dh is like this as well.

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When my son was that age he said the numbers 0-9 all had personalities. He would think of or work with a number, and it just had its own personality, and color I thnk

 

Hmmm. Perhaps this is why we have so much math drama? Number 9 is violently despised, while 8 is loved and preferred to all numbers. I thought it was because ds was 8 when I first noticed it, but he has since turned 9 and still despises the number. He takes it quite personally when a math answer has a 9 in it, like an insult. I never noticed if other numbers had personalities.

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I do this. Numbers have colours and emotions for example number 3 is like citrus, so It's a bright yellow and unpleasant and acidic. I also attribute angled lines to experiences and people and that sounds more like your daughter. The angled lines feel like they run through my head and pleasant experiences are flatter lines and unpleasant dark experiences are like more 45 degree lines.I also do it with people. From what I understand synesthesia is pretty common.

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It sounds like synesthesia. You have a budding artist on your hands!

 

I don't have things with colors or numbers or anything, but I can hear things stroke my cheek. It sounds like a jet, and the pitch and tone change depending on where my cheek is touched and how fast it's moving. It's like the little hairs on my cheek pick up sounds the way the little hairs in ears do and send it to the area of my brain that interprets sound. Or something.

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Hmmm. Perhaps this is why we have so much math drama? Number 9 is violently despised, while 8 is loved and preferred to all numbers. I thought it was because ds was 8 when I first noticed it, but he has since turned 9 and still despises the number. He takes it quite personally when a math answer has a 9 in it, like an insult. I never noticed if other numbers had personalities.

 

 

No no...7 is the best number.

 

4 is nice too.

 

I have no idea what you see in 8.

 

:laugh:

 

Well don't tell ds! He'll make sure you know, in no uncertain terms, that 8 is the best. But as long as you agree that 9 is evil, he will likely accept you, wrongheaded notions about 7 notwithstanding.

 

 

As the resident adult, I will tell you that the correct answer to the best number is 8. It is all nice and round, twice! It is even, and that is important. Seven! So misinformed. (I've always felt numbers...Can't believe someone could get it wrong.)

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When my son was that age he said the numbers 0-9 all had personalities. He would think of or work with a number, and it just had its own personality, and color I thnk

 

 

That's a blast from the past! I used to do this in elementary grades, but apparently grew out of it. Unfortunately, I don't remember all of their personalities. I wish I had written them down! My number personalities seem to have stemmed from finger positions 1-5 and 6-10 :)

 

I do remember 5 was a tortured soul. He so badly wanted to be with 6-10. He was kind of a big shot and thought he was better than 1-4. I didn't like 5 until we got to multiplication tables. Poor little 4 loved 5 and longed to stay close to him. She wished he could be happy with the 1-5 hand.

 

Typing this out is cracking me up. No wonder everyone thought I was strange in elementary school! I sound like Luna Lovegood!

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I think I may have done something like this as a child. I don't think it was just lines, but sort of waves, too. I wish I could explain it, but I'm afraid that I grew out of it. I remember trying to describe the pain of an earache to my mom. I kept telling her it was yellow and thin. Of course, she had no clue. I don't know if it was exactly the same as your daughter's bar graph, but I do remember that when I closed my eyes, I could see it in my mind.

 

FWIW, I was an art major and just a little bit flakey.

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Another vote for synesthesia.

 

Not to be a downer, but if this is something that just started happening for her, you might want to run it by your family doctor, just to make sure everything's okay. Synesthesia is perfectly normal, but any kind of sudden brain changes should be mentioned to your doctor.

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I have some stuff like that too, though it never really occurred to me that it had a name until much later.

 

-Days of the week have shapes: Monday is wavy lines, Tuesday is a pie slice with a circle on the bottom, Sunday is a circle, etc

-The months or the year look like a clock face with my birthday month at the top. Only I'm standing on my birthday and looking out over the year.

 

Wow that sounds really strange when I type it out, but it's always been that way in my head.

 

:rolleyes:

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