Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion In love with any/all numbers/symbols/codes

Okay - how weird is this? My DS7 has been totally fascinated with numbers/symbols/codes for as long as I can remember. He could sit and look at charts/graphs/codes all day long....

his love has recently turned into an interesting hobby.....He has been interested in the hazardous symbols he sees on the back of trucks so he went online and printed out what the various symbols meant (Flammable/Oxidizers/Non-Flammable.....) and then he noticed that each diamond symbol has a number underneath it and so he wanted to know what the numbers meant...so after much looking we found that each truck carrying a hazardous symbol has a UN Number which tells exactly what the hazardous item is and what hazard class it is. He proceeded to sit for 2 hours and print out all of the UN numbers, put them into a notebook with special tab dividers that he organized to make it easier to find each sections (the 100's, 200's, 300's...etc)...and then for the last few days has begged to go on highway trips to look for hazardous trucks in which he gleefully yells out the UN number, dives into his UN Number notebook and flips through until he finds the number off the truck and proudly yells out what the truck is carrying...today he begged to stop by a speciality Gas shop we pass regularly and so we stopped and he went in with his UN book and proceeded to ask the gentleman who worked there a ton of questions about all of the containers of gasses they carry (the guy was awesome and was totally blown away that a 7 year old was able to read the 3 part diamond on a dangerous container and tell him what each color of the diamond meant and what each number meant)..they talked and explored the warehouse for 20 minutes.....it is stuff like this that just makes me smile because he will pursue an interest until he finds all the answers he wants but then it also makes me wonder just how weird is this? Anyone else have a non-stop explorer that is interested in just strange things?

I think that's wonderful, Belle! How great that the man talked to him for so long, too--I'll bet your son made his day. Your little guy sounds terrific!!

peace
minnie

Thanks Minnie - sometimes I just worry that he has such "unusual" interests at times - one day it might be designing his own subway map system and then the next it is wanting to learn about hazardous waste symbols/numbers...my friends already think coming to our home is interesting....they are going to think we have lost our minds when they see the numerous hazardous waste symbol signs the man from the shop gave to my son today - which he put up all over the house in order to play HazMat with his playmobile trucks....was just hoping we weren't alone with unusual hobbies/interests!

Well, I do know what you mean, though none of mine are interested in HazMat stuff (yet!). Harpo's probably my quirkiest kid in terms of interests--typography, systems of map projections, and Northwest coast art are his three longest-term interests--but all of them are into kind of funny stuff (history of sewing machines, dye plants, etc.). Chico recently had a birthday, and all he asked for was travel guides! Which I thought was funny...especially since we're not really going anywhere any time soon...(We did get him some.)

What I figure is that all of this is going to make them very interesting adults, so I don't worry about it! Don't you worry either--he sounds just lovely! (And I wish you lived closer!)

peace
minnie

I think what you describe is classified under 'motivation' which is what sets these kids apart. I see nothing strange about your sons hobby/interest, just imagine what he will be able to do later on in his career/education/life. At age 7 he has already figured out the importance of categorizing and research (to name a few) and trust me ... lots of adults NEVER figure that out. LOL

Your son is so intriguing, Belle! Isn't it strange, what goes on in their heads?

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Belle, that's awesome that the guy spent the time with your son... I love when DS6 just dives into something and wants to know everything there is about it... I just wish I was the one who could answer his questions most of the time.

Oh yes, we definitely have one of those! His first love was license plates, with road signs a close second--that started at about 18 months and taught him to read. He knew every license plate we ever encountered, at a time when most little boys are fascinated with what kind of car it's on. Even at 4 or 5, he still called my car the "111-KPL car" (except the real # instead) and the same for his dad's car, with its plate #.

He has gone through stages of map-making (with those add-on pieces of paper mentioned earlier), periodic tables, road signs, weather map symbols, you name it--and probably the only reason I don't have a house full of haz-mat symbols is that we don't see much of that and he hasn't noticed them yet!

Aren't they great? (These kiddos, not the haz-mat symbols, LOL)