An autistic boy learns the alphabet
Barry, an autistic child 5-years of age, is in a preschool for special needs kids.
His teacher patiently recites the alphabet.
"A is the first letter of the alphabet," the teacher says. "Say 'A'".
"A", Barry says.
"Ok, the second letter of the alphabet is 'B'. Say 'B'".
"B", Barry says.
"Ok, the third letter of the alphabet is 'C'. 'C' as in Cat. Say 'C'".
"C", Barry says. "Like Cat".
"Good!" the teacher says, relieved. "Now say 'A, B, C'".
"A, B, C", Barry says.
"That is awesome!" the teacher says.
Suddenly, she tips a small box of thumb tacks over the table. Thumb tacks spill out and scatter across the floor.
"That's 83 thumb tacks," Barry says immediately.
The teacher is astonished.
"Really?" the teacher says. "Did you really count it all that that fast?"
"There's 83 thumb tacks," Barry repeats.
The teacher begins picking the thumb tacks off the floor, counting as she goes.
She counts 67 thumb tacks…not the 83 Barry claims to have counted.
She thinks she made a mistake and starts over. This time she gets to 63.
"Oh dear," the teacher says. "I think I'm stressed out."
"Why?" Barry asks.
"My husband just filed for divorce," the teacher says.