I Tested Shane Again.
With all the reorganizing and renovating going on at home, I keep finding things I thought I’d lost. One of those things is a list from 2017 – letters and colors.
Back when I was checking to see if Shane had synesthesia – a very rare condition where the senses mingle – I tested him. I made a list of letters and asked him to tell me what color each letter “was” in his mind.
So the paper I found has two lists – one from March and one from April. Of the 26 letters, he listed the same colors on both lists for 21 of them. At the time, I thought it was amazing: he saw the letters “in color” almost exactly the same way for an entire month.
When I found the paper, though, I couldn’t help myself. After three years – 37 months actually – I tested Shane again.
I didn’t show him the original list; I didn’t want him to be swayed in any way. I just printed out the letters of the alphabet and asked him to list the colors that corresponded with each one.
After three years, only three letters had changed color drastically – and two of those had changed color between tests back in 2017. An additional four letters changed among shades of red: pink to red, red to orange, orange to red; a fifth changed from dark blue to purple.
And after three years, 18 of the letters stayed exactly the same color in his mind.
When I originally researched Shane’s synesthesia, I was concerned that he had some form of autism. I was panicked that something was wrong with him, and that this was proof.
But now, as some time has passed and I’ve grown a bit and gotten to know my son better, I don’t wonder “what he has” nearly as much as I think: he’s so interesting!
And Shane has synesthesia! He really has it!
Now I just think: that’s so cool.
