Chapter Nine, The Gift of Tongues Summary and Analysis

This chapter is rather clinical in its voice. Daniel begins to discuss the methods he uses for learning new languages so quickly. His autism allows him the ability to "see" the words in unique ways and these pictures help him to quickly understand and recall a word or word phrase. Daniel's ability to so quickly and completely learn new languages is astounding, and may make the reader just the slightest bit jealous.

The rest of the chapter focuses on discussions of research into the physiology of an autistic person's ability to learn languages. Daniel mentions several studies and prominent researchers in this field of research. He also discusses a language called Esperanto in detail. Daniel's aptitude for languages is apparent, but for the reader, the lengthy academic discussions become monotonous and...