'I was born on 31 January 1979 - a Wednesday. I know it was a Wednesday, because the date is blue in my mind and Wednesdays are always blue, like the number nine or the sound of loud voices arguing.' Like the character Hoffman portrayed, he can perform extraordinary maths in his head, sees numbers as shapes, colours, textures and motions, and can learn to speak a language fluently from scratch in three days. He also has a compulsive need for order and routine. He eats exactly 45 grams of porridge for breakfast and cannot leave the house without counting the number of items of clothing he's wearing. If he gets stressed or unhappy he closes his eyes and counts. But in some ways Daniel is not all like the Rain Man. ……

Daniel sees numbers as shapes, colours and textures and can perform extraordinary maths in his head. He has Savant Syndrome, an extremely rare form of Asperger's that gives him almost unimaginable mental powers. This book explores what it's like to be special and in so doing gives us an insight into what makes us all human - our minds.

1: Blue Nines and Red Words

2: EarlyYears

3: Struck by Lighming: Epilepsy

4: School Days

5: Odd One Out

6: Adolescence

7: Ticket to Kaunas

8: Falling in Love

9: The Gift of Tongues

10: AVery Large Slice of Pi

11: Meeting Kim Peek

12: Reykjavik, NewYork, Home