My son is a super taster; he can distinguish between different brands of canned chick peas/garbanzo beans and other things. It can make dealings with food tricky from time to time.

I don’t have many of the same occurrences you describe, though I’m definitely like that with the messy desk & being able to find things in it & direct people to it (though the rest of my family doesn’t really understand my directions! :~D ). If someone messes with my mess, I’m lost!

I have a strong sense of taste (super taster) and smells/scents are associated with certain things with me. Sometimes, I’ll get a scent for apparently no reason. I’m forever asking my family, “Do you smell that?!! No, it smells like _! Really! It’s coming from _!”

Voices, too. I love listening to commercials, animated things & voice overs to pick out the actor who’s voicing it. I wish there was a “Name That Voice” version of Name That Tune… “I can name that voice in 7 words!” ;~)

The two weirdest things I realized that were different than most other people as I grew older were dreams & brain activity. I dream basically like a movie: full details, full color, plot, everything. Intense. I was amazed to hear so many other people dreamed in fractioned pieces, black-and-white, surreal ways. My dreams are *long*, as well. Either that, or I can chain-dream. One of my most interesting dreams happened when I was in a period that I was writing them down, to analyze and remember and I got through 10 pages of college-ruled notebook (front and back) before I realized I was only 1/4 through the dream and I was already starting to forget parts, so I quit. I still remember chunks of it, but not all the fine details.

My brain whirls in constant speed with 20 – 50 different ideas all at the same time. They whirl somewhat like your spirals, but more open-ended and not decending… more weaving in and out of the forefront, floating higher & lower – all at the same time. This used to be the main cause of my inability to sleep. I had so many ideas & thoughts & inspirations spinning around like unattached clockworks in my head, each new thought or idea stimulating my heartbeat & endorphins (or whatever was waking me up – my natural caffeine ;~) ) and creating a never-ending cycle. Well, okay, eventually it would end, when my ideas got less interesting and I could manage not to think of new, exciting things. But it would easily take me 3 – 4 hours to get to sleep. Sometimes more. Hellacious annoying to lie there, being exhausted, wanting so much to fall asleep… and not being able to. Especially when you have a spouse who falls asleep in 5 seconds flat anywhere. Literally, one time, standing up in a busy airport, leaning against a wall. I also have what I call “Princess & the Pea Syndrome”, where things have to be “just so” in order for me to fall asleep & stay asleep. Pitch dark, white noise, unwrinkled sheets, etc. I eventually solved the “whirling brain, can’t sleep” part when I was in my late 30′s, thankfully.

I’d forgotten all this stuff about myself until I read your post – thanks for linking it to the Geek/Nerd post! Very interesting stuff!

That being said, I had a question about the portfolio. How would you suggest documenting English and/or writing for older students? My children love to do power point presentations, we discuss things, they make posters, etc., but not a whole lot of writing. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.