Jake: Math prodigy proud of his autism

 

(CBS News) 

Jake Barnett is one in 10 million. The Indianapolis 13-year-old has been acing college math and science courses since he was eight years old. Now Jake is a college sophomore taking honors classes in math and physics, while also doing scientific research and tutoring fellow students. No one could have predicted that Jake would even make it to college. At age two, Jake began to regress - he stopped speaking and making eye contact. The diagnosis: autism. Jake is proud of his autism. "That, I believe, is the reason why I am in college and I am so successful," he tells Morley Safer.

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The following script is from "Jake" which aired on Jan. 15, 2012. Morley Safer is the correspondent. Katy Textor, producer.

Child prodigies have long been a source of great fascination. We wonder, "How can so much talent reside in such a young body, so much genius?" In a moment you'll meet Jake a 13-year-old math and science prodigy who is confident he may one day challenge some of the established theories of physics.

Jake: Hanging out with a teenage Einstein
What's it like to spend time with a teenage genius? Morley Safer and producer Katy Textor did just that.

The source of that talent and that confidence comes from our most remarkable organ, the one we understand least, the brain. What is it about Jake Barnett that had him taking college courses at age eight and getting As and by 12, doing paid scientific research, and today, at age 13, an honors college sophomore lecturing the crowd at his university science symposium.

[Jake Barnett: And do any of you want my resume at all?]

The untied shoelaces reveal either your average teenager, or the first telltale signs of the absentminded professor, or both.

Surrounded by researchers often twice his age, Jake is presenting his summer physics research project on PT symmetric lattice systems.

[Jake Barnett: This has implications in fiber optics, electromagnetic signals, anything that requires like a light going through a cable.]

Jake Barnett: Every number or math problem I ever hear, I have permanently remembered.

Morley Safer: You just never forget? They never slip out the back door of your brain?

Jake Barnett: No.

Safer: Is it fun for you to do it? Do you get a kick out of it?

Jake Barnett: Yeah.

For Jake, fun is reciting from memory the infinite series of numbers known as pi.

Jake Barnett: 3.14159265358979323846264338327950...

Jake memorized more than 200 of pi's numbers in an afternoon.

Safer: Enough, enough.

And he did it, just to test himself.

Jake Barnett: You want me to go backwards from there?

Safer: Well, sure.

Jake Barnett: ...32397985356295141.3.

Safer: Bravo.

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[Gabscommets]

Jake is a National Treasure and should be protected

[dazzll]

Autism savants ..What does Jake have to tell us about these conditions what is the common thread?
Jake was allowed to do do what gave him pleasure and excited him,, when suppressed he was getting lost .....................
ans 2 prev comment
At thirteen yrs. NO humbling ..........please! what you interpret as arrogance is innocence.
Let him fly. ..

Hope for our future

[richardt4723]

I am glad that Jake has an aptitude that will work for him in this life. I am very concerned that the majority of Autistics struggle with day to day life and as the incidence rises, nobody seems to have a plan for how we help these people.

[daru3200]

I wish Jake well, but I question the idea of putting him in an episode, as if he represents autism. Most asperger autistics, such as myself, are lucky to have normal intelligence and will spend the rest of our lives in psychotherapy

[Chexta]

Always like these stories and ya the kid has a unique ability but it would be nice to find an autistic kid that is not a music or math prodigy but a solve the world's problems prodigy and the question I want answered (that our wonderful politicians have no clue about - probably not even aware of it) is how do we to stop overpopulation which will probably in the next 25-50 years suck this planet dry of resources (ya, how long is that oil going to last?) and our ability to live on it (without our ability to get away from it - maybe that is a solution?). Answer me that and you'd be MY 1 in 10 billion or more!!!

[victorpavlovic]

I'm glad Jake is doing great, the odds of this happening are over 1 in a million. What about the children that are stricken with this normally devastating vaccine induced disease/condition like my son, I guess you want all the parents to bury their heads in the sand and pretend everything is dandy.

[daru3200]

Once and for all, let's burry idea that vaccines cause autism. That was proven to be a hoax years ago

[richardt4723]

I have no doubt there are contributory environmental causes, but vaccines are not one of them. This is a far more prevalent condition in industrialized countries than in non industrialized.

[DoctorOzone]

Four Dimensional Brains for Your Information - Mathematicaly
String of Magic, Books!
Allow me to explain what I call Non-Linear Geometry.
First off, a line of one dimension is called 1-D - essentially straight; no bends, no curves, no twists even; unlimited - straight and narrow, to the max; Mathematically.
Second place, 2-D is a plane of two dimensions - essentially flat, no warp, no curls, and no folds even; infinite - figuratively, of course.
The last thing we need is a cube in 3-D, with all of six sides flat (2-D), 12 edges straight (1-D). No distortions, no inflation no ripples either.
Now for the First Magic Trick - I take the line of 1-D and bend it to fit onto the plane of 2-D such that points of the line are like a Map to points on the plane. I used a short line segment and a small square plane. This line is now said to be nonlinear, it is more like 1.2 dimensional. Example if this is a tape measure: it coils into a box, no longer a straight line. Mathematically; the values on the tape are still linear. As an abstraction they map onto a 2-D surface. [ 1-D line points to a 2-D plane ]
The Second Magic Trick is to take a two dimensional plane and fold it up inside of a cube. So then, now the plane is no longer 2-D it is more like 2.3-D. Here again the points on the plane match points within some parts of the cube. Origami is a good example for folding 2-D into 3-D.
For the Third Magic Trick you take a Rubik's Cube™ and twist it around until you have a mix of colors on each side. It then is no longer 3-D. The points, lines and planes of the cube then match up with/in the Hyper-Space of 4-D (as if there really are 4-D objects beyond imagination - spiritual?).
Here is where I get off with saying "Our brains have the four dimensional geometric structure (tangled brain cell synapse) that gives rise to the illusion of time." And besides that, I say our writing is a non-linear "String of Magic". Each word is a sensible piece of a map fragment; pieced together from letters, or 'strings', of the Alphabet. A sentence maps onto a concept. Making Sense out of Non-Sense.
Think about it, write about it, then rewrite and rewrite ...
Rewrite Strings unto Magic Books!Like Harry Potter

[strshne420]

I am quite fscinated by both Jake and James Durbin. Both Autistic yet BOTH are making it in the world. What awesome strength and determination they have. I wish nothing but the very best for Jake and James!
Thanks to both for sharing their stroies and "illnesses" with an all too blind world!

[Ericwvb]

I'm not autistic or brilliant like Jake, but I remember once I learned all of vector calculus in 48 hours. I hadn't paid attention at all during the semester and 2 days before the final I realized I was going to flunk the class. I read 2 textbooks back to back and did half of all the problems and then did very well on the final. That was probably the biggest bit of mental exertion I ever did in my life and I imagine Jake operates at a much higher level without really putting in much of an effort. Quite impressive.

[jaykay3141]

I hear you. I transferred after my freshman year. In mid-August I got the syllabus for the new school's second-year calculus class and found to my horror that it was an entire semester out of sync with the course at the prior college. Between that day and the first week of classes I somehow managed to work through most of the material on multivariate differentiation and integration. The first couple of exams were real bears but I passed.

[MeMySkinzNI]

As a parent of a wonderful son, who has similar characteristics as Jake, has opened my mind to all the possibilities and positive outcomes that can come from a child who has been diagnosed with Autism or any other learning disabilites. Its takes a lot of Patience and Understanding from everyone involved to have these special children reach their highest potential, in a society that doesnt have much sympathy or knowledge, and understanding of a disability that can become an asset to that individual along with everyone else!