by Effie Zografou- Elgabry

Synaesthesia

Does My Child Have Synaesthesia?

by Effie Zografou- Elgabry Synaesthete and Fellow, Institute of ACS Athens

Have you ever thought that numbers and words could have their own colours and personalities? Can you imagine the funny face of the letter M, the popcorn taste of the letter Z and its beautiful pink colour? Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could see the shape of time? Do you have “blue” Tuesdays and “green” Fridays? How colourful your day could be if you could see the sound of a bird song, or the fireworks of a car horn spreading in front of you, or even the dialogue of your friends dancing in colours right before your eyes.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, then you might be a Synesthete! Synesthetes are persons gifted with Synaesthesia, a blending power of senses. Synaesthesia is a neurological condition in which information of one sense stimulates additional senses. Now, imagine the whole new world of perceptions that opens up! There are multiple types of Synaesthesia, all with different symptoms. The most common and well-known type is Grapheme-colour synaesthesia, where letters and numbers have their own colours. There is also sound-to-colour synaesthesia, number form, mirror-touch and 80 more registered types of Synaesthesia – (so far)! Even better, you may have a combination of a multiple types. People who experience synaesthesia are usually born with that condition or develop it very early in their childhood. Research indicates that synaesthesia can be genetically inherited. 4.4% of the population know that they have Synaesthesia, which means 370 million people are already “registered” Synesthetes. However, because the condition is scarcely known there may be many more synesthetes in the world who just don’t know yet. The earlier the parents identify possible synaesthetic symptoms of their child, the stronger their support can be at school. Synesthetic children are gifted in many ways; becoming aware of their Synaesthesia in the early school years may be extremely beneficial for their later personal development. Synesthetic children may develop their sensorial associations slowly, each in their own time but all equally gifted. Learning in school is more efficient when involving different sensory modalities. With colours, genders and personalities, learning can become easier as studies have shown, which also improve memory recall. The colours of the letters encode the words and can help to store information. Therefore, synesthetic children can use their own colour code, to support their learning.

Imagine, however, if a child is forced to deal with text or numbers that oppose their own color-coded interpretations of them, e.g. having to deal with white letters on the keyboard, or black letters on the whiteboard - imagine the struggle! As Prof. Julia Simner of Sussex University entertains, it is like showing a child the word red, but written in green. This discrepancy could have detrimental effects on the child’s learning performance. For this reason, we must continuously try to create a supportive environment for our children with diverse learning experiences, beginning with awareness.

Knowledge of synaesthesia is extending globally through The International Association of Synesthetes, Scientists and Artists (IASAS). IASAS has hosted two international conferences on Synaesthesia, taking place in California, USA (2017) and in Moscow, Russia (2019) respectively. I was invited to the latter conference as a speaker, and I have shared a personal account of the experience in a previous issue of Ethos magazine (see Ethos Fall 2020, vol 15). Recently, on the 26th June 2021, IASAS collaborated with the Synaesthesia Society of Africa (SSOA), which hosted the first ever virtual Symposium about Synaesthesia in Africa: Discovery, Awareness, Research and Outreach. Topics discussed included academic and community perspectives on how to promote synaesthesia research at African universities, as well as personal accounts of synesthetes.

I am proud to announce that ACS, too, is taking pioneering steps towards realizing students’ unique potential. As Innovation Fellow and a synesthete myself, I invite you to join us in the Synaesthesia programme at ACS, making it the very first school in Greece to support the learning performance for synesthetic children.

Our children at ACS will have the opportunity to participate in an online assessment – the Multisense Synaesthesia Toolkit, developed by Prof. Julia Simner to identify children with synaesthesia. In doing so, and through this monthly column, we strive to develop the best learning environment for each individual, which promotes a clear scientific understanding of Synaesthesia, to propel our students in becoming architects of their own learning.

Synaesthesia in Africa: Discovery, Awareness, Research, and Outreach Hosted by The SSOA in collaboration with The IASAS)