38 pages • 1 hour read
Daniel TammetBorn on a Blue Day
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2006A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
Daniel Tammet
Author Daniel Tammet was born in 1979 in England and raised in East London. Tammet lives with savant syndrome and synesthesia. Unlike many other individuals with savant syndrome or who register on the autistic spectrum, Tammet is fully independent in his adulthood and is articulate about the patterns and details of his cognition and perception. Many other people with savant syndrome have related disabilities that inhibit independence and communication. Tammet therefore provides an uncommon account of life with these conditions.
Tammet possesses rare abilities to memorize numbers, calculate, learn languages, and perform other similar feats of learning and recitation. He set a world record in 2004 for reciting the most digits of the number pi. Born on a Blue Day, his memoir, was a New York Times Bestseller and named a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association. He has since written other self-reflective books, essays, and poems, as well as a novel.
Tammet appeared in the documentary Brainman/ Extraordinary People: The Boy with the Incredible Brain in 2005. He has given TedTalks and interviews with many international organizations and programs and speaks over 10 languages.
Tammet’s Parents
Tammet’s parents provided support and understanding for Tammet in his youth. With very few resources, they learned the best ways to comfort and support their oldest son while also taking care of other children (the couple had nine children in total). Both parents were very present in their children’s lives. Tammet’s father would walk him to school. His mother often visited him in his room so the two could spend time together doing the things that made the author most comfortable.
In general, Tammet’s parents had a strong and enduring relationship. They worked as a team to operate their household. A major challenge came when Tammet’s father suffered from mental illness and had to periodically be hospitalized. That stretch of time challenged the family and the relationship between Tammet’s parents, though the symptoms subsided over time and the couple remained together. The author reflects on just how much his parents cared and provided. They always had supportive, positive relationships with their son.
Tammet’s Siblings
Although Tammet did not make many friends at school, at home he learned how to play and get along with his many siblings. His brother Lee was closest in age and would assist his older brother with tasks that were important to him, like helping to collect chestnuts or checking Tammet’s calculations with a calculator. Tammet’s brother Steven also has ASD, and the author hopes that his own story can help Steven find happiness and comfort as he navigates life on the autistic spectrum. He has another brother, Paul, and five sisters: Claire, Maria, Natasha, Anna-Marie, and Shelley.
The full house posed challenges for the author, ranging from sharing a single bathroom among so many people to the constant noise and commotion that had the potential to upset the author, who liked silence and predictability. Many of the author’s successful endeavors to play with other children were in the house with his siblings, and he also observed them with their own friends to learn how children generally interacted and what cues they expected from each other.
Neil
Tammet met his partner Neil online in 2000. Neil works as a computer programmer, and when he met the author, he lived alone in Kent. Eventually, Tammet moved into Neil’s house there. The author remarks that Neil was kind from the beginning of their relationship and “did not find it difficult to accept me for who I was” (145). Falling in love was a major turning point in the author’s life, ushering in new possibilities for companionship and intimacy.
The author explains many things that Neil does to support him on a daily basis. For example, Tammet notes the patience that Neil has for the author’s sudden feelings of great stress and difficulty coping. Neil offers words of comfort and encouragement that help Tammet overcome feelings of anxiety.
