In case it’s not an assumption, I love all my kids equally. Joe has a twin brother named Anthony who, in a word, is energetic….and then some. More about him some other time. His older brother, James, is 11, and he’s a pretty fantastic kid.
Just the other day, James was showing me a product he wanted to order online: a certain 3x3 3-D cube puzzle, much like the infamous Rubik’s Cube most of us know, only this one is designed to be manipulated very quickly. It can thus be solved very quickly, and the resulting skill - which is actually immensely popular - is known as “speedcubing.”
The product description for this item included various screenshots as well as a
video. Expecting from the latter a fierce compilation of assorted geeks revolving and brandishing their cubes, I was surprised by a very moving profile on a young, world-class cuber named Max Park. Max is autistic, and, like many on the spectrum, he is in uneasy in social situations. However, cubing is one of the activities that helps him to feel most regulated.
What I found so special is that James, despite being neurotypical, is inclined towards cubing just as many autistic individuals are. So, as a follow-up to Into Your World, a piece about his autistic brother Joe, I wanted to share Max’s story as well as clip of James speedcubing (which offers some special an appropriate incidental music).
Here’s the video about Max and how the Rubik's Cube changed his life:
And here’s the video of James solving several cubes/3-D puzzles: