Knows English, Bengali and Hindi: "I love language. Even when I could not understand my surroundings, I understood the pattern of language."

On life: "I believe in absurdism. It is absurd to exist. Just see why we are alive, why we are dead. What is the use of the universe?" " data-pin-do="buttonBookmark">

TITO MUKHOPADHYAY: ILLUMINATING AUTISM

• His mother, Soma (above, right), taught him to write. An advocacy group of parents and educators called HALO (Helping Autism through Learning and Outreach) hopes to formally study her strategy of "rapid prompting."
• Knows English, Bengali and Hindi: "I love language. Even when I could not understand my surroundings, I understood the pattern of language."
• On life: "I believe in absurdism. It is absurd to exist. Just see why we are alive, why we are dead. What is the use of the universe?"

Image: RANDI BEREZ

At 7 a.m. in a nondescript apartment in Hollywood, Calif., Tito Mukhopadhyay is hunched over his breakfast bowl, spooning milk and cereal into his mouth. His eyes flit around and his hand shakes. When he is finished, his mother, Soma Mukhopadhyay, pulls him off the chair and manhandles him into the shower, dashing in from time to time when he yells for assistance. Finally Tito emerges, dressed, to bend over Soma's tiny frame so she can comb his thick black hair. Abruptly he charges out the door and half-walks, half-runs down the hallways until he is outside. Golden sunshine on his face, he flaps and spins his hands with absorption.

This article was originally published with the title A Transparent Enigma.

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