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Rockweed gunnel (Apodichthys fucorum)

I was learning the scientific names of plants when I was like 2 or 3 (or younger? I honestly don't know). not reading them but being taught through spoken word, & according to my dad I even identified a kind of tree from a distance that he had to check up close to verify & found that I'd got it right. no one taught me that one, ornamental pear tree. I mention this because of the 'large vocabulary & ability to identify many objects' thing.. like I got into plant identification because my dad began teaching me that really young but then when I was about 5 I began birdwatching & identifying birds with pictures in a field guide before I'd even learned to read the words. my god I forgot about that... from what I remember I would find a picture that matched the bird I saw & ask someone to tell me what it was called. I wanted to know the names of things so badly.

as for struggling with the rules of language & having social difficulties etc and learning to speak by memorizing phrases and also using echolalia/palilalia (that is, echoing someone else, or echoing your own speech) And also having difficulties with asking questions. god. bizarrely these traits are part of what has always drawn me to singing. I learned not to echo aloud anymore in everyday speech but the impulse is still there and that's part of why I'm good at imitating singers & picking up new accent sounds