Severely Autistic Teen Working On Astrophysics Ph.D

Doctors had little hope for Jacob Barnett, diagnosed with moderate to severe autism when he was 2 years old, but his mother Kristine said that her determination to find a niche for him led him to develop into an aspiring astrophysicist with an amazing IQ.

Now the 15-year-old Jacob is pursuing a Ph.D. in physics, ABC News reports.

Jacob was on the more severe end of the autistic spectrum, having lost his linguistic ability, causing psychologists and teachers to fear that he would never speak again. His mother Kristine said that these experts deemed him lost.

"He was very precise," she told ABCNews.com. "He wasn't barreling through the world like other little boys. He lined cars up precisely. His mannerisms were precise. He seemed to like schedule and routine, even from infancy."

Yet at a very young age, Jacob showed signs of a high intelligence, carrying a set of alphabet cards with him everywhere he went, and even at one point arranging a bundle of crayons by color spectrum, which he had distinguished from the light coming through a window in the living room and hitting glasses set on a table.

Jacob was frequently treated by a number of psychologists after his diagnosis, as part of an Indiana program called First Steps. He saw a developmental therapist, occupational therapist and a speech therapist, among others. At the time, Kristine Barnett ran a daycare program out of her home, and was dismayed to see her son working with therapists inside while other children were out playing with each other. One day she decided to make a change.

"We were forgetting his childhood. His spirit was being crushed by the opinion that everything was wrong," she said. "I resolved to give it back to him." 

That night, she took her son out to look at the stars while they laid on the hood of her car.

"Little did I know it would be those stars that would bring him back into our world," she said. "They were what we had. It was what we had to hold onto. It was the beginning with a relationship with my child." 

She later decided to take her son to a planetarium, which sparked his budding interest in physics.

"I didn't get it. They seemed like far-away dots to me," she said. "He then showed me a nebula on the computer, and it gave me a peek into his mind - into the way he sees the world." 

She then decided to stop having her son meet with therapists, despite everyone she knew advising her not to remove him from the system. By the age of 3, Jacob began to speak again, which typically takes years for an autistic child to recover. By 3 and a half, Jacob had taught himself to read, and around that time Kristine took her son to his second trip to the planetarium, where a college-level lecture was taking place.

When the professor asked a question about the density of Mars' moons, Jacob answered correctly.  

"At that point, my view changed, and I realized that his mind is remarkable," Barnett said. "He understood complex concepts. My outlook for his future was completely changed." 

Fifteen-year old Jacob is currently working on his Ph.D at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), and several IQ tests have given him the top number, as Kristine says he can't be measured.

Jacob told ABCNews.com that by the time he had entered grade school, he was already hoping to start algebra.

"In kindergarten, I knew that it was for kids to play and develop social skills," he said. "By first grade, I thought we'd do some mathematics - algebra. Then, in second grade, still no algebra. They told me not until high school. So, I guess this came out of my desire to learn more mathematics." 

Kristine credited her son's success to providing him with as many enriching experiences as possible, and tapping into his early interests.

"If you find the passion in a child and tap into it, that will become what their drive," she said. "And if somebody had drive, they can accomplish anything."