Boy with Autism Builds World’s Largest Lego Model of the Titanic
Brynjar Karl Bigisson, a boy from Reykjavik, Iceland has built the world’s largest replica of the Titanic made entirely out of Lego bricks. The model, which measures 26 feet long and 5 feet tall, contains 56000 pieces and took 700 hours over 11 months to build. Brynjar, who is on the autism spectrum, started the model when he was only 10 years old. Now 15, he says he has been playing with Legos since he was 5 years old. “I sometimes built from instructions, and sometimes, I used my own imagination,” he said. He says he was inspired to learn about boats since a fishing trip he went on with his grandfather. By age 10, he learned every available piece of knowledge about the Titanic, which helped him plan his replica. The model itself has just been shipped to the United States, where it will be displayed in the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee through December 2019.
Brynjar says that before he built his model, he had difficulty communicating. Working on his project helped him learn to communicate, and with donations to buy the bricks from his family and friends, he was able to learn to communicate and finish his creation. “When I started the building process, I had a person helping me in school in every step that I took, but today, I’m studying without any support. My grades have risen, and my classmates consider me as their peer. I have had the opportunity to travel and explore and meet wonderful people,” he said. He was inspired to build it with Lego blocks after a visit to Legoland, Denmark. “When I traveled with my mom to Legoland in Denmark and saw for the first time all the amazing big models of famous houses and planes, locations and ships, I probably then started to think about making my own Lego model. By the time I was 10, I started to think about building the Lego titanic model in a Lego man size,” Brynjar said.
Brynjar says that the process of constructing his model helped him to overcome his autism. “When I started the building process, I had a person helping me in school in every step that I took, but today, I’m studying without any support. My grades have risen, and my classmates consider me as their peer. I have had the opportunity to travel and explore and meet wonderful people,” he said. His mother, Bjarney Ludviksdottir, has been instrumental in the process. “When your child comes to you with an interesting big crazy dream, mission or goal, he or she would like to reach and needs your help. Listen carefully and make an attempt to find ways to support the child to reach that goal. It might be the best investment you ever make for your kid,” Ludviksdottir said.
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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/16/health/lego-titanic-replica-boy-autism/index.html
The image accompanying this article is by Joel Kramer, used through creative commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Reuben Friedlander describes himself as “genius, attractive, and not particularly modest.” Reuben joined Different Brains in 2017. He enjoys video games, fantasy reading, hats, Dwarf Fortress, and writing silly humor. Reuben writes all kinds of articles for the website, while assisting with video editing and transcription.