Wow! I have been doing a similar thing since I was 12 (and now I'm 47). I am able to instantaneously alphabetize AND assign each letter a number (a=1, b=2, etc). So for example, cat is 1,3,20. Dog is 4,7, 15. Obviously I do it with much larger words. I am able to do it almost faster than I can say it. People have always had me do it for entertainment. Have seen similar on Oprah and David Letterman but have never thought to google it until today. Just recently saw someone on Ellen who could count letters in words. Also realized I do that but always thought everyone else could too. I am a teacher and I also find it interesting that almost everyone on this forum spells correctly and uses correct grammar, something it is rare to see on the internet nowadays. I also find it interesting that most people said they started doing this at ages 12 or 13. I never knew so many others did similar things! Amazing.
