Savant syndrome is thought to be a rare but extraordinary condition in which persons with serious mental disabilities have some 'island of genius' which stands in a marked contrast to things they cannot do.
Only 10 per cent of autistic individuals are said to have savant skills.
Areas of skills traditionally attributed to savants are: musical and artistic ability, an exceptional ability to remember, spell and pronounce words, mathematical abilities, calendar calculation, geographical ability (reading maps, remembering directions, locating places), mechanical skills (taking apart and putting together complex mechanical and electrical equipment), a remarkable ability to balance things, spatial skills (the ability to estimate the size or distance of objects with great accuracy) and outstanding knowledge in specific fields (such as statistics, history, navigation).
[Some savants may have a single special skill; others have several.
Strangely enough, these extraordinary capabilities are often seen as a sign of dysfunction.
] I think that the lists of savant abilities presented in different published papers are incomplete, because there are many abilities that are 'invisible' for 'normal' people who can see or hear and appreciate only something spectacular: drawings that they can never do even with years of training; absolute musical pitch that is so rare in the 'normal' population; and so on.
No wonder the film 'Rain Man' became so popular in the past and...
earns a lot of loathing now.
People were intrigued that a disabled person could do things they were unable to perform.
Raymond's calendar calculation abilities were amazing.
Not to mention his ability to remember the cards and win thousands of dollars in the Las Vegas casino.
Now some autistic individuals don't like the fictional character Raymond Babbit - an autistic savant - because they say he misrepresents autism.
They feel bitter that the general public expect spectacular abilities from all people with autism.
Actually, they are wrong.
Due to the differences in information processing and remarkable memory, AA autistic individuals can do something non-autistic humans cannot.
The only differences between people like Raymond and 'average autistics' are: - Autistic savants are not overwhelmed with the information flowing through their senses - Autistic savants can perform or reproduce via art the information they have stored in their memory Autistic non-savants have the same capacity to memorize things but they may be easily overwhelmed with the information and/or cannot reproduce it in a spectacular way.
Some very special abilities are 'invisible' to non-autistic people because they cannot imagine them.
Those who work or live with autistic children/ adults, however, would notice a very important characteristic of autism: fascination with sensory stimuli.
The sources of fascination are very individual.
One and the same stimulus can cause disturbance (when it is too 'sharp') and fascination to different children.
This is just a surface behaviour, and most people stop at that point.
The 'normal' interpretation is: "The child is staring at the leaf, withdrawn in his own world.
We have to make him pay attention to normal activities.
" What 'normal' people cannot see, however, is that the child is absorbed with the brilliance of the color and the perfect proportions of intrinsic patterns formed by the 'veins' of this ideal piece of nature.
This ability to greatly appreciate color, sound, texture, smell or taste, to resonate with the stimulus, to FEEL it is very typical for many individuals on the autism spectrum.
But this special talent turns out to be useless in the world that is blind, deaf and dumb to the beauty of nature and amazing harmony of sights, sounds and texture.
Potentially all people have remarkable abilities because they are there, inside their brains.
The trick is how to get access to these capabilities.
Savants can do it easily.
'Normal' people seem to have problems - or shall I say - 'learning difficulties'? :o)
Only 10 per cent of autistic individuals are said to have savant skills.
Areas of skills traditionally attributed to savants are: musical and artistic ability, an exceptional ability to remember, spell and pronounce words, mathematical abilities, calendar calculation, geographical ability (reading maps, remembering directions, locating places), mechanical skills (taking apart and putting together complex mechanical and electrical equipment), a remarkable ability to balance things, spatial skills (the ability to estimate the size or distance of objects with great accuracy) and outstanding knowledge in specific fields (such as statistics, history, navigation).
[Some savants may have a single special skill; others have several.
Strangely enough, these extraordinary capabilities are often seen as a sign of dysfunction.
] I think that the lists of savant abilities presented in different published papers are incomplete, because there are many abilities that are 'invisible' for 'normal' people who can see or hear and appreciate only something spectacular: drawings that they can never do even with years of training; absolute musical pitch that is so rare in the 'normal' population; and so on.
No wonder the film 'Rain Man' became so popular in the past and...
earns a lot of loathing now.
People were intrigued that a disabled person could do things they were unable to perform.
Raymond's calendar calculation abilities were amazing.
Not to mention his ability to remember the cards and win thousands of dollars in the Las Vegas casino.
Now some autistic individuals don't like the fictional character Raymond Babbit - an autistic savant - because they say he misrepresents autism.
They feel bitter that the general public expect spectacular abilities from all people with autism.
Actually, they are wrong.
Due to the differences in information processing and remarkable memory, AA autistic individuals can do something non-autistic humans cannot.
The only differences between people like Raymond and 'average autistics' are: - Autistic savants are not overwhelmed with the information flowing through their senses - Autistic savants can perform or reproduce via art the information they have stored in their memory Autistic non-savants have the same capacity to memorize things but they may be easily overwhelmed with the information and/or cannot reproduce it in a spectacular way.
Some very special abilities are 'invisible' to non-autistic people because they cannot imagine them.
Those who work or live with autistic children/ adults, however, would notice a very important characteristic of autism: fascination with sensory stimuli.
The sources of fascination are very individual.
One and the same stimulus can cause disturbance (when it is too 'sharp') and fascination to different children.
This is just a surface behaviour, and most people stop at that point.
The 'normal' interpretation is: "The child is staring at the leaf, withdrawn in his own world.
We have to make him pay attention to normal activities.
" What 'normal' people cannot see, however, is that the child is absorbed with the brilliance of the color and the perfect proportions of intrinsic patterns formed by the 'veins' of this ideal piece of nature.
This ability to greatly appreciate color, sound, texture, smell or taste, to resonate with the stimulus, to FEEL it is very typical for many individuals on the autism spectrum.
But this special talent turns out to be useless in the world that is blind, deaf and dumb to the beauty of nature and amazing harmony of sights, sounds and texture.
Potentially all people have remarkable abilities because they are there, inside their brains.
The trick is how to get access to these capabilities.
Savants can do it easily.
'Normal' people seem to have problems - or shall I say - 'learning difficulties'? :o)