Psychology Facts

▲ Savant Syndrome ▲

》Savant syndrome is a rare condition in which persons with various developmental disorders, including autistic disorder, have an amazing ability and talent. The condition can be congenital (genetic or inborn), or can be acquired later in childhood, or even in adults.

》The skills that savants excel at are -

Memorization - superior memory is a common feature of savant syndrome, but it also can be a special skill in its own right. There are cases of savants who have memorized population statistics, telephone books, bus schedules, and in one remarkable case the 9 volume edition of Grove�s Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Lightening calculation - this is exhibited in the instantaneous calculation of multiplications, square roots, etc, the determination of prime numbers, or subitizing

Calendar calculating - often involving the ability to identify the day of the week upon which a particular date falls, in one case any time in the last, or next, forty thousand years!!

Musical ability - this is a relatively common savant skill, the co-occurrence of musical genius, blindness, and learning disability is a striking feature here. Savants will have perfect pitch and can play a complete piece of music after hearing it only once

Artistic ability - not as common as musical abilities, but there are savants with exceptional painting, sculpture and especially drawing skills.

Language ability - this is fairly rare, but there is one well-documented case of a savant with CNS damage since birth who could read-write, and translate 15 to 20 languages

》One in 10 persons with autistic disorder has some savant skills.

》Some researchers hypothesize that it is caused by a change in a gene or genes, and others believe that it is caused by some kind of damage to the left hemisphere of the brain with compensation for this injury occurring in the right hemisphere.

》 Savant skills are very prominent in many Asperger's persons, certainly as high as in 10% of them.

》 Savant syndrome does occur four to six times more frequently in males than females. Partly that is due to the fact that savant syndrome occurs in as high as 10% of persons with an autistic disorder where that same disproportionate male: female ratio is seen.

》Although many savants have IQs of between 50 and 70, some can have above average IQ levels.

》The condition was actually described in a psychology journal clear back in 1751. However, it was not until 1887 that the term savant was first used by J. Langdon Down.

》The exceptional talents displayed by savants are the products of overdeveloped right-side skills. The right side of the brain processes things like learning and artistic expression.

》Savant abilities can appear and disappear suddenly and may be categorized into splinter skills, talented savants, and prodigious savants. Splinter skills are the most common savant abilities, which include behaviors or skills that contrast with an individual's overall level of functioning.

》Examples include:

obsessive preoccupation with and memorization of music and sports trivia, license plate numbers, maps, or historical facts.

Talented savants are individuals in whom musical, artistic, or other special abilities are very prominent and highly esteemed in contrast to their overall ability. 

Prodigious savants involve a rare condition in which the given ability is not only spectacular compared to the individual's ability but is also viewed as spectacular in unaffected individuals. For example, Derek Paravicini has autism and

Savant syndrome may be diagnosed when an individual's abilities in a specific area are exceptionally higher than expected, given their intelligence quotient or general level of functioning. However, since savant syndrome is not classified as a disorder, formal tools, guidelines, or criteria used to diagnose savant syndrome do not exist.

》Famous Savants:

Leslie Lemke: Leslie was born with severe birth defects that left him blind. He could not stand or walk until his teens. At age 16 and with no formal musical training, he developed the ability to flawlessly play songs on the piano after hearing them just once.

Alonzo Clemons: This savant sculptor suffered a severe head injury as a toddler. He can sculpt perfect 3D images of animals after only briefly seeing an image of the animal on a TV screen.

Orlando Serrell: Orlando became a savant after being struck in the head with a baseball at 10 years old. He can perform complex calendar calculations and recall the weather of any given date since his accident.

Stephen Wiltshire: This autistic man is able to draw accurate and detailed city landscapes. As a child, he was mute and communicated through his drawings.