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Autistic savant
Autismisapuzzlingdisordercharacterisedbydevelopmentaldelays.Apersonwithautismoften hasproblemsunderstandingthemeaningandpurposeofbodylanguageandthespokenand writtenword.Theyfindsocialinteractiondifficult,confusingandscary. 'Autisticsavant'meansapersonwithautismwhohasaspecialskill.'Savant'comesfromthe Frenchwordfor'knowing'andmeans'alearnedperson'.Apersonwiththisconditionwasonce knownasan'idiotsavant',since'idiot'wasanacceptablewordformentalretardationinthelate 19thcentury,whenthephenomenonwasfirstmedicallyinvestigated.Around10percentofpeople withautismshowspecialorevenremarkableskills.Forexample,apersonwithautism,whomay beintellectuallydisabledinmostways,couldhaveanexceptionalmemoryfornumbers. Savantskillsareoccasionallyfoundinpeoplewithothertypesofintellectualdisabilityandinthe non-disabledpopulation,somostresearchersusetheterm'savantsyndrome'insteadofautistic savant. A range of savant abilities Around10percentofpeoplewithautismshowspecialorevenremarkableskills.Theskillsrange includes: Splinter skills-themostcommontype.Theperson,likeanobsessivehobbyist,commits certainthingstomemory,suchassportstrivia. Talented skills-thepersonhasamorehighlydevelopedandspecialisedskill.For example,theymaybeartisticandpaintbeautifulpictures,orhaveamemorythatallows themtoworkoutdifficultmathematicalcalculationsintheirhead. Prodigious skills-theraresttype.Itisthoughtthatthereareonlyabout25autistic savantsintheworldwhoshowprodigiousskills.Theseskillscouldinclude,forexample,the abilitytoplayanentireconcertoonthepianoafterhearingitonlyonce.

Ima ge des crip

Specialised skill Inallcasesofsavantsyndrome,theskillisspecific,limitedandmostoftenreliantonmemory. Generally,savantskillsinclude: Music-thepianoisthemostpopularinstrument.Forexample,theskillmaybetheability toplaythepianowithoutbeingtaught. Art-suchastheabilitytodraw,paintorsculpttohighstandards.Forexample,Richard Wawroisanautisticsavantwhoisalsoblind,buthiscrayondrawingscommandupto $10,000each. Mathematics-forexample,theabilitytoworkoutcomplicatedsumsintheirhead,orto calendarcalculate(forexample,workoutwhatdayitwason1June1732). Language-inrarecases,thepersonmaybeunusuallygiftedinlanguages. Other skills-suchasknowingthetimewithoutseeingaclock,untaughtmechanicalskills, havinganunfailingsenseofdirectionortheabilitytocommitmapstomemory.

The brain's right hemisphere Autisticsavantbehaviourissofarunexplained.However,researchersthinkitmighthave somethingtodowiththerighthemisphereofthebrain. Thebrainisdividedintotwohemispheres,leftandright,bridgedbyathickbandofnervefibres calledthecorpuscallosum.Whilelefthemisphereskillsareinvolvedwithsymbolismand interpretation(suchasunderstandingwordsandbodylanguage),theskillsoftherighthemisphere aremuchmoreconcreteanddirect(suchasmemory).

Autisticsavant

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CTandMRIscansofthebrainsofautisticsavantssuggestthattherighthemisphereis compensatingfordamageinthelefthemisphere.Itseemsthattherighthemisphereofanautistic savantfocusesitsattentionononeofthefivesenses-forexample,ifitconcentratesonhearing, thentheautisticsavantmayhaveaspecialskillinmusic.Researchisongoing. Their skills may be reinforced Itisthoughtthathabitualmemorycentresofthebraintakeoverfromhighermemorycentres, whichhelpstoexplainwhysomeautisticsavantsarelikeobsessivehobbyistswhodothesame thingoverandover.Apartfromhabitualmemory,otherfactorsthatmayhelpanautisticsavantto honetheirspecialskillcouldinclude: Theabilitytofocusandconcentrate Thedesiretopractiseendlessly Positivereinforcementbyfamily,friendsandcaregivers.

Every brain may have untapped savant skills SanFranciscanneurologistDrBruceMillerrecentlydiscoverednewsavantskillsinsomeofhis patientswhowereundergoingacertaintypeofdementia.Thesepatientshadatypeofdementia thataffectedthelefttemporalregionoftheirbrains(locatedovertheleftear). Whenthepatientsweregivenbrainfunctiontests,theirresultsweresimilartothoseofayoung autisticsavant.ResearchersfromtheFlindersUniversityinAdelaidewereabletoprovokenew savantskillsinvolunteersbyusingtranscranialmagneticstimulationtotemporarily'disable'the frontaltemporallobe.(Transcranialmagneticstimulationisatypeoftreatmentfordepression.) Duringthetest,fiveofthe17volunteersshowednewandremarkableskillslikecalendar calculation.Thesestudiessuggestthatamazingsavantabilitiesmaybelyingdormantinallofus. Where to get help Yourdoctor AustismInfolineTel.1300308699oremailinfo@autismvictoria.org.au AutismVictoriaTel.(03)98850533 TheCentreforDevelopmentalDisabilityHealthVictoria(CDDHV)Tel.(03)95647511

Things to remember

Autisticsavantmeansapersonwithautismwhohasaspecialskill. Around10percentofpeoplewithautismshowspecialorevenremarkableskills. Savantskillscanbeoccasionallyfoundinpeoplewithothertypesofintellectualdisability andinthenon-disabledpopulation.

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AutismVictoria

Copyight 1999/2009StateofVictoria.ReproducedfromtheBetterHealthChannel(www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au)at nocostwithpermissionoftheVictorianMinisterforHealth.Unauthorisedreproductionandotherusescomprisedinthe copyrightareprohibitedwithoutpermission. ThisBetterHealthChannelfactsheethaspassedthrougharigorousapprovalprocess.Forthelatestupdatesandmore informationvisitwww.betterhealth.vic.gov.au.

Autisticsavant

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