Autism And Savant Syndrome Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Autism And Savant Syndrome A little boy quietly sits in front of a piano, with his fingers poised over the bright white keys. His teacher, seated beside him on the bench, plays a complicated series of chords, filling the air with a beautiful melody. After a single hearing, the boy begins to play, perfectly reproducing the song he has just heard. As the last notes fade away, the boy sits still for a moment and then begins to rock gently back and forth, only stopping once the music begins again.... A genius. A prodigy. One might label this child as such after witnessing this type of performance, were it not for the little nuances of the situation: the rocking, the cold, unemotional expression on the boy's face, and his lack of response to the voices around him. Instead, this boy is diagnosed with Savant Syndrome, a disorder in which individuals with neurological developmental delays in socialization and communication (3) possess "astonishing islands of brilliance that stand in stark, markedly incongruous contrast to the over-all handicap" (6). From absolute pitch and chess playing skill to the card-counting talent popularized by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, savants may be developmentally delayed, but certainly posses a genius of sorts that is almost unmatchable. In this respect, I am fascinated by the biological and societal origins and significance of the existence of individuals with an IQ well below average who are capable of performing tasks about which some geniuses could o nly dream. The implications of these individuals are huge in terms of genetics, the nature of intelligence and the varying processes of thought present within humanity. I find that it is the presence of a "weakness" such as autism and its development... ...avant. WWW Sources 1)The Neurobiology of Infantile Autism http://www.mhsource.com/narsad/autism.jhtml?_requestid=60911 2)Autism Fact Sheet http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm 3)Pervasive Developmental Disorder http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/pdd/pdd.htm 4)Autism and the Cerebellum http://www.autism.org/cerebel.html 5)Autism and the Limbic System http://www.autism.org/cerebel.html 6)The Savant Syndrome:Islands of Genius http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant/default.cfm 7)Autistic Savant http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant/default.cfm 8)Tune in, turn off http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19991009/tuneinturn.html 9)The Savant in All of Us http://www.saveachild.com/netnews/feb00resr.htm#Savant 10)Phenomenal Talent-The Autistic Kind http://www.nexus.edu.au/teachstud/gat/hendric1.htm