by Kenneth Lyen
INTRODUCTION
The most amazing paradoxes associated with autism is the savant syndrome.
A savant is an outlier with an incredible ability to perform tasks far beyond what most of us can achieve. And this takes place despite having a mental disability such as autism, or other neurological deficits. Examples of extraordinary accomplishments include having a prodigious memory, brilliant mathematical calculations, phenomenal music, art or language abilities. Most savants are only able to display an outstanding skill in one major domain, but there are some exceptions (1).
There may be some restrictions in the savant’s abilities. For example, some of the them are excessively focused on one skillset only, while others may be prone to repetitive compulsive behaviours, and yet others may have a problem finding functional applications for their abilities (2).
The prevalence of savant syndrome is about 1 in one million, and the ratio of males to females is around 6 to 1. Up to 50% of savants are said to be autistic. Looking at it from another angle, the number of savants observed in autistic people ranges from 1 in 10 to 1 in 200.
It is very easy to point at famous historical figures designating them to be autistic savants. These might include Michelangelo, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and countless others. However, the burden of proof is diabolical. How can you diagnose autism centuries after the departure of these celebrities? You are definitely unable to verify their diagnosis of autism on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5th Edition (DSM-V). But even if they were alive today, you will still have difficulty diagnosing them!
It should be pointed out that many savants are not autistic, but have some other disabilities. For example there is Nobuyuki Sujii who was born blind, but won several international piano competitions (3). John Nash, featured in the movie “A Beautiful Mind”, suffered from schizophrenia, and won the Nobel Prize for his mathematical game theory (4). Vincent Van Gogh is said to have suffered bipolar disorder, and produced some really remarkable paintings (5).
SAVANT SKILLS
There are some contemporary autistic savants that we can explore and get a more accurate diagnosis of autism. In the film Rainman, Dustin Hoffman plays the role of an autistic savant showing his phenomenal memory and his amazing powers of calculation such that he keeps on winning at Las Vegas’ blackjack. His character is based on real life autistic savants, including Kim Peek (6).
Below are listed are some savant skills displayed by prominent autistic individuals:
a) Calculations
Daniel Tammet’s genius is his ability to figure out complex mathematical calculations quicker than a calculator. He can recall pi (π ) to 22,514 decimal places. When Tammet is multiplying large numbers with each other, he arrives at the answer almost instantaneously and effortlessly. After an epileptic fit, he suffered from synaesthesia, and started to see numbers as shapes, colours and textures, and he sees the number two as a motion, and the number five as a clap of thunder. He said: “When I multiply numbers together, I see two shapes. The image starts to change and evolve, and a third shape emerges. That’s the answer. It’s mental imagery. It’s like maths without having to think.” (7)
b) Prodigious Memory
Kim Peek, featured in the movie “Rainman” has an elephantine memory. He was born with a large head, damaged cerebellum and agenesis of the corpus callosum. His motor development was delayed, and he did not walk until he was 4 years old, and he could not button up his shirts. However he could speed-read both pages of a book simultaneously, and remember the contents of at least 12,000 books that he has read (6).
c) Calendar Savant
In addition to having a prodigious memory, Kim Peek also possesses the ability to know the day of the week when given a date. This ability is probably the most common skill of autistic savants. They do so effortlessly (6,8).
d) Music
There appears to be quite a number of autistic music savants, some of them may even have another disability, such as blindness. Music savants have the ability of picking music, like learning to play the piano, at an extraordinary rate. The may have a brilliant memory and can play a piece of music when they have only heard it once. There is one other interesting observation, and that is many autistic music savants possess absolute or perfect pitch. Derek Paravicini is a blind autistic savant who has given many public concerts, and featured on several television programs (9).
e) Art
Artistic savants can often draw from memory extremely accurately. Stephen Wiltshire is an artistic savant who was diagnosed to have autism at the age of 3. He draws many cities, including Singapore, after flying over just once (10).
f) Hyperlexia
Hyperlexia are autistic people who read voraciously and they can remember everything they have read. Rainman’s Kim Peek also has this ability (6).
AUTISTIC COMORBIDITIES
Autism is often associated with several other conditions, such as those listed below:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Some 30% of autistic individuals also display attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Famous entertainers like Woody Allen and Johnny Depp have self-diagnosed themselves as mildly autistic plus attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The hyperactive brain tends to skip around, thus more likely to encounter novel ideas. Autistic individuals are often obsessionally focused on a narrow range of interests. The correct balance of these two traits may enhance creativity.
Bipolar Disorder
A number of autistic people are also known to roller coaster from mania to depression, also known as bipolar disorder. These mood swings can engender creative thoughts during the manic phase. Famous people thought to have bipolar disorder, but probably not on the autism spectrum, include Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, Robert Schumann, Vincent Van Gogh, Tim Burton and Francis Ford Coppola.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Autistic people may have obsessional repetitive behaviours. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), the psychiatric condition characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior, from autism. Famous persons who have displayed obsessive-compulsive tendencies include inventor Nicola Tesla, film and airline magnate Howard Hughes, and entertainer Marc Summers.
Epilepsy
Many autistic persons are also epileptic. Some brilliant people have a history of epilepsy, and because it is a brain condition, it is relevant when discussing brain functioning and creativity. There are at least two theoretical possibilities why epilepsy may have a beneficial effect on one’s thinking. Firstly the electric discharges that occur during an epileptic fit may cause flashes of new ideas. Secondly, recurrent epilepsy or the transient hypoxia it can engender might fortuitously cause minor damage to those areas of the brain that inhibit thinking, and this disinhibition of thought processes may enhance creative thinking. Famous people who suffered from epilepsy include: Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Charles Dickens, George Handel and Hector Berlioz.
Schizophrenia
Autism and schizophrenia have a long and tangled history. In fact autism used to be called childhood schizophrenia, and indeed there are some overlapping symptoms. Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by hallucinations, delusions, blunted emotions, disordered thinking, detachment from reality and withdrawal into the self. It affects males and females equally. There is a strong genetic component. While the etiology is still not fully established, the current favorite biochemical theory revolves around disordered dopamine metabolism affecting certain areas of the brain. The most prominent example of a genius affected by schizophrenia is John Nash. Interestingly, Nash is quoted by biographer Sylvia Nasar as saying that he often refused to take medication for schizophrenia because it blunted his creative thinking (11). This sentiment is reflected by a number of artists and scientists suffering from other psychological conditions, such as bipolar disorder. The medical profession is therefore faced with a dilemma of deciding whether or not to treat mild mental afflictions knowing that medical treatment may smother creativity.
HOW DOES AUTISM CREATE GENIUSES?
Compensatory Adaptation
Just as the blind have a heightened sense of hearing and touch, and the deaf have increased sharpness of vision, certain types of mental disability may cause compensatory adaptation. The best candidate for this is dyslexia. If a dyslexic has difficulty with language, then he compensates by increasing his powers of visual perception.
Neural Connections
Recent advances in the neurophysiology of the autistic brain have shown that long-distant nervous connections are reduced, while short-distance local connections are increased. This local concentration of nerve networks is hypothesized to correlate with the obsessional focus of thoughts, and because the connections are close to one another, the speed of thinking is accelerated.
Direct Effects of Mood Swings
As mentioned above, autism may be comorbidly associated with bipolar disorder. Mild mania could have some benefits. It is associated with quicker thinking, greater verbal fluency, play on words, increased self-confidence, and greater optimism. Severe mania, on the other hand, can be counterproductive and may result in loss of concentration and wild behaviors. Mild depression can act as a sort of editor to prune the excesses of mania. But severe depression can dampen all activities and thinking. Once again, having an optimal balance of autism and manic-depression might lead to exceptional abilities.
Knight’s Move Thinking
Certain mental disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia are characterized by sudden jumps in one’s thinking. These leaps from one idea to another can be quite unexpected and illogical, and are referred to as the chess “Knight’s Move” thinking. This way of thinking is important in creative thinking because it enables a person to make innovative leaps without being anchored by preconceived ideas or imprisoned by one’s sense of logic.
Famous People in History that may have Autism
Although unproven, it is always very tempting to try to diagnose autism in famous outstanding individuals. Here is a list of some of the more famous “savants”.
- Hans Christian Andersen – Children’s Author
- Lewis Carroll – Author of “Alice in Wonderland”
- Henry Cavendish – Scientist
- Charles Darwin – Naturalist, Geologist, and Biologist
- Emily Dickinson – Poet
- Paul Dirac – Physicist
- Albert Einstein – Scientist & Mathematician
- Bobby Fischer – Chess Grandmaster
- Bill Gates – Co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation
- Temple Grandin – Animal Scientist
- Steve Jobs – Former CEO of Apple
- James Joyce – Author of “Ulysses”
- Barbara McClintock – Scientist and Cytogeneticist
- Michelangelo – Sculptor, Painter, Architect, Poet
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Classical Composer
- Sir Isaac Newton – Mathematician, Astronomer, & Physicist
- Satoshi Tajiri – Creator of Nintendo’s Pokémon
- Nikola Tesla – Inventor
- Ludwig Wittgenstein – Philosopher
- William Butler Yeats – Poet
History’s 30 Most Famous People with Autism
FINAL THOUGHTS
Unanswered Questions
Several questions immediately pop up when probing autistic savants. First are we too restrictive in only looking out for a few talents, such as memory, mathematics, calendar calculations, music and art. What about other skills. What about cooking, gardening, architecture and fashion design? Recently entrepreneur Elon Musk claims that he has mild autism or Asperger Syndrome (12,13). Should he be considered a savant? What about cartoonists? Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon, was diagnosed to have childhood autism (14). How wide should we expand our outstretched arms to embrace these other domains of achievements?
If you carried the conventional picture of an autistic person in your mind, perhaps someone with speech impairment, often isolated and not mixing with others, and obsessed by flapping or rocking motions, someone who usually requires special education, you would be surprised if you discovered that person has hidden talents. Not just a mild talent. But incredibly prodigiously ultra-talented. A person who is able to multiply large numbers faster than you can enter them into a calculator, or someone who on hearing a piece of music once can play it back flawlessly, or someone who can draw a major city with the number of windows of a multi-story building drawn absolutely correctly. You would be stupefied, your mouth wide open. And that’s the paradox of the autistic savant.
Yes, we know there is a link between genius and autism. But it is a complex one. It appears to be the result of a fortuitous convergence of a number of factors, including a minimum level of intelligence, the ability to join ideas from different domains, the skill in generating novel ideas, to be able to think independently and flexibly, to focus one’s mind, to apply self-discipline, perseverance, to establish the right social and cultural environment. All these factors need to converge to create a savant.
This raises that tantalizing question whether we can create that perfect physical, emotional and educational environment to produce a genius. By studying the mechanisms, both biochemical and educational, that link mental disorders and genius, one may gain insight into factors that can engender creativity and kindle future potential geniuses (15,16).
In his book “Islands of Genius”, Daniel Treffert describes savants that sometimes appear unexpectedly after a head injury or a stroke. He asks the provocative question “Are all of us potential savants?” If we can wake up our dormant brains, perhaps all of us can become geniuses (17).
To sum up, here is a modified quote: “You don’t have to be mad to be a genius… but it helps.”
REFERENCES
1 Savant Syndrome. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savant_syndrome
2 Treffert DA. The savant syndrome: an extraordinary condition
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677584/
3 Nobuyuki Sujii: Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuyuki_Tsujii
4 John Nash: How was schizophrenia portrayed in A Beautiful Mind?
https://www.banyanmentalhealth.com/2021/03/30/how-schizophrenia-was-portrayed-in-a-beautiful-mind/
5 Vincent Van Gogh: Nolens WA et al. New vision on the mental problems of Vincent Van Gogh.
https://journalbipolardisorders.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40345-020-00196-z
6 Kim Peek: Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Peek
7 Daniel Tammet: A genius explains.
https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2005/feb/12/weekend7.weekend2
8 Olson IR et al. A calendar savant.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2917639/
9 Derek Paravicini. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Paravicini
10 Stephen Wiltshire. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wiltshire
11 Nasar S. A beautiful mind: the life of mathematical genius and Nobel laureate John Nash. Touchstone Books 2001.
12 Elon Musk reveals he has Asperger’s on Saturday Night Live.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57045770
13 Elon Musk isn’t the first ‘SNL’ host with Asperger’s.
Elon Musk Isn’t the First ‘SNL’ Host With Asperger’s
14 Satoshi Tajiri: Famous people on the spectrum.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18646626/
16 Lyons V, Fitzgerald M. Critical evaluation of the concept of autistic creativity.
17 Treffert DA. Islands of Genius. Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2011.
18 Rimland B & Fine D. Special talents of autistic savants. in The Exceptional Brain, New York, Guilford Press 1988.
19 Eysenck JJ. Genius : The Natural History of Creativity. Cambridge Univ Press 1995
20 Howwe MJA. Genius Explained. Cambridge Univ Press 2001.
21 Fitzgerald M: Autism and Creativity. Routledge 2004.
22 Fitzgerald M: The Genesis Of Artistic Creativity: Asperger’s Syndrome and the Arts. Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2005.
Ken's Reflections 
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