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In a book published in 1887, J. Langdon Down (after whom Down syndrome is named) introduced the paradoxical term "idiot savant" to describe people who were intellectually impaired but excelled beyond their peers in a circumscribed area.[1] Many years later in 1943, Kanner described a group of children who were unable to relate to others or use language to convey meaning.[2] These "autistic" children also shared a rigid adherence to routine, were feebleminded but had good "cognitive potentialities," and excelled in rote memory.[2] In more recent years, case reports and epidemiologic studies indicate that a majority of individuals with savant abilities are autistic,[3,4] bringing together the children described many years previously by Down and later hinted at by Kanner. In contrast, intellectually challenged individuals without features of autism are much less likely to have savant abilities.[3,5] Although the majority of autistic children do not have savant abilities, the uniqueness of their thought processes may increase the likelihood that they will develop highly specialized skills. To this end, the study of savant abilities may serve to further our understanding of the autistic mind. Numerous theories have been proposed to explain the relationship between autism and savant abilities. The tendency of autistic individuals to "lose the forest for the trees" may foster the development of savant abilities, and theories such as "weak central coherence" are elaborations of this idea.[3,6]
The existence of savant abilities has intrigued the scientific community for over a century. And recently, the movie Rain Man has stirred substantial public interest in the topic. Popular novels such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, a humorous and touching tale about an autistic boy with the savant ability to calculate prime numbers, highlight these individuals and keep savant abilities in the public eye.[7] In this case review, we will review the story of a...
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