Savant Syndrome & Extraordinary People

Savant syndrome is not a recognized medical diagnosis but researchers define it as a rare case where a person has developmental disorders but has one or more areas of expertise, abilities or brilliance.

A well-known case is Kim Peek the real person behind the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man. Around 50% of savants are autistic and the other half suffer from various disorders. Kim Peek is a savant but is not autistic. He has a photographic memory and can read a book in about an hour (speed reading) and remember about 98.7% of everything he has read. He can recall the content of 12,000 books from memory :D. He is also a natural calculator. The fame he received due to being the "real rain man" has improved his social skills.

There are other well-known savants including writers and musicians. Some people develop their abilities later in life as a result of an accident, illness or trauma. Alonzo Clemons was a normal boy until he suffered brain damage as a result of a fall. After that he could build accurate animal sculptures from clay using his photographic memory. Some scientists believe the potential to become a genius is actually in all people but is hidden by normal functioning intellect. Savants suffer from damage to the brain which disrupts normal functioning and allows the brain to access these hidden skills.

There are some extraordinary people out there. I saw some documentaries about these people. A young boy who lost his eyesight due to disease could actually "see" using sound waves. A man that can survive unbelievably cold temperatures. A woman that can see sound in the form of color ribbons. Rudiger Gamm is a mental calculator who gained his amazing ability at the age of 21. He can calculate complex math in his head. He can also speak complete sentences backwards :D. He can also calculate calenders and has proved mathematic theories due to his remarkable ability. Rudiger Gamm gained his ability almost overnight as he was reading a book of numbers which had a table of the powers of numbers. He says that anyone can do what he does, "There is just a table of numbers to learn then anyone can do it". His case was examined and he was not classified as a savant but rather as a case of genetics. You can see a clip about him here. You'll find more links to extraordinary people from there.

This is interesting stuff!