How well are you and I aware of other conditions that the special population has?
Well this article highlights one of the topics that come up less often when spoken about special population… Savant syndrome – a special gift for special population… Let’s dive into the sea of exploration shall we?
Savant Syndrome is a condition in which an individual with a developmental disorder displays above-average skill in a specific area. It can be congenital (genetic or inborn), or can be acquired later in childhood, or even in adults. Interesting isn’t it?
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Have you wondered what kind of skills savants may exhibit?
Some of the major skills savants exhibit are:
Music
Art
Maths
Calendar calculation
Memory recall of facts, events and numbers
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How common is savant syndrome common?
With the approximation based on autism, 1 in 10 individuals has some savant skills. In the case of intellectual and/ developmental disorders savant skills occur at a rate of less than 1%. Neither all individuals with autism are savants nor all savants are autistic.
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Did you know real life examples and movies/series are one of the prominent ways in which human beings get information from?
Let’s know some of the real life examples who inspire not only their community but also the world by remarkable performance in different domains
Kodi Lee, a sensation on the show of America’s got talent (2019, season 14) won the hearts of millions of people all across the globe with his exceptional display of music through playing the piano and singing ultimately gaining the golden buzzer.
Kim Peek (1951-2009) is regarded as ‘mega savant’ (someone with a particularly confounding mixture of disability and brilliance). His astonishing ability to memorize has given him the title. In his lifetime, he has memorised over 12,000 books including the Bible, and was an expert on 15 subject areas including geography, music, literature, history, and sports.
Stephen Wiltshire, artist who has the details of a hawk in his arts. Stephen’s ability to capture the details in any landscape has led to his nickname of ‘human camera’.
Florence and Katherine Lyman, the twins who share the extraordinary talent of calendar counting ability. The mentioned persons are rare as they are twins and are female which makes the talents even more interesting to look into. The twins can answer any questions you have about their lives, for example how the weather was like on a particular day, what they ate, what dresses they were wearing and what they did.
There are many more individuals who have different talents and skills as savants, who inspire the world to look into endless possibilities in the special population.
Movies and series are now a huge part of entertainment for us. Won’t it be fun to understand the savant skills through series? Here are some series and movies that depicts savant syndrome.
The protogonist of an American medical drama series “the good doctor” is Dr Shaun Murphy who is a autistic. This creates a image for the lead character with extraordinary medical abilities and fast thinking which drives through his path along with his “savant syndrome”. Murphy with his social awkwardness and difficulties in cyphering non – verbal cues still has extreme accuracy with his actions and decisions. Being portrayed as a character who is typically autistic he has issues with expressing emotions and being an emotional support.
Moon Sang Tae, a supportive character in a Korean drama series ” it’s okay not to be okay” is featured as a autistic character. In the series, he has a great deal of artistic skills in painting. Though the character is represented with a traumatic background, his paintings make audience wonder about his autism.
With the best of what movies try to depict, what real life examples show us and what literature and research shows let’s try and learn new terms, what they are and how we can understand them.
Let learning and awareness be a gateway to helping the community.
