Savant Syndrome- Savant Skills Locked Within Us?
Savant syndrome is a form of rare neurological condition where individuals with such extraordinary anomaly, while having problems in proper mental function, are able to express certain prodigious abilities such as memorizing and lightning calculation (Treffert, 2009). The term “savant” originated from the word “savoir” which means “to know” in French (Treffert, 2009). The word “idiot savant” was first introduced by Dr. J. Langdon Down in his research of 10 individuals with remarkable abilities who were unable to be independent due to their severe lack of ability in taking care of themselves (Howlin, Goode, Hutton, & Rutter, 2009). One of the earliest cases of savant syndrome was from a 1783 German scientific psychology journal called Gnothi Sauton, which documented a savant by the name of Jedediah Buxton, whose ability to perform lightning calculation abilities with impressive memory has baffled researchers (Treffert, 2009).
Savant syndrome may be present in individuals …show more content…
There are however other abilities which are not observed often such as prodigious language, specialization in certain subjects, and so on (Treffert, 2009). Savants who display more than one ability are higher prevalence in autistic savants (Treffert, 2009). Although some researchers classify memory as another ability, prodigious memory is a skill all savants have (Treffert,
Savant syndrome is a form of rare neurological condition where individuals with such extraordinary anomaly, while having problems in proper mental function, are able to express certain prodigious abilities such as memorizing and lightning calculation (Treffert, 2009). The term “savant” originated from the word “savoir” which means “to know” in French (Treffert, 2009). The word “idiot savant” was first introduced by Dr. J. Langdon Down in his research of 10 individuals with remarkable abilities who were unable to be independent due to their severe lack of ability in taking care of themselves (Howlin, Goode, Hutton, & Rutter, 2009). One of the earliest cases of savant syndrome was from a 1783 German scientific psychology journal called Gnothi Sauton, which documented a savant by the name of Jedediah Buxton, whose ability to perform lightning calculation abilities with impressive memory has baffled researchers (Treffert, 2009).
Savant syndrome may be present in individuals …show more content…
There are however other abilities which are not observed often such as prodigious language, specialization in certain subjects, and so on (Treffert, 2009). Savants who display more than one ability are higher prevalence in autistic savants (Treffert, 2009). Although some researchers classify memory as another ability, prodigious memory is a skill all savants have (Treffert,