Savant Syndrome is a rare, but spectacular, condition in which persons with various developmental disabilities, including Autistic Disorder, have astonishing islands of ability or brilliance that stand in stark, markedly incongruous contrast to the over-all handicap. In some, savant skills are remarkable simply in contrast to the handicap (talented savants). In others, with a much rarer form of the condition, the ability or brilliance is not only spectacular in contrast to the handicap, but would be spectacular even if viewed in a normal person (prodigious savant). There are fewer than 100 reported cases of prodigious savants in the world literature. The condition was first named Idiot Savant in 1887 by Dr. J. Langdon Down (better known for having named Down's Syndrome). He chose that term because the word "idiot" at that time was an accepted classification level of mental retardation (IQ below 25) and the word "savant" meant knowledgeable person derived from the french word savoir, meaning "to know". The term idiot savant has been largely discarded now, appropriately, because of its colloquial, pejorative connotation and has been replaced by Savant Syndrome. Actually Idiot Savant was a misnomer since almost all of the reported cases have occurred in persons with IQs of 40 or above. The condition can be congenital or acquired in an otherwise normal individual following CNS injury or disease. It occurs in males more frequently than in females in an approximate 6:1 ratio. Savant skills occur within a narrow but constant range of human mental functions, generally in six areas: calendar calculating; lightening calculating & mathematical ability; art (drawing or sculpting); music (usually piano with perfect pitch); mechanical abilities; and spatial skills. In some instances unusual language abilities have been reported but those are rare. Other skills much less frequently reported include map memorizing, visual measurement, extrasensory pe...
