A study of eight child prodigies suggests a
significant link between their special abilities and autism. “The link
between child prodigies and autism is strong in our study,” said Joanne
Ruthsatz, Ph.D., lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology
at Ohio State University. “Our findings suggest child prodigies have traits in
common with autistic children, but something is preventing them from displaying
the deficits we associate with the disorder.”
Of the eight prodigies who took part in the
study, three had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. As a whole, the
prodigies also tended to have slightly higher scores on a test of autistic
traits, when compared to a control group. Furthermore, half of the prodigies
had a family member or a first- or second-degree relative with autism. Ruthsatz said
it is surprising that half of the families and three of the prodigies
themselves were affected by autism since autism occurs in only one of 120
individuals.
Researchers also found that while child
prodigies had higher general intelligence scores, where they really excelled
was in working memory—they all scored above the 99th percentile on this trait. The
study was conducted by Ruthsatz with Jourdan Urbach of Yale University. Their
results were published in a recent issue of the journal Intelligence. The
researchers identified eight child prodigies (six males and two females)
through the Internet and television specials and by referral. This included one
art prodigy, one math prodigy, four musical prodigies and two who switched
domains (one from music to gourmet cooking, and one from music to art).
Over the course of two or three days, the
researchers met with each prodigy individually. During that time, the prodigies
were given the Stanford-Binet intelligence test, which included sub-tests on
fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual spatial abilities and
working memory.
The researchers also administered the
Autism-Spectrum Quotient assessment, which measures the level of autistic
traits. The prodigies’ scores on this test were compared to a control group of
174 adults who were contacted randomly by mail. The most striking data was that
which identified autistic traits among the prodigies, said Ruthsatz. There was
a general elevation in autistic traits among the prodigies compared to the
control group, but this elevation was on average even smaller than that seen in
high-functioning autistic people diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. In the
autism assessment, the prodigies did score higher than the control group and
the Asperger’s group in one particular category: attention to detail. “These
prodigies had an absolutely amazing memory for detail,” she said. “They don’t
miss anything, which certainly helps them achieve the successes they have.”
According to Ruthsatz, it was not the three
prodigies with autism who ranked the highest in this category. In fact, the
three autistic prodigies scored an average of 8 on attention to detail,
compared to 8.5 for the entire group of prodigies. On the intelligence test,
the prodigies scored in the gifted range, but were not uniformly exceptional.
Although five of the eight prodigies scored in the 90th percentile or above on
the IQ test, one scored at the 70th percentile and another at the 79th
percentile. The prodigies showed an exceptional working memory, with all of
them scoring above the 99th percentile. Working memory allows people to
keep multiple pieces of information in mind for a short time in order to
complete a task.
The findings paint a picture of what it takes
to create a prodigy, Ruthsatz said. “Overall, what we found is that prodigies
have an elevated general intelligence and exceptional working memory, along
with an elevated autism score, with exceptional attention to detail,” Ruthsatz
said. The study suggests that prodigies share some striking similarities with
autistic savants—individuals who have the developmental disabilities found in
autism but with an extraordinary talent or knowledge that is far beyond
average. “But while autistic savants display many of the deficits commonly
associated with autism, the child prodigies do not,” Ruthsatz said. “The
question is why.”
Perhaps there is some genetic mutation that
allows prodigies to have the extreme talent found in savants, but without the
deficits seen in autism. But the answer will require further research, Ruthsatz
said. “Our findings suggest that prodigies may have some moderated form of
autism that actually enables their extraordinary talent.”
Source: Psych Central
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