Islands of Genius: The Bountiful Mind of the Autistic, Acquired, and Sudden Savant

329 Pages·2010·2.47 MB·English

by  Darold A. Treffert

Islands of GENIUS
of related interest
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The Myriad Gifts of Asperger Syndrome
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Autism Through Art
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Illustrated by Kim Miller
ISBN 978 1 84310 889 4
Islands of GENIUS
Th e Bountiful Mind of the Autistic,
Acquired, and Sudden Savant
Darold A. Treff ert
Foreword by Daniel Tammet
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia
“Kim and Fran Peek” (p.v) and “Kim Peek” (p.120) © Richard Green 2004, reproduced with permission from Salinas
Valley Memorial Healthcare System, with thanks to Susan Marscellas and Janet Marcroft; “Alonzo Clemons” (p.110)
by Morey Stinson, reproduced with permission from Gifted Hands, Inc.; “Daniel Tammet” (p.161) © Jerome Tabet,
reproduced with permission; “Stephen Wiltshire” (p.165), reproduced with permission from The Stephen Wiltshire
Gallery; “Gregory Blackstock” (p.173) and “The Great World Trogons” (color section) reproduced with permission from
the Garde Rail Gallery; Brain scan (p.227) reproduced with permission from Elsevier, originally published in Lionel
Feuillet, Henry Dufour and Jean Pelletier (2007) ‘Brain of a White Collar Worker’ The Lancet 370, 9583, 262; “Feeding
Time” and “Bison Calf” (color section) by Jeff Wells, reproduced with permission from Gifted Hands, Inc.; “Megalopolis”
(color section) © George Widener 2007, reproduced with his permission, courtesy of Henry Boxer Gallery; all other
artwork and photographs have been reproduced by kind permission of the copyright holder.
First published in 2010
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
116 Pentonville Road
London N1 9JB, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright © Darold Treff ert 2010
Foreword © Daniel Tammet 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or
storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this
publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency
Ltd, Saff ron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission
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and criminal prosecution.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84905 810 0
ISBN pdf eBook 978 0 85700 318 8
Printed and bound in the United States by
Thomson-Shore, 7300 W. Joy Road, Dexter, MI 48130
Dedicated to Kim and Fran Peek, who share the same shadow,
and from whom I have learned as much about matters of the heart
as I have about workings of the mind
In Memoriam
Kim Peek 1951–2009

Contents
Foreword by Daniel Tammet xi
Preface xiii
Introduction: Sightseeing on an Incredible Journey 1
Part 1 The Mind of the Savant
1 What We Do Know: A Rare but Remarkable Condition 17
2 How Do They Do It? Some Earlier Theories from Heredity to
Quantum Theory 35
3 How Do They Do It? More Recent Findings: The Three
“R’s”—Rewiring, Recruitment, Release 48
4 Genetic Memory: How Do We Know Things We Never
Learned? 55
5 More Medical Mysteries: Calendars, Cantors, Foreign Accents
and Hypermnesia 62
Part 2 The World of the Savant
6 The Genius of Earlswood Asylum and Blind Tom: Some Early
Savants 81
7 Leslie and May: “Two Memorable People” with a contribution
by Shirlee Monty, author of May’s Boys 93
8 Alonzo: “God Gives the Gift” 110
9 George: “It’s Fantastic I Can Do That!” 116
10 Kim: “The Real Rain Man” 120
11 Ellen: “With a Song In Her Heart” 130
12 Tony: “Against All Odds”—Magna Cum Laude from Berklee 138
13 Temple: “An Emergence Extraordinaire” 144
14 Matt: “The Key of Genius” 149
15 Flo and Kay: An Unforgettable “Two of a Kind” 156
16 Daniel: “Numbers Are my Friends” 161
17 Stephen: “A Rocket of Young Talent” 165
18 Ping Lian, Gregory, Richard, George, Jonathan and Some
Others: Artwork of the Prodigious Savant 170
19 Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man: The World’s Best Known
Savant 183
Part 3 Signifi cant New Dimensions to Savant Syndrome
20 “Accidental Genius”: The Acquired Savant 193
21 “Sudden Genius”: An Epiphany of Talent 204
22 “Normal Genius”: Dormant Skills Within Us All? 212
23 Accessing the “Inner Savant” Within Us All 217
24 The Bountiful Brain: Half a Brain (or Less) May Be Enough 227
Part 4 Training the Talent: “I’ve Got
a Son or Daughter Who…”
25 Teaching Music to the Special Needs Client: A Music
Therapist’s Approach 231
Susan Rancer, registered music therapist
26 “Training the Talent” in Art and Other Skills: An Educator’s
Approach 240
Rosa C. Martinez, board certifi ed behavior analyst
27 Teaching Autistic Numerical Savants: A Specifi c Approach
that Worked 250
Peter Lewis, professional engineer
Part 5 Our Journey Has Just Begun
28 New Tools and New Optimism: The Trail Ahead for the Mind
of the Savant 261
29 Oval Souls on a Round Planet: The Trail Ahead for the World
of the Savant 275
References 289
Appendix: Books About Savant Syndrome and Books By or About Specifi c Savants 295
Subject Index 297
Author Index 301