ethics
02-15-2005, 05:36 PM
Daniel Tammet is an autistic savant. He can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. But unlike other savants, who can perform similar feats, Tammet can describe how he does it. He speaks seven languages and is even devising his own language. Now scientists are asking whether his exceptional abilities are the key to unlock the secrets of autism. Interview by Richard Johnson
Read the entire fascinating <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html">article here</a>.
HIV to cure cancer, now autism answered from Autistic? A new way to think outside of the box?
SixofNine
02-15-2005, 05:40 PM
You have a "br" tag at the end of that link that's rendering it inoperative. Delete it and the link works.
Thanks for the story!
Brian
Sacchiridites
02-19-2005, 05:45 PM
I feel so sad for Tammet and many people with such reported intelligence. To be misunderstood, to not be able to engage in day to day life is very difficult. Just a trip to the store is NOT just a trip to the store. :(
I have a friend that is just such this way. Reading that article was just as he were telling me that he sees images, not numbers or a computer screen. He has trouble understanding people's feelings and subsequent actions, or even motivation for doing something against law. There is no logical connection for him. I thought he was just 'strange' or 'cold'. Then, he revealed his autism as a child. Everything is perfunctory and one must be EXTREMELY specific when describing directions to a place or an expectation of any sort. Poor guy. He's missing out on relationships, I thought. One day he asked me to define 'relationship.' He didn't understand that he and I had a relationship as friends because he only defined relationship one way...sexually. He stated that he didn't even have a relationship with his immediate family. Odd, he's living with them. I just didn't understand. The mental frustration can be incredible when we get together. To him, there can only be one meaning per word per language, it seems. We see each other perhaps twice or once a year, if that. It's so refreshing not to be so judged. And religion to him is quite, well...religious- in act and thought. But, he says he definitely feels something spiritual from religion, he tells me. Quite a feat for him.
My friend is also fluent in many languages. Seems that Tammett is also exploring here. I'm VERY interested about this aspect of autistic functioning. There has to be some lure to language. Could it be a rhythm of syllables or some finite mathematical understanding of language? As I said, my friend also has such a reckoning with words, that it's very frustrating to communicate poetically. But, he TRULY enjoys a good pun once in a while. When he gets one, he has to use it at least 3 times in an hour. Perhaps it's just the challenge he enjoys.
Human computers? No, I don't think so. I think there is a natural order to what we see as chaos. There are people who can see the order, without understanding the chaos as a whole. And then there are those who thrive on chaos, with not one bit of logical reality. American Psychiatric Association calls autism a 'developmental disorder.' That depends on what one is trying to develop, I think.
Care to all,
Cie