Sometimes we come across people who could easily fit into the category of geniuses. They know about any subject, they explain it and argue their position with excellent quality. They could tell you the year in which penicillin was invented or the day that Brazil's independence was declared.
Although, if you were to ask them how many countries have green on their flag or the sequence of prime numbers, they wouldn't know how to answer you. But there are people who have the ability to memorize such specific details. Those who could give a master class in this field are those people who suffer from the savant syndromealso known as syndrome savant.
What is savant syndrome?
As we mentioned above, savant syndrome is a rare condition: experts estimate that everyone suffers from it one person in a millionSo, if we do a quick calculation, there must be 46 or 47 people in Spain who have this syndrome.
This disorder It usually occurs in people with significant mental disabilitiesas can be the case in children diagnosed with autism spectrum syndrome. Their abilities grow, throughout their life, in an extraordinary way: hypercalculia (ability to perform precise mathematical calculations in a short time), artistic and musical abilities or a prodigious memory are the usual capacities.
If you are an avid reader you may have heard of a book written by Mark Haddon, The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. This book is a frequent reading in secondary school and, in addition, is narrated in the first person by Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy who suffers autism.
In the development of the story, we can observe a clear example of this syndrome in this character. Christopher has a amazing photographic memory and an astonishing ease with mathematical operations.
Types of savant syndrome
Three types of Savant syndrome are established:
- The prodigious. These stand out for presenting a large number of skills. In fact, they excel in most fields and areas. The number of people who belong to this group is very smallthere may be less than twenty cases in the world.
- The talented ones. Those who belong to this group have great skills. However, they also present major deficiencies in other cognitive areas.
- The thorough ones. Present peculiar character skills. Like the previous ones, they have deficiencies in other cognitive areas.
What symptoms do people with savant syndrome have?
As we have mentioned before, if there is one thing that characterizes people with this syndrome, it is having one or more specific abilities that are more developed than normalThese are attributed to the right hemisphere. The most specific symptoms are:
- Musical skillsSome people with savant syndrome have the ability to interpret scores or musical pieces without having any knowledge of musical language. In addition, they can compose complex melodies without any prior training.
- Artistic skills. That is to say, within the world of the arts they have great abilities for drawing, painting or sculpture. The works that these people create stand out for their great creativity and attention to detail.
- Mathematical skills. They are the most common and at the same time incredible. They stand out for their great capacity to calculate huge amounts and solve very difficult problems in a very short period of time.
Savant Syndrome: Are You Born or Made?
Apart from people who are born with autism spectrum syndrome and progress at the same time to savant syndrome or savantthere is a prototype of people who acquire the syndrome.
The pattern that people present on how they acquire the syndrome tends to repeat itself: they suffer an accident, it leads to a brain injury and from there they become one absolute geniuses in a certain subject, such as people who already had the pathology from the beginning of their life.
One of the cases that attracted the most attention is that of Jason Padgettwho in his youth was the typical loose cannon, who only paid attention to partying and alcohol. Until September 13, 2002, when he was assaulted by two men who beat him up so badly that he had to be taken to the hospital.
Over there, He discovered that he could see fractals in all the objects around him.even water. He began compulsively drawing fractals until he became enrolled in fractal geometry.
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Is there a treatment?
There is treatmentbut it is not directed at the savant syndrome as such, but at the major problem that causes said problem. For example, the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or brain damage. Treatment for savant syndrome is carried out in the following areas:
- Cognitive flexibility. When we talk about an ASD we will treat the affected areas of the person who suffers from it. These are usually cognitive rigidity, alteration of the social area or behavioral patterns. A personalized treatment for each person since each one has different needs. These needs will be covered by specialists of the health and education.
- Behavioral treatments. These fall within the area of psychology and promote the appearance of adaptive behaviors and social skills training, thereby avoiding inappropriate behavior.
- Cognitive stimulationThey are performed when brain damage occurs to maintain and improve the functions that have been affected.
- Stimulation of skills. Develop to the maximum the abilities in which they excel.
In most of these processes, both professionals from the health and mental health fields come into play. professional psychologists They are responsible for establishing in their therapies with them the different guidelines and skills that they must learn to maintain a proper conduct. In this way they will be able to live with the savant syndrome and the people around them.
How does a psychologist help?
A specialist must have the ability to contribute a growth in their social skillsthrough the occupational therapy. In these sessions, the patient's parents/guardians are essential to progress. These people are not emotionally open with their imaginary acquaintances. how they can feel in an environment stranger, in which you are going to be with a stranger.
Occupational therapy ensures that, through certain exercises, the patient learns to how to behave with the rest of society. Whether known or unknown, in different situations that may be uncomfortable in the future.
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