A new study of eight child prodigies suggests a possible link between
these children's special skills and autism.
Of the eight prodigies studied,
three had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. As a group, the prodigies
also tended to have slightly elevated scores on a test of autistic traits, when
compared to a control group.
In addition, half of the
prodigies had a family member or a first- or second-degree relative with an
autism diagnosis.
The fact that half of the
families and three of the prodigies themselves were affected by autism is
surprising because autism occurs in only one of 120 individuals, said Joanne
Ruthsatz, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at
Ohio State University's Mansfield campus.
"The link between child
prodigies and autism is strong in our study," Ruthsatz said. "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."
The study also found that while
child prodigies had elevated general intelligence scores, where they really
excelled was in working memory - all of them scored above the 99th percentile
on this trait.
Ruthsatz conducted the study with
Jourdan Urbach of Yale University. Their results were published in a recent
issue of the journal Intelligence.
For the study, the researchers
identified eight child prodigies through the internet and television specials
and by referral. The group 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). The study included six males and two
females.
The researchers met with each
prodigy individually over the course of two or three days. During that time,
the prodigies completed the Stanford-Binet intelligence test, which included
sub-tests on fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual spatial
abilities and working memory.
In addition, the researchers
administered the Autism-Spectrum Quotient assessment, which scores the level of
autistic traits. The prodigies' scores on the test were compared to a control
group of 174 adults who were contacted randomly by mail.
Ruthsatz said the most striking
data was that which identified autistic traits among the prodigies.
The prodigies showed a general
elevation in autistic traits 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.
Autism is a developmental
disability characterized by problems with communicating and socializing and a
strong resistance to change. People with Asperger's are more likely than those
with autism to have normal intelligence, but tend to have difficulties with
social interaction.
The prodigies did score higher
than the control group and the Asperger's group on one subsection of the autism
assessment: 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."
Ruthsatz said it was not the
three prodigies who were diagnosed with autism who were driving this particular
finding. 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. While
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.
But just as they did in the
autism assessment, the prodigies stood out in one of the sub-tests of the
intelligence test. In this case, the prodigies showed an exceptional working
memory, with all of them scoring above the 99th percentile.
Working memory is the system in the
brain that allows people to hold 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.
These results suggest that
prodigies share some striking similarities with autistic savants - people who have
the developmental disabilities associated with autism combined with an
extraordinary talent or knowledge that is well 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."
The answer may be 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 more study,
Ruthsatz said.
"Our findings suggest that
prodigies may have some moderated form of autism that actually enables their
extraordinary talent."
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