Hello from a possible savant

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Hi everyone! I just signed up, and figured it would probably be a good time to introduce myself. You can call me whatever you would like, but in reference to my Latin name and love of anything remotely historical, I would prefer my username.
Anyway, I'm an American teenager. When I took the Aspie Quiz, my score was 162 versus a neurotypical score of 47. And now, halfway through the school year, I haven't studied for a single test. My Science and Algebra scores are 99, my English is 98. And for the second term in a row, I am the only one out of four classes to get 100 on my report card in Social Studies. Remember, I haven't studied at all. I'd love it if anyone with knowledge about savant syndrome could tell me if this puts me into one of the categories.
Thank you.

Welcome to WP!

Instead of being a savant, perhaps you need to be stepped up a few grades until your capacity to learn is challenged. Being a 'savant' means you are already really, really, good at some things.

Merle

Yes, I've always thought the same thing. But there is one thing I forgot to mention. It's something I take for granted, but has never been described by any other person I know. I have what I call mental photographical abilities--that is, I don't forget anything. I can tell you anything from the first four lines on page 347 of the Complete Sherlock Holmes ( ' "Is there anything to which you would wish to draw my attention?" "To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." "The dog did nothing in the night-time." "That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes.'- Silver Blaze, a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) to the day the Treaty of Ghent was signed (December 24, 1814, effectively ending the War of 1812, though some hostilities took place the next January, such as the Battle of New Orleans in which Andrew Jackson was a general.)
I did not use a reference for either of those facts. I would appreciate any evaluation of my skills to include the point which I commonly forget--memory.

savants are only good at one thing (like doing math in their heads or playing the piano). you sound more like a genius (someone with an IQ over 140) who is good at lots of things.

Yeah. I'm going to see about the tests, most definitely. And I have actually taken an IQ test and gotten 149.
It's just amazing to know that yes, there are other people like me who don't forget. I struggle to handle school from all of the past incidents I just can't get out of my head. Knowing two languages doesn't help, either, since no one else knows signed English or the Russian alphabet.
Thank you.

Smart, definately, but probably not a savant. It's my understanding that those folks don't tend to be aware of how good they are!

I have an IQ in a similar range and a very similar experience through high school (no point posting numbers, every test throws up a different score so I'm none too confident at how accurate they are), but wouldn't say I was a savant, just lucky with brainpower and unlucky that I didn't think to kinda hide it from fellow students at school.....

Nothing stopping you getting the tests though, and I'd be interested to see what they told you!

Welcome to the forum

History's Mystery,
The best thing about WP is there are other folks with far more awesome skillz than mine.
After a while one starts to realize that one has finally found their 'tribe'where one is 'normal'.

Merle

I'd say that you're highly intelligent and have somewhat of an eidetic memory, which is separate from being categorized as a savant. In order to be considered a savant one is normally exceptionally good at one particular thing, and to me it seems that you are highly gifted academically. I was very similar to you in high school (I was one of very few students in the province to score between 90-100 on all of my provincial diploma exams, and I did not study). My aptitude at school actually would get me into trouble at times (there was one math class that I would continually skip in order to do other things, and while my test scores were off the charts my grade was in trouble due to my consistent absences, and I was told that I would not be allowed to partake in the final exam at the end of the semester, but after a substantial amount of "kicking and screaming", as they put it, I was permitted to take the exam and ended up walking out with the highest mark, again without studying)
All I can say is that you should not take your intelligence for granted and while you may not be captivated by the level that you are currently being taught at in high school you should continue to expand your horizons. When I was in high school instead of studying for the subjects that I should have been I was buying used, but outdated textbooks from the local Goodwill by the university and reading those (when I say outdated I mean that the university would change the required editions of the textbooks every 2-3 years, so while the books couldn't be sold back to the university by the students, they still were not old enough for the information within to be considered irrelevant). My ASD is unique in the fact that my "interests" are all related but rotate every couple of weeks, but I seem to always remain within the same 4 interests. Keeps things kind of interesting, and they are all related in some form to make one more widespread interest.
Apologies about my horrid grammar in this post. I'm kind of half paying attention to posting and half paying attention to stuffing my face with pizza, and even when I'm not distracted my mind tends to move a lot faster than my fingers.

Ditto to much said on this thread so far.
Once I learn something 'properly' I don't forget. I love music and have hundreds of songs in my head. I remember every not, every inflection in the singer's voice. Apparently this is not true for most people, I have found. I am particularly shocked to see how many people on talent shows seem to not know any songs or even remember one they just learned.
I also never studied (until Uni, at over40, and when they dumped tons of info on you in a short time)(OK, so I also often skipped class because I hated being there with all the smartass teenagers who looked at me like I was a toad or something invading their classroom) (Err, no offense)

If you could remember every page of a book after reading it only once or twice, I would definitely call you a savant.
I usually remember a bit of information and if I want to find it again, I can remember the book, approximately where in the book it was, and on which part of the left or right page, and how the page or paragraph appeared.

But my ability to learn new things definitely took a beating with age, poor health, stress and kids. I am regaining it, slowly, but don't take it for granted.

And zdrastvuyte! Kak dela? Govoritye viy porusski?
Ocheny horosho!!
Do svidaniye!

Finally. Thanks to everyone, I seriously feel like I'm not alone, unlike everything else in my life. I have to say, being "normal" is definitely a new experience for me. I've finally figured out the way that it's not the one-of-a-kind thing like it is at school, with everyone staring at me the whole day. Nor is it like home, where my mother will avoid talking to me quite often, to avoid a lecture (a daily occurrence). My older brother, who lives eight hours away, had to explain it to me this September that my skills were kind of crazy. Ever since, I've made an effort to fit in, despite being extremely hypersensitive to many stimuli. But everyone in school already knew me as a bit of a freak, so it didn't work. Finally, I've found the one place where I can just be me.
Thank you.

Welcome here

I, too, had that ability to remember things I'd read or seen. I still do, to an extent, but suffered some brain damage about 10 yrs ago and lost a bit of that ability, though not entirely. I have memories, clear memories, from before I could even walk or talk. I was accused of cheating on English tests in high school AND college because I could quote text, verbatim, on tests. I can actually see the pages in my head and read down them. I can also draw almost anything that I see, except for faces. I have to try and try and try to get faces right. I eventually do, but only with a photograph for reference. I was supposed to skip 5th grade and tested at 2nd yr college levels at 13. I was not allowed to skip 5th grade after moving to a new school district and that was very detrimental to me. One thing that I did to help me stay out of trouble in high school was to read my text books upside down so that I wouldn't speed ahead and get bored. I wish I'd had some support, like this forum, so that I could have gleaned more ideas, from more experienced people, to keep me out of trouble. I found most of my teachers, and the administrators, counselors, etc., to be more interested in controlling students than in actually understanding them. Being an Aspie, I've always been completely unable to speak anything other than what I observe to be true; therefore, I would call my teachers out on behaviors that I found controlling rather than caring, which landed me in a lot of trouble, often. I hope that you find ways to not become overstimulated and to slow yourself down so that you don't get bored in class. I agree that you should be placed in higher courses but, if that's not possible, challenge yourself. My senior year I was finally able to return to a normal school for a couple of months (I'd been kicked out of too many schools and so was sent to a school for "troubled youth") and was able to express myself much better. I approached my teachers individually and told them that I learned very quickly and didn't want to get in trouble for my comments. Most of them respected me for that and several challenged me to write/paint/show them that what I said was true. I did. All but one allowed me to do my own thing, completely ignoring the assigned projects but having to create my own projects/assignments that would, somehow, include the regular assignment and then extend it. Maybe that would work for you, too. Honesty seems to help when it doesn't hurt.

From what I've learned about savant syndrome and from my own experience, I would say yes, you are a savant. I have the same characteristics, including exceptional memory. I would be interested in corresponding with you, because i'm very interested in savant syndrome right now. i'll write you a longer message tomorrow, this keyboard is f****d up and it's driving me crazy.

I wanted to send a longer message, but the keyboard at my place is screwed up. I've been researching savant syndrome on the internet and I'm reading a book about autism. I would say that, yes, based on what I've read and based on my experience that you are a savant. I have some of the same characteristics, including exceptional memory. What one psychologist told me is that people with autism often have a lot of things that they can't do for themselves. The brain doesn't waste any neurons, a neuron is too valuable to waste, so those neurons have to go somewhere. So the person ends up with an exceptional talent in one area, all the neurons that should be going to other tasks are going into this one area. Some savants have a talent that is developed to the level of genius. When I was a little kid, my mom picked up a hitchhiker and we gave him a ride to the drug store. After he left we talked to someone that worked there and he said the guy was a savant. He said he had a photographic memory and that he helped the other kids with their homework, because he had memorized the textbooks word for word. But there was a lot of stuff he couldn't do for himself, like when he bought something from the cashier, he couldn't count the change, he had to trust that they were giving him the right amount of money. I have the same thing, I have an exceptional memory, the story of meeting the savant guy, happened when I was about 8, that was decades ago and I still remember exactly what happened and what was said. I've often astonished my mom by being able to remember exact details of stuff that happened when I was a little kid, stuff she can barely remember, if at all. I can remember stuff that happened when I was 2 years old, 1 year old and even before that. Anyway, savant syndrome is something I'm interested in right now, so if anyone wants to chat with me about savant syndrome, you can contact me.