Do you have a "savant" gift or gifts?

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I have "splinter skills", not actual savant talents. But I have splinter skills in memorization for dates/facts and learning languages. I think both splinter skills are largely due to my spatial-sequence synesthesia and "ticker tape" synesthesia. My memory is where I notice the most differences between others and myself on a regular basis. It's also how I can "impress" people.

Me too. If some system or arrangement that is in some way disordered or imperfect is presented to me , it will usually automatically flash into my mind as being somehow WRONG. Weirdly, it may then take me a few minutes to actually convert this problem that I can see into words, so that I can explain it to others.

This can apply to quite abstract structures. For example, one problem I have is that I get frustrated by most non-fiction books, as they do not dispense information in what I see as obviously being the most systematic and logical order. I refused to read the vast majority of available textbooks during my University course, and spent hours combing the library for ones in which the information was structured as logically as possible (luckily, there were a few ).

Hmm, I'm not really entirely sure what counts as a "savant" ability/skill/thing, but I do have a few things that MIGHT be that.

My reaction speed is my main thing. I react really abnormally fast. There's the old phrase "cat-like reflexes", but I usually say, no, I'm faster than cats.

I also process things very quickly. It does occur to me that in alot of ways I have a sort of "speed" theme to me, or at least I would if I didnt suck at running/jogging/whatever. Usually I refuse to do that, lest I fall flat on my face from trying, haha.

Also very good at multiprocessing. The downside is that while I can focus on and follow many things at once, I *cant* focus on just one thing at a time. If I try, I tend to get a bit lost and act spacier and more airheaded than usual.


My main hobby is gaming, so these things are very useful to have. Particularly when it comes to competetive gaming... I can often outdo and defeat an opponent simply based on sheer absurd reaction/processing speed, even if the opponent knows more about the game and has had alot more practice and stuff like that.

The downside is that I'm very impatient, and I tend to see most things as being slow, which doesnt help.

I have always hesitated admitting to it. It makes me feel unusual even among the autistic community. I have many developed skills that would be catagorized as Savant Syndrome. A weekend left hemisphere by testosterone exposure in utero. Been developing them my whole life. I can write anything upside down and backward with one hand as I write rightside up and forward with the other. I play any music back and just listen to its words and all in my head. Whenever I get board I just listen. It plays in the background while Im working just like a stereo. When my eyes are closed I see sound and I suppose the two other things among others is a photo memory of my entire life and perfect memory of every mechanical system I see for just a second. Oh yea and I was throwing professional pottery a day after I learned to throw. Both of these are EXTREEMLY limited. Like with the mechanical systems. I remember the mechanical parts, cut, make parts exactly as they are needed without measureing. If you drove a car into my driveway I could tear it down to the smallest bolt and reasemble it without so much as a hint of how to do it. The electric systems are very hard for me though which gets in the way often. Throwing is limited because I cant seem to break out of just the process of throwing. Being creative with it is extreemly difficult even though Im extreemly good at it. Last I am a sculptor. I make large and small scale machines that are responses my brain asks me like "If you stand dominose up in a circle and knock the first one down they all fall down. How can I make them fall down and stand up by themselves". By making these machines I see how my mind processes information. Limitations? Again, creativity. Many see it as creative but I know they are just feats of engeneering. Except that there is always a conceptual message locked up inside and is let out when the machine "speaks" so to say. If your interested you can look up the "Bowler Coaster". Its a roller coaster Ive made for of course, bowling balls Oh yea again my spelling STINKS! so sorry bout that.

I have always hesitated admitting to it because some think I have a "big head" or am prideful just saying it when truthfully it has been the source of every nightmare in my life. I've learned to work with it though. It makes me feel unusual even among the autistic community. I have many developed skills that would be catagorized as Savant Syndrome. A weekend left hemisphere by testosterone exposure in utero. Been developing them my whole life. I can write anything upside down and backward with one hand as I write rightside up and forward with the other. I play any music back and just listen to its words and all in my head. Whenever I get board I just listen. It plays in the background while Im working just like a stereo. When my eyes are closed I see sound and I suppose the two other things among others is a photo memory of my entire life and perfect memory of every mechanical system I see for just a second. Oh yea and I was throwing professional pottery a day after I learned to throw. Both of these are EXTREEMLY limited. Like with the mechanical systems. I remember the mechanical parts, cut, make parts exactly as they are needed without measureing. If you drove a car into my driveway I could tear it down to the smallest bolt and reasemble it without so much as a hint of how to do it. The electric systems are very hard for me though which gets in the way often. Throwing is limited because I cant seem to break out of just the process of throwing. Being creative with it is extreemly difficult even though Im extreemly good at it. Last I am a sculptor. I make large and small scale machines that are responses my brain asks me like "If you stand dominose up in a circle and knock the first one down they all fall down. How can I make them fall down and stand up by themselves". By making these machines I see how my mind processes information. Limitations? Again, creativity. Many see it as creative but I know they are just feats of engeneering. Except that there is always a conceptual message locked up inside and is let out when the machine "speaks" so to say. If your interested you can look up the "Bowler Coaster". Its a roller coaster Ive made for of course, bowling balls Oh yea again my spelling STINKS! so sorry bout that.

Pretty sure I'm just average, but no real idea because i have no one for comparison. definitely not savant tho.

llerrd - that's awesome. Now all you need to do is use that memory of yours on your spelling and you'll be good to go.



So, anyway, I've been practicing my calendar algorithm to calculate weekdays for any date (up to 10000000000 A.D.) and I'm getting to the point where I hardly have to think anymore, with the only downside being that I'll make a mistake every now and then, especially in years where there are 6s and 7s in them (I never liked 6 and 7, they were always obnoxious numbers to me, unlike 2, 4, and 5, which are the friendliest). I wonder if my right brain is taking over from my left brain? I don't understand it, but I do like it.

I know that before I said that I didn't have a gift, but I think I do really.

I don't mean like savant or anything so dramatic as that but I reckon I've got something going on.

I just can't put my finger on it or explain it.

I might delete this post.

No I wont.

Yes I will.

No.......We'll see.

I can't now anyway

I don't believe any of these are 'Savant' level, however, some of my main, abnormal, talents include:
I have a fairly good memory. At 15, I memorized 56 digits of Pi in about 20 minutes. At 16, I memorized the first 47 Elements on the periodic table (Atomic number, Name, symbol) in 15 minutes (I had a test that day, so was hyperfocusing on it.)
I pick up languages very easily, but I don't spend much time on them. I know at least one greeting in, I think, sixteen languages; can fingerspell with the ASL alphabet and English syntax (I memorized the ASL alphabet in ten minutes); in Spanish I learned several greetings, introductory questions and phrases, questions, and how to say "I'm sorry, I speak very little Spanish" and "The check, please?" in forty five minutes; learned how to read and write in Circular Gallifreyan in five minutes (but I've not memorized the actual alphabet, yet); and a few phrases in various other languages.
I can write a sentence from end to beginning, right to left, without pausing. I can also sometimes do it with a paragraph, if I have the paragraph memorized. I can also spell a word backwards, including supercalifragilisticexpealadoscious (depending on how you spell it, seeing as there's not always an agreed upon spelling frontways), and can say the alphabet backwards. (I didn't have to train myself to do this, I just randomly decided to try one day and could.)
I can turn a book upside down and read it aloud with no pauses. (Same as the previous one.)
Probably a few others
But my biggest one is my ability to create. My current project, that I've been working on for the last year-ish (but only seriously for the past three months) is the world of PALAPREN-J. I have history from the century 2600 to the century 4600, on Earth and, from 2700 to 4500, the moon. I don't yet have it all written down, and I'm having more come as well. I have over 30 characters that are at least mostly developed, and dozens of others that are at least partly developed. I have like ten different major cities that are fairly well developed, as well as a few villages and towns that are fairly developed. I have new inventions, different forms of governments for each of the cities, a government over all of them, one of the cities is an underwater community that I have three centuries of history for (since it was created), and whenever I hear a name or some other character trait that I think would be interesting, within thirty seconds the seed has grown into a character complete with basic history, appearance, personality, where they live and who they live with, and often more than that. I can develop a city and several characters for it within half an hour. I have a vagabond tribe and their customs and such fleshed out. I have characters that interconnect, character a is character b's mother and character c adopts character b when character a dies, but there's like four years between the end of a's novel and the beginning of c's, and then character d, who is a's younger sister, their novel starts after a's death, while d is raising b, and then goes on after b moves in with c. And that's only how five of the characters interconnect, there are way, way more, like fifty or more characters that interconnect in some way. I have like a dozen novels that each have their own main character, and each start in a different year, but they have at least one main character and two or three minor characters from a different novel cameo or even have a secondary character role, even though what might be the first year in c's book is the second in d's and several year's before the beginning of f's or g's, and c's book ends a year into g's and c becomes a main character two years into g's, a year after their own book ended, and so on so forth. I've done an insane amount of worldbuilding, and what I said here doesn't even really begin to help you understand how much worldbuilding I've done.

My story is similar- photographic memory before becoming depersonalized after severe migraine.

No I do not have any savant skills. The closest thing I can think of is being able to play the same note that someone else is singing. The weird thing is, I don't really have perfect pitch. I've tested myself and I failed most of the test. I could only get easy notes like C and G. I would probably have a savant skill if I was actually autistic.

Music runs from my fingertips to a synthesizer. I can usually write a song in less than 3 hours, and in full focus. I wouldn't say I'm perfect at it but I'm darn good for someone who writes multiple songs in a day. People say I have a really good talent for composing music.

I am more of a jack of all trades though, I can draw, make music, sew, program... I know how to do a lot of things.

This is super cool. I think all the savants need to meet up in some cool city and do savant stuff together. I don't know what that means, but there could be some interesting interactions. And if not, we could all get drunk together. Does anyone want to plan this event? We can call it "SavantFEST 2014."

I would love to try your pizza.

I don't think I have any savanty stuff going on but maybe someone can tell me what this is. I haven't got a great memory for stuff i want to learn but i can see past events in my mind like a snapshot.

Years later, I can bring that snapshot image back to mind at will and describe everything about the time. For example, I had a conversation years ago with someone in a car. The radio was going. I can see a picture of the two of us in the car, remember where we were, what was on the radio, the weather, what we were talking about etc. Every little detail.

I just have no control in what situations it happens. Sometimes, I remember completely useless stuff.

It also used to drive my (then) partner nuts because, in recalling the conversation, I would also describe all of the other (apparently irrelevant) bits of information I recall from the image.

I also have the ability to hyper focus for hours on end, non stop. I programmed for over 12 hours straight once without a break. I was in the zone. It was Zen like... but I don't think this counts.

Any thoughts on the first "ability"?