Difference between savant traits and intense interests?

Post Reply New Topic

So people on the Spectrum often have intense focuses and interests. Then there are also savant cases, most notably Rain Man and counting.

What's the difference between an intense ability and a savant ability?

There are a few differences. A savant skill is a skill. It is something they can do and they can do this without much work on the part of their conscious mind. It is almost if their brain just automatically does it.

An "special interest" is an interest, not a skill. The person is highly compelled to learn about this interest and indulge themselves in it and there is much activity on the part of their conscious mind.

I see what you mean. I'm wondering how I can tell the difference though. Some things I am talented at, like memorizing capitals to every state, country, etc, orders of the presidents, etc, yet I did have to research and study it. I could name off the years of nearly any movie ever made, any album ever released, etc. Once again, I did have to find it somewhere, I wasn't born knowing that The Godfather was released in 1972. So how do I know if it's a savant ability or a learned skill?

I always felt like Rainman as a kid lol. I have that focus with Jeopardy.

But that's just rote memorization. A savant has genius in at least one area, that seems to be so highly developed that are they are lacking something huge in another area.

I mean, that could easily be a description for Asperger's as well, but it's more extreme for Savants. I don't much about it, or even what I'm talking about, really.

I know that Daniel Tammet is one, he seems relatively normal.

I guess the difference is like what Chronos said above. He just *does* this. his brain probably does this so fast that he isn't even aware of it, I had to learn to be good at Jeopardy and other random things through rote memorization, and I was aware that I was learning/processing the information.

I think it's savant to know certain things for example years and dates and names.

I can't remember those. I'm also bad with numbers.

However I do remember (nearly) all the faces, all the events and love algebra.

I'd say it's autism. but so is being a Savant.

It really comes down to how you define savant and autistic/aspie.

Being able to remember the information you've absorbed is a skill while studying hard to understand things and only those that you study upon is not.
Knowing all the numbers is a skill, learning to count isnt.

This comes down to the degree of skill, what is considered savant, what isnt. Being able to draw pixel perfect might be a skill if you're born with it, but interest if you have to learn to draw pixel perfect.

all words are just very shady when it comes down to defining them.

I used to be good at learning and remembering those kinds of things ...


I think "savant ability" would be more like being able to process all of that information along with your knowledge of movies and then coming up with some entirely new analytical data.