Bright Splinters of the Mind: A Personal Story of Research With Autistic Savants [Hardcover]

Beate Hermelin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001 | ISBN-10: 1853029319 | ISBN-13: 978-1853029318 | Edition: 1

Little is understood about the nature of the extraordinary talents of some people with autism. Drawing on 20 years research, Beate Hermelin describes what autistic savants do and how they do it. During her studies s he and other researchers examined savants alongside neurotypical individuals talented in the same domain, as well as people with the same level of intelligence as the savants but who had no special abilities. Hermelin describes her investigations and explores the gifts of autistic savants, in the areas of poetry, foreign language acquisition, the visual arts, music and mathematics, and reaches radical conclusions on the very nature of talent and its relationship to intelligence.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Some autistic people have singular talents of various sorts, existing in strange isolation from the rest of their minds. While such 'savant' talents have been described, anecdotally, for a century or more, Beate Hermelin has been a pioneer in their scientific investigation. In Bright Splinters of the Mind, she brings together the results of her more than twenty years' research, and presents a highly original and systematic analysis of a range of autistic talents - artistic, musical, linguistic, mathematical - showing that while they might seem to be so odd and special, they provide essential clues to the nature of all intelligent thinking. This analysis is embedded in an engrossing narrative of Dr. Hermelin's own personal involvement and passion. This then is research which is rigorous, but has an intensely human face. Bright Splinters of the Mind is simply but beautifully written, and will, I think, fascinate and move a wide range of readers.' -Oliver Sacks 'succeeds in making what hitherto appeared complicated and unknowable seem simple and understandable. She portrays her goal as giving readers an understanding of the mental strategies that underlie the extraordinary talents shown by so-called idiots savants, most of whom are autistic. She achieves that objective in splendid fashion but, in doing so, she accomplishes the more difficult feat of conveying both why science is so exciting, and how scientists tackle the task of testing hypotheses that pit one explanation against others. The book, incidentally, also shows what a special talent Beate Hermelin has for writing about science for a broader audience. But this book is a 'must' for scientists as well as for the general public, because of the clarity of its expression of an experimental approach to special skills and disabilities. Read on to understand the science, but also read on to appreciate the excitement of being a scientist involved in making discoveries.' -Sir Michael Rutter, from the Foreword

About the Author

Beate Hermelin is an experimental psychologist working in the area of abnormal development. She studied at Jerusalem Art School and gained a degree in psychology from Reading University followed by a PhD from the London Institute of Psychiatry. She has held a research appointment at the Medical Research Council, and is an honorary research professor at Goldsmith's College, University of London. She has published extensively on psychology and on autism.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Pub; 1 edition (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853029319
• ISBN-13: 978-1853029318
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,848,799 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Talented People With Real Expertise, September 3, 2005

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BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bright Splinters of the Mind: A Personal Story of Research with Autistic Savants (Paperback)

This is a very interesting book that reflects extensive research of the small minority of people with autism who fall into the savant category. People so categorized tend to be highly talented in a specific area, e.g. music but display severely autistic behaviors. Savantism affects less than 10% of people with autism, so its rarity makes for a more interesting study.

This author observed people with savant talents and compared them with neurotypical (NT) counterparts and compares the different results. Some of the people included in this book are gifted linguists; poets; musicians; painters; sculptors and mathematicians. Respect for people with autism is paramount - the very term "splinter skills" is callously dismissive of real talent. The NT population is always afforded the more accurate and gracious terms, "talented;" "gifted" and "expert" which recognize genuine talent and ability. Splinter skill is only applied to the autistic population and its very connotation is that people to whom it is applied lack abilities in all other spheres. Instead of viewing areas of expertise, e.g. artistic gifts as mental "splinters," a more accurate and helpful description would be "gifted aspects of the mind" and "areas of talent."

Due to the stereotyping of the autism/Asperger's (a/A) population that the 1988 movie "Rain Man" has caused, the very term "Rain Man" is considered a slur among many a/A circles. One fictitious character does not represent the a/A population and savantism, although rare, is as varied as there are individuals who have this form of autism.

A very fascinating book indeed.