Islands of Genius: The Bountiful Mind of the Autistic, Acquired, and Sudden Savant [Hardcover]

Darold A. Treffert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1849058105 | ISBN-13: 978-1849058100 | Edition: 1

Savant syndrome is a rare condition in which individuals with developmental disorders have one or more areas of expertise, ability, or brilliance - 'islands of genius' - that exist in contrast with their overall limitations. This paradox of genius and limitation within the same person offers a unique window on talent, intelligence and memory, and raises interesting questions about the hidden brain potential within us all. What makes the mind of a savant tick? Does this exceptional potential exist within each of us? If so, how can it be tapped? This unique account of Dr Darold Treffert's 47-year journey into the mind and world of the savant introduces some truly remarkable individuals, and looks at the causes, manifestations and implications of this extraordinary condition. It explores recently-discovered phenomena such as 'genetic memory', the capacity of some individuals to 'know' things they never learned, and 'acquired savantism', instances in which a neuro-typical person unexpectedly and spectacularly develops savant-like abilities following a trauma such as a head injury or stroke. Explaining that such cases point convincingly towards a reservoir of untapped ability - an inner savant capacity - in us all, it describes techniques for discovering and tapping this dormant potential. Above all, it's message is that prodigy and genius should be celebrated and nurtured, and experts in music, math, and art share strategies and techniques to help parents, teachers and others better support these exceptionally talented individuals. This book will intrigue anyone who has ever wondered what makes the brain of a savant tick, as well as clinicians, parents, teachers, therapists and others who care for, and about, individuals with savant syndrome.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"No one in the world can match Darold Treffert's experience and understanding of savant syndromes - he has spent nearly half a century immersed in the subject. And when he writes of the "beautiful" mind of the savant, Treffert shows the openness and generosity of his own mind. Islands of Genius brings us fully up to date with the latest research, and like all of Treffert's work, it is imbued with deep intellectual and emotional understanding. This is an indispensable examination of a remarkable human condition." --Oliver Sacks, Professor of Neurology & Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center

"This book takes you on a wondrous journey through the mind of savants. Their abilities need to be nurtured and developed. Everyone who is interested in the human mind should read this important book." --Temple Grandin, author of Thinking in Pictures

"Few people would or should want to learn to recite Pi to 22,514 decimal places, draw landmarks in breathtaking detail, or remember the contents of 12,000 books. Everyone is different. By refusing to gawp at these feats, preferring instead to focus on the person behind them, Dr Treffert sends out the message that it is the creative, imaginative processes at the root of such abilities that matter most. Only by considering the context of savants' lives can we more fully and properly understand the gifts that they possess." --from the foreword by Daniel Tammet, author of Born On A Blue Day

About the Author

Darold A. Treffert, M.D. is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. He has worked with savants and researched this rare condition for nearly 50 years, and was a consultant to the award-winning movie Rain Man in which Dustin Hoffman plays the part of an autistic savant. Kim Peek - the inspiration for the film - is just one of the extraordinary individuals Dr. Treffert introduces us to in the book

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Pub; 1 edition (April 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1849058105
• ISBN-13: 978-1849058100
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #682,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating But Needs an Editor, April 12, 2010

By 

Liberty4all "DMZ" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Islands of Genius: The Bountiful Mind of the Autistic, Acquired, and Sudden Savant (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

I need to preface this review by pointing out that the copy of Islands I read was marked as a "Bound Galley-Not for Sale". I hope that marking indicates that the manuscript will still be edited prior to being released to the public because it desperately needs major attention by a competent editor.

The subject matter is fascinating and the author is clearly an authority on savant syndrome and autism. However, not only is the writing a bit flat, but there is a tremendous amount of repetition. At times it feels like the author took a break in writing for a few months and then started again while forgetting he had already used certain phrases and/or told certain stories or specific history. As a result, you feel like you're watching a movie that you've already seen a few times and one in which the dialog was not that scintillating the first time around.

It's near impossible to guess at how this book will read once an editor restructures it but it does have enough potential to get to four or even five stars with the proper care.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, May 14, 2010

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Islands of Genius: The Bountiful Mind of the Autistic, Acquired, and Sudden Savant (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

This book is a collection of information about savants. Darold Treffert first encountered savants in the early 1960s when he started working with mentally disabled children at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. Of the 30 patients assigned to him, 4 of them had remarkable abilities in contrast to their general developmental limitations. Treffert developed a deep interest in savant syndrome and became one of the world's leading experts on the topic. In this book, Treffert presents a collection of information about savant syndrome, describing the nature of special and preserved ability amongst brain-damaged individuals. The book is divided into 5 sections: The Mind of the Savant (technical descriptions of savant syndrome), The World of the Savant (profiles of famous savants), Significant New Dimensions to Savant Syndrome (acquired savant skills and savant-like skills in neurotypical individuals), Training the Talent (pedagogical techniques for savants--essays contributed by other authors), and Our Journey Has Just Begun (future research concerning savant skills). The book includes a selection of photos depicting artwork done by savants, a list of references cited, and a list of resources for further reading.

I found the book quite informative and well worth reading. Treffert makes it very clear that savant skills are most commonly found with autistic individuals, but only one in 10 autistic individuals has some savant skills, and people with other types of developmental disabilities can also have savant skills. Not only that, but savant skills may occasionally appear after head injuries; they may even appear spontaneously in neurotypical individuals without injuries. In this book, written for general audiences, Treffert sums up a lifetime of research on savant skills, and speculates a bit about causes and effects. Some of this speculation is hard to swallow without further confirmatory research, such as musical knowledge being part of our genetic endowment, but it could point the way to some interesting research topics. Treffert notes that the brain damage associated with autism is often localized to left hemisphere areas, whereas the typical savant skills: calendar and math calculations, music, and art, are usually thought of as right hemisphere skills. This is consistent with the theory of autism being "extreme male brain syndrome" as proposed by Baron-Cohen and other scientific observations about males tending to have more right-brain dominance than females, but goes directly against common folk understanding of brain dominance, in which intuitive and artistic skills are considered more "feminine", while a strict reliance to logic and explicit definitions more "masculine". Clearly, folk understanding needs to be brought up to date with research on hemispheric dominance and lateralization of skills described in this book.

This book is more a collection of essays than a single coherent work. It can be somewhat repetitive in places, and the writing varies from scientific with citations to simple anecdotal tributes about savants Treffert has known. Overall, though, it is informative and thought-provoking.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Come Jump On The Boat To The Islands Of Genius . . . ., August 16, 2010

By 

Sunday "SundayAtDusk" (PlanetEarth) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Islands of Genius: The Bountiful Mind of the Autistic, Acquired, and Sudden Savant (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

After reading an uncorrected proof copy of "Islands of Genius" three times, I went to my local library to request they get a copy of the book. All public libraries should have a copy of this book. Because it is an education. It is also an inspiration. And it is one of the most fascinating books I have ever, ever read.

What Dr. Treffert does primarily in "Islands of Genius" is explore the world of savants. He has worked with and researched servants since 1962. Not only does he share his 48 years of interaction, observations and research with the reader, he also tells the individual stories of over 15 well known savants--including Kim Peek, who was the inspiration for the "Rain Man". (The book is dedicated to Kim Peek, who died last December, and his father, Fran Peek.) Moreover, there are three chapters in the book written by teachers of special needs children, describing their methods for teaching art, music and math. Also, there is an appendix listing 15 books about savant syndrome and specific savants, as well as 11 books written by savants.

Next, Dr. Treffert explores acquired savant behavior, sudden savant behavior, and "neurotypical persons with savant-like skills". I must confess, I found those topics even more interesting than the savants! Individuals who acquire savant like behavior do so after an illness or injury that affects the central nervous system. He tells the story of a 10-year-old boy hit in the head by a baseball, who wakes up knowing how to perform calendar calculations. (If you don't know what calendar calculation is, as I did not, you are in for a wild read!) Plus, the stories of people who, after acquiring "fronto-temporal dementia", suddenly, for the first time in their life, develop an intense interest in art, and start creating extraordinary paintings. Or individuals who, after having strokes or head injuries, start writing poetry or composing music, or start talking with a foreign accent, or speaking in a foreign language, from a country they have never even visited. The latter is known as "xenoglossy". (Those who have read Dr. Ian Stevenson's work are very familiar with that topic.)

Then, there are those individuals , who have no disabilities, or have had no CNS illness or injury, who can do astounding things. For example, people who have "hyperthymestic syndrome" can remember what happened almost every day of their life. And some individuals can read backwards. Or they can write with both hands at the same time, in two different languages. Or, there are those with "synesthesia", who "see" words or sounds, "taste" music, or "smell" colors. Others can do astonishing things with all the letters in the conversations they hear, or with numbers. In addition, some individuals mentioned in the book, who were beginner students in music, suddenly fully understood music, as if they have been studying it their whole life, and then started playing and composing complex works of music.

How is it the savants and the non-savants can do all those beyond belief things? According to Dr. Treffert, they can because of "genetic memory". He proposes that "stored in each of us" is "a generous amount of genetically inherited, factory-installed software for certain skills and abilities, along with considerable genetically transferred knowledge itself, unconsciously remembered". He further states that his description of genetic memory "does not include reincarnation, mysticism, existential ruminations, transcendentalism or paranormal phenomena".

When one thinks about it, however, genetic memory is just a theory. Savants no more prove there is such a thing as genetic memory, than they prove there is such a thing as reincarnation. Of course, many who believe in reincarnation do see savants as souls who are remembering their past life skills in art, math, music, etc. And it's interesting to note that it is often at the ages of 3-4 that savant skills suddenly manifest themselves in children, which are also the ages that children often start talking about past life memories, according to those who have studied past life memories of children. Yet, what would be the reason for incarnating as a savant? They have extraordinary talents, but also terrible disabilities that keep most of them from living independent lives. Is it possibly just karma? If so, what type of karma would get one the life of a savant? For those who firmly believe in reincarnation, don't let Dr. Treffert's disbelief in your beliefs stop you from reading this book. He does not appear to be spitting out the word "reincarnation". In fact, at one point in "Islands of Genius", he told how he was harshly criticized for once reporting in a journal article that parents and other observers of savants had reported paranormal abilities, including ESP. He stated: "Thus my merely reporting that there were such reports engendered censure from the scientific community". There is plenty in this book to feed your mind with all sorts of ideas about savants and reincarnation. Although, if you are not secure in your beliefs, then watch out--you might start believing in genetic memory instead. :)

One more metaphysical topic I couldn't help thinking about while reading "Islands of Genius" was near-death experiences. Those individuals who suddenly acquire intense interest in music or art or writing, after having a CNS illness or injury, remind me so much of the experiences of some individuals who have had NDEs. After seeing what's on the other side of the tunnel when they were medically dead, they often return to life desperately wanting to describe or recreate what they saw and heard, but find it verbally hard to do so. Thus, they passionately turn to music or art or poetry. One of the people who acquired savant skills mentioned in Dr. Treffert's book was a surgeon who was struck by lighting, and had an "intense near-death experience", after which he became obsessed with playing and composing classical music. Also, those who have had NDEs sometimes say they "knew everything", while on "the other side". And they often come back with psychic abilities. This poses the interesting question: Are all the wonderful memories and skills Dr. Treffert believes are stored in the brain, compliments of genetic memory, actually instead stored in the soul? Or are they stored in both? Does the brain, due to illness or injury, rewire itself in a way that brings up stored soul skills and memories? Or does the soul rewire the brain so stored skills and memories come up, in order to make life better or more interesting for the soul during a given lifetime? Is it possible a savant's soul may find itself so bored or so distressed due to the disabilities in that lifetime, that the soul goes searching for either past life or "spirit world" skills in order to have something to excel in, or simply something interesting to do to pass the time?

See, even if you're way more metaphysically inclined, instead of scientifically inclined, "Islands of Genius" can still create all kinds of interesting thoughts in your mind . . . or brain . . . or soul . . . or wherever thoughts are actually created and stored. The book is as extraordinary as the people in it. It is also easy to read and easy to understand; has interesting paintings, pictures and poems; has over 200 references; a subject index and an author index. (And no, I'm not related to Dr. Treffert . . . but am trying to highlight the fact that the final copy of this book is not the same as the uncorrected proof copy received by all Vine members. Imagine that.) You've also got to love a guy who says things like: "It has been said that when an old person dies, it is as if a library just burned down. Gone are all the collective knowledge, wisdom and recollections of that person." Moreover, you must admire a man who cares so deeply and fights so hard for individuals who cannot fight for themselves.