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Quote by Darold Treffert

“When I met my first savant in 1962, I was impressed by the abilities in these youngsters who had severe disabilities. They appeared to me to be islands of genius in the sea of disability. So I've maintained that word picture since that time, of these islands of genius that are so striking and so jarring when you see them, especially in people who have severe disability.”

Quote by Darold Treffert

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Darold Treffert
Darold Treffert

Darold Treffert is a renowned psychiatrist, born in 1932. He has extensive research in the field of psychiatry, particularly in child psychiatry and the psychology of genius. Dr. Treffert is known for his in-depth studies on autism, Asperger's syndrome, and other related mental health issues. more

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“A savant, by definition, is somebody who has a disability and, along with that disability, has some remarkable ability. Prodigies and geniuses have the remarkable abilities that the savant shows, but they do not have a disability. So, by definition, a savant includes someone with a disability, and a prodigy or genius are people who have these remarkable skills but they do not have a disability.”

PeopleShowsAbilityGeniusSkillsDefinitionsRemarkableDisabilityProdigiesSavants
Author:Darold Treffert
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“We can't use the word normal anymore because it's sort of come to be politically incorrect, because normal implies a classification, and categorizations, and exclusions, and so forth. So neurotypical is the word that we now have to use for what I call normal behavior. Neurotypical behaviors are those kinds of behaviors within the range of usual human conduct that do not rise to the level of a disorder.”

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“We have to be careful that we don't keep multiplying disorders and diluting them. I think there is a difference. People talk about Asperger's as high-functioning autism, which I think it is. But it does have some of its own characteristics, like the preservation of language, particularly, which may be right brain dysfunction instead of left brain dysfunction, and we lose something in that, as things lose their specificity, and we keep diluting things. I'm not sure that's helpful.”

PeopleThinkingMayDoeLeftLanguageLosesDifferencesBrainCarefulNot SureCharacteristicsHelpfulDisorderBe CarefulAutismPreservationDysfunctionAspergersMultiplyingSpecificityLeft Brain
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“Savant syndrome is not a disorder in the same way as autism is a disorder or dementia is a disorder. Savant syndrome are some conditions that are superimposed and grafted on to some underlying disability. So savant syndrome is not a disease or disorder in and of itself. It is a collection of characteristics, or symptoms, or behaviors that have grafted on to the underlying disability.”

WayConditionsDiseaseBehaviorCharacteristicsCollectionsDisorderDisabilityAutismSymptomsSyndromesDementiaSavants
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“The term syndrome generally appears to be a constellation, or collection, of similar traits or behaviors within an individual. So, savants do have sort of a constellation of symptoms, which is characterized by some spectacular skill, or skills, coupled with this massive memory which is grafted on to some underlying disability. So those three conditions quantify, in my mind, the term syndrome.”

MindThreeIndividualTermMemoriesConditionsSkillsBehaviorCollectionsMassiveDisabilityTraitsSymptomsSpectacularConstellationsSyndromesSavants
Author:Darold Treffert
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