Autistic savants are very hard to come by, as the savant syndrome itself is very uncommon. There are less than 50 savants alive today. The memories of savants are likely unlike anything you will ever know or experience. Savants can recite, both forward and backward, a book that they have just read, yet some can barely speak. Their memories are specific and complete however there is little emotion in them. Studies describe savants as human tape recorders.

The term savant originated in Europe in the late 19th century when a small group of people in asylums was discovered to have astonishing and mysterious talent.

Neuroscientists are discovering the difference between a "normal" person and the astonishing skills of savants is that the savants are able to tap into areas of the mind that function like supercomputers. These supercomputers that we call our mind are accumulating immense amounts of information from the senses to create a working model of the world, which could only make sense to them. One researcher believes that "average" people are blind because of what we know and see. He feels that if we could shut off our theoretical mind, we could literally for one moment see the real world that surrounds us.

These children come into the world with deep artistic talents and their minds will continue to be a fascination to all researchers. As one researcher is quoted in "The Key to Genius," "By finding out how savants work, we learn how we work."

Wired News December, 2003