Do you think that autistic savant children should be allowed to study mainly in their niche?

Question

Many autistic people, although they have negative social (usually) qualities, are some of the smartest people in certain categories.

I've met several that were either amazing at Math, Astronomy, music, etc. They excelled far beyond the standard of regular peoples knowledge in the subject.

My question is, do you think that it would benefit them the best emotionally and career wise if they were allowed to fully immerse themselves in their topic of choice rather than waste time dabbling in other things, such as a regular child would learn in school? It almost seems not fair to waste their time with other subjects when they could work on being the greatest expert in their niche that the world has ever known!

I would love to hear from autistic parents with savant children, if their are any out there.

Thanks!

Answer 1

No - being highly intelligent in one narrow category does nothing for a career if they are not able to participate in even the most basic of social interactions (applying for the job, dealing with not getting the job,when can you get up and go to the bathroom, what time do you have to get to work, what does done look like)

There is a lot to be gained in learning a process and procedure to connect information from an area that you are not terribly interested in to something that you are.

Anything that can increase the ability to manage change and apply problem solving strategies is critical to their future.

Answer 2

Just as music helps with math (as shown in studies)

Other subjects can help with teh savant skill

and its not fair to limit someone-they may decide as an adult that they want soemthing else besides tehir savant skill

Answer 3

no, the more that concepts in harder subjects for them get reiterated the more little parts could stick, and eventually work together into a whole- I work in a group home and watched a client with autism and severe seizure disability take over a year to learn to put a lid on a pen- but once it finally clicked he quickly learned to put a toothbrush in his mouth and back in its holder, to load silverware into a dishwasher and many other seemingly trivial tasks to people who have not witnessed someone severely struggle with a task so hard and then finally have it all fall into place- my point is without a spectrum of exposure the kids are limited in lifes that don't offer much oppotunity to achieve their full potential of independence

Answer 4

Savants are very very rare. A lot of Asperger kids will focus on one subject and excel at it. I can see your point, I really can. But in early education it is important to get kids to expand their interests. I have a child who can tell you anything you want to know about vacuum cleaners, he loves them. He is probably a vacuum cleaner genius. But other kids don't want to play with him when he refuses to discuss anything else. Even though he does love vacuum cleaners he does want friends. So helping him step out of his comfort zone (which is comprised of ...you guessed it probably...vacuum cleaners) and engage in other interests is beneficial not only to his overall well being as a person, but to his developing social skills. No matter how smart you are, you need social skills.

There are a lot of kids which excel in one area, but we still have them study a variety of subjects. We do this to help them develop as well rounded people. Overall academic, emotional and social development require a well rounded curriculum. This holds true at all grade levels including college. Specializing comes in grad school usually. Why should we offer anything less to savants?