Insular giftedness is the modern technical term for a particular intelligence profile formerly known by the discriminatory name “idiot savant” or the misleading term savant. Insular giftedness occurs when there is an uneven spectrum of aptitude. Thus, insularly gifted individuals do not have a balanced, evenly distributed intelligence; rather, they have insular gifts; they are often autistic.
What is an insular giftedness?
Insular giftedness, that is, a high level of performance in only a small subset of cognitive abilities, is a phenomenon usually associated with mental retardation and consequences of psychological developmental disorders. If these mental deficits are very pronounced, they are often cases of autism. About half of the insular gifted are autistic. Insular giftedness does not automatically mean genius ability. If an individual is only of below-average intelligence, but achieves an average performance in a certain subarea, this is an insular giftedness. In addition, there are the truly spectacular insular gifted who achieve genius or extraordinary performance in a small area. These areas include musical talent, rapid language learning, mathematical talent, exceptional long-term memory, photographic memory, and perfect pitch. Little is known about the origins of insular giftedness, but this phenomenon appears to be related to male hormones, as the majority of insular gifted individuals are male. Autistic individuals among the insular gifted often exhibit a specific form of autism, Asperger’s syndrome.
Causes
As varied as insular giftedness is, so are its often unknown causes. Insular giftedness is an imbalance in cognitive abilities. So, there are cognitive structures that inhibit certain intelligence performances but are responsible for better overall cognitive performance. Certain filtering functions in the brain filter away unimportant information from memory and thus help in everyday life. In certain insular talents, however, it is precisely the absence of such filters that causes above-average performance in a small area. Autistic people with Asperger syndrome have a strong impairment in the area of social interaction. Apparently there are processes in the brain that have these negative effects in the social domain, but in return reinforce certain insular talents. The biological causes are not clear. Some have insular giftedness as a developmental disorder since childhood. Very few patients have insular giftedness as a result of accidental brain injury. In these rare exceptional cases, certain injuries lead to certain insular giftedness. Neurological peculiarities, which are usually not satisfactorily described in individual cases, thus cause insular giftedness. The strange role of autism and male hormones is still a mystery. However, this very connection is probably the most important and common one.
Symptoms, complaints and signs
Insular gifts can occur in autistic individuals or as a result of mental retardation or psychological maldevelopment. The signs are recognizable by a strong psychological and mental restriction. Against these, the insular giftedness actually looks like an island of normality. In one area, the affected persons perform comparatively outstandingly or surprisingly for their other performance level. Even the one-sided peaks in performance, which are positive in themselves, must be considered a symptom. Nevertheless, the negative symptoms of insular giftedness are likely to predominate. People affected by insular giftedness may be underachievers and mentally or emotionally retarded. Many affected people suffer from Asperger’s syndrome. They have an autistic disposition. The symptoms can be assigned to the respective underlying disease. Noticeable positive symptoms of insular giftedness may include a surprisingly high level of language ability or mathematical aptitude. Some affected individuals have accurate long-term memory. Others stand out with a photographic memory or perfect hearing. Besides these surprising abilities, however, the abilities in all other areas are decent and far below average. It is striking that predominantly men are affected by insular giftedness.Whether the present symptoms are due to a congenital developmental disorder, an accident or injuries to the brain has not been adequately clarified. Typical signs of insular giftedness may include social misbehavior, cognitive problems, impaired communication skills, or aggression.
Diagnosis and course of the disease
Diagnosis of insular giftedness is very difficult because the clinical picture is inconsistent. A classic image is that of the absent-minded professor. Behind this is the popular, but false, notion that extremely intelligent and educated people would manifest deficits in social interaction. In fact, truly gifted people are uniformly gifted and socially inconspicuous. Highly gifted children therefore do not stand out in the classroom or in the social dynamics of the class community. Children who, on the other hand, have social problems and learning difficulties are often of below-average intelligence. Then parents and psychologists look for insular talents, in which the promotion of these children is then particularly worthwhile. Experienced psychiatrists diagnose insular giftedness, they also diagnose autism and know how to separate these related phenomena. Independent diagnoses from different psychiatrists are useful.
Complications
Because there is no average insular gifted person in terms of other symptoms and limitations, potential complications are always measured by the accompanying circumstances. However, since a large proportion of people with insular giftedness suffer from some form of autism, complications often arise from the typical effects of these developmental disorders. For example, autistic people are dependent on support for the rest of their lives due to their severely limited ability to communicate as well as their lack of opportunities to manage their daily lives independently. Due to the fact that misunderstandings are common when dealing with others, autistic people can be offended by their own social missteps or missteps of others. This often results in aggression and outbursts of anger, some of which escalate due to lack of articulation. Insular gifted individuals with Asperger’s syndrome have the complicating problem that their condition is not apparent to outsiders. They show behavioral disorders and also motor disorders in the broadest sense. But these are not so serious. Accordingly, in everyday life they are often confronted with a situation that requires them to behave in a socially adequate manner, which they can only master to a limited extent. Evasive reactions and strange-seeming behavior have an alienating effect on other people and can isolate the affected person, insofar as he or she does not already isolate himself or herself. Since many insular gifted people are diminished in intelligence and use their cognitive resources mainly in the area of their giftedness, other skills as well as social behaviors are hardly learned. Again, outside support is usually needed throughout life.
When should you see a doctor?
In principle, an insular giftedness is not a reason to see a doctor. The giftedness can be encouraged and supported without further medical findings. People who want to know more about the quality of the giftedness should see a doctor so that accurate information of the insular giftedness can be given via specific tests. In many cases, however, the affected person shows more than just a high aptitude for one area. Often there is an additional autistic disorder that needs to be investigated and treated. Therefore, a doctor should be consulted as soon as conspicuous behavior is noticed. If there are disturbances or irregularities in the emotions, this is considered unusual. If social contacts or physical closeness are refused, the observations should be discussed with a physician. If manners cannot be learned or if social conflicts occur repeatedly, it is advisable to consult a physician. Often, social norms are disregarded or not understood by those affected. If, in addition to the insularity, the affected person also shows underdeveloped behavior in other areas of everyday life, a visit to the doctor is recommended. If disorders in speech are noticed or if there are irregularities in cognitive processing in the acquisition of other skills, a doctor should be consulted. If daily living requirements cannot be managed without assistance, a physician should be consulted.
Treatment and therapy
Treatment is usually behavioral. A person’s insular giftedness can be suppressed, ignored, or encouraged.In the past, treatment often consisted of suppressing insular giftedness. The idea was that a person would become more normal and uniform in development if he or she dispensed with special spleens. This did not work in most cases. Modern treatment is therefore based on targeted promotion of insular gifts. Patients are specifically promoted in their area of giftedness. However, in addition to the promotion of the special gifts, which are usually practiced in a highly individualistic manner, a healthy social interaction is also therapeutic. This includes an understanding and loving family, which ideally has even completed special training programs for dealing with the island gifted. Equally important are social interactions at school and at work. For the insularly gifted, a workplace is necessary where, on the one hand, they can show their special talents and, on the other hand, they are also supported evenly and comprehensively in other areas. Various forms of animal therapy also contribute to successful therapy. Watching birds in the wild and recognizing their species by sound and plumage is one form of therapy. Caring for a horse or dog is another. In the field of animal therapy, much depends on the individual characteristics of the patient. A balanced diet with the most diverse possible food sources of animal and plant origin ensures that patients receive optimal care.
Outlook and prognosis
Insular giftedness is not curable or treatable, so there is no prospect of cure. Moreover, from a medical point of view, it is not necessary. In many cases, if only because of the sometimes outstanding abilities, it is not even desirable to try to cure savant syndrome. The prognosis of the affected people depends rather on the accompanying circumstances. Thus, many savants are autistic. This is also not curable and the prognosis only allows the statement that the affected persons will be dependent on help for the rest of their lives. Improvements in social behavior, impulse control or intellect are very difficult to achieve and can never fully compensate for autistic disorders. Autistic gifted people often attract public interest because of their abilities. Depending on the person and the environment, this can be perceived as very positive or very negative. Some savants make a living from their insular giftedness, although this is only the case with those who have a truly outstanding gift. For the insular gifted, where the talent is relatively defined (low IQ but average performance in one area), this possibility does not exist. In the case of island gifted people who are not cognitively and socially limited, the prognosis is also unnecessary. They have no limitations in life to worry about that would be medically relevant.
Prevention
In modern societies with high life expectancy, the incidence of dementia is steadily increasing in old age. From various studies, it appears that a well-trained brain, while not ultimately overcoming its own dementia, offers sufficient resistance to delay the onset of biologically induced dementia by several years. Mental fitness is health. Exercise is as important for the brain as it is for the muscles and musculoskeletal system. For these reasons, insular gifted people are not neglected, but are also given very specific mental support in their areas of talent.
Aftercare
Insular giftedness, also known as “savant syndrome,” is the phenomenon in which individuals can exhibit exceptional performance in specific areas despite a developmental disorder or intellectual or cognitive impairment. About 100 so-called savants are known worldwide, more than half of whom are autistic. From this one can deduce that there must be a connection between an insular gift and autism. An aftercare in the medical sense is not possible, because it is a congenital neurodiversity, which consequently cannot be cured. However, since it is possible to learn how to deal with the disability in therapies, support services to maintain the status quo after the end of therapy are advisable in most cases. Which support service is the right one depends strongly on the individual client.
You can do it yourself
The framework in which self-help is at all necessary or possible in the case of an existing insular giftedness depends on the accompanying circumstances. Accompanied by the fact that in rare cases it is the case that the affected person has an almost or completely average (social) intelligence, help is most likely to be limited to support in everyday life by third parties. A few cases of people with savant syndrome have shown that targeted everyday help already consists of encouraging these individuals in their talents and passions. This increases their sense of self-worth and life, and quite a few of those affected have also achieved some fame in the context of their special abilities. Furthermore, cultivating other hobbies as well as interacting with animals have proven to be beneficial. By the contact with also not human living beings, social deficits can be partly cultivated due to a mental handicap. In this respect, an environment that makes these things possible is a good help for those affected. Insular gifted people, who have hardly any intellectual and thus social abilities apart from their giftedness, are often not capable of helping themselves. Thus, they can sometimes be helpless without outside help. Accordingly, they require comprehensive care in everyday life, including basic care (dressing, preparing food, feeding if necessary).