Autism And Savant Syndrome
A little boy quietly sits in front of a piano, with his fingers poised over the bright white keys. His teacher, seated beside him on the bench, plays a complicated series of chords, filling the air with a beautiful melody. After a single hearing, the boy begins to play, perfectly reproducing the song he has just heard. As the last notes fade away, the boy sits still for a moment and then begins to rock gently back and forth, only stopping once the music begins again....
A genius. A prodigy. One might label this child as such after witnessing this type of performance, were it not for the little nuances of the situation: the rocking, the cold, unemotional expression on the boy's face, and his lack of response to the voices around him. Instead, this boy is diagnosed with Savant Syndrome, a disorder in which individuals with neurological developmental delays in socialization and communication (3) possess "astonishing islands of brilliance that stand in stark, markedly incongruous contrast to the over-all handicap" (6). From absolute pitch and chess playing skill to the card-counting talent popularized by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, savants may be developmentally delayed, but certainly posses a genius of sorts that is almost unmatchable. In this respect, I am fascinated by the biological and societal origins and significance of the existence of individuals with an IQ well below average who are capable of performing tasks about which some geniuses could only dream. The implications of these individuals are huge in terms of genetics, the nature of intelligence and the varying processes of thought present within humanity. I find that it is the presence of a "weakness" such as autism and its development...
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WWW Sources
1)The Neurobiology of Infantile Autism
http://www.mhsource.com/narsad/autism.jhtml?_requestid=60911
2)Autism Fact Sheet
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
3)Pervasive Developmental Disorder
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/pdd/pdd.htm
4)Autism and the Cerebellum
http://www.autism.org/cerebel.html
5)Autism and the Limbic System
http://www.autism.org/cerebel.html
6)The Savant Syndrome:Islands of Genius
http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant/default.cfm
7)Autistic Savant
http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant/default.cfm
8)Tune in, turn off
http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19991009/tuneinturn.html
9)The Savant in All of Us
http://www.saveachild.com/netnews/feb00resr.htm#Savant
10)Phenomenal Talent-The Autistic Kind
http://www.nexus.edu.au/teachstud/gat/hendric1.htm
When the topic of slavery is brought up, it is usually assumed we are talking about the thirteen million Africans who were captured, transported and enslaved in the Americas but that is not necessarily true. The history of American slavery began long before this. Native American slavery has traditionally been treated as a secondary matter when compared to the African slave trade. Indians were enslaved in large numbers and forced to labor as slaves or in other forms of servitude. They would do many different tasks ranging from working on a plantation to working in mines to working like a slave in domestic settings. Native Americans were used as slaves for as long as they could but until the number of European immigrants began to rise at an alarming rate. The arrival of Europeans and their disease and tools for war caused a drastic drop in the number of Native Americans as a whole, thus creating the
After Walter foolishly loses all of his mother's money to his friend, he begins to hate himself, the only emotion that allows him to consider selling out his race and accepting Lindner's offer. It is a good moment for Walter, because Travis is watching him. Walter cannot bring himself to except.
... love and happiness of one’s family. Walter changes from being self-centered to self-less. He gives up his dream of having a liquor store when Willy Harris runs away with the money. Walter does that so the Younger family can fill their lives with joy and do not have to struggle anymore. This is the biggest sacrifice that Walter makes for the family. This theme also applies to everyday life. Many people sacrifice their wishes and dreams that they have, so they could help their family through tough times and always keep a smile on their faces. Love, sacrifice, and happiness is a part of everyday life.
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Over the span of five-hundred years, the Roman Republic grew to be the most dominant force in the early Western world. As the Republic continued to grow around the year 47 B.C it began to go through some changes with the rise of Julius Caesar and the degeneration of the first triumvirate. Caesar sought to bring Rome to an even greater glory but many in the Senate believed that he had abused his power, viewing his rule more as a dictatorship. The Senate desired that Rome continued to run as a republic. Though Rome continued to be glorified, the rule of Caesar Octavian Augustus finally converted Rome to an Empire after many years of civil war. Examining a few selections from a few ancient authors, insight is provided as to how the republic fell and what the result was because of this.
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Walter is Mama’s oldest son. His dreams are to be wealth but at the same time wanting to provide for his family. His own personal dream is to open liquor store with his money he receives from Mama.
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Slavery, like many ill-fated and evil inventions reached epidemic levels in early Europe and the American colonies. The history of slavery is documented most acutely during the period when slaves first arrived to the new land and when the colonies had first developed into the fledging United States of America. This would lead us to believe that slavery had not existed before this period or that the consequences and relevance of it had little historical, social, or economical importance. While some of this might be true, the act of enslaving other human being has existed for hundreds of before the Europeans ever reached and explored the continent of Africa. Proponents of slavery could argue that it is just a natural step in the evolution and development of civilized man. Historic data revealed that the African people form of enslavement on one another was drastically different then European and American way. Although slavery as we know it has been abolished, the consequences have had and will surely have everlasting effects on you, me and the future of every child
John Bowlby’s attachment theory established that an infant’s earliest relationship with their primary caregiver or mother shaped their later development and characterized their human life, “from the cradle to the grave” (Bowlby, 1979, p. 129). The attachment style that an infant develops with their parent later reflects on their self-esteem, well-being and the romantic relationships that they form. Bowlby’s attachment theory had extensive research done by Mary Ainsworth, who studied the mother-infant interactions specifically regarding the theme of an infant’s exploration of their surrounding and the separation from their mother in an experiment called the strange situation. Ainsworth defined the four attachment styles: secure, insecure/resistant, insecure/avoidant and disorganized/disoriented, later leading to research studies done to observe this behavior and how it affects a child in their adolescence and adulthood.
Matthews, G., Deary, I. J., & Whiteman, M. C. (2009). Personality traits. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Toby Rosenberg, in all the five years of his life, has never been your typical toddler. At age 14 months, Toby could read aloud from posters his stroller passed by. A year later, he spoke both Polish and English fluently, and at the age of 4, he compiled a dictionary of hieroglyphics after visiting a museum shop and perusing through a book on ancient Egypt (1). From W.A. Mozart to Bobby Fisher to Toby Rosenberg, some children have since their birth amazed the world with their incredible intellect and abilities that can at times outdo even the brightest of adults. Why is this so, and, as many parents-to-be wonder, can a genius be created? It is evident that when a child's mental development is displayed far beyond the usual time, the only reasonable explanation is that the brain and nervous system are much more highly developed than is normal for the age (2). Some scientists believe that there are quantitative differences in these children's cerebral organization, and that these differences may possibly have a genetic link. However, although results seem to indicate this as so, more data is needed to establish this firmly and to ultimately explain why so few children have such gifted abilities.
Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2012). Personality: Classic theories and modern research (5th ed). Boston , MA, USA: Pearson
Roberts Donald D. Phd, Psychodynamic Psychology, Shorter term treatment of the borderline personality disorder: A developmental self-and object relations winter 2000 Volume 17 number 1