Recently, I came across a report published in a science column which said that autistics showed more skills at problem solving than non-autistics. This conclusion was arrived at after a study was carried out on two groups of autistics and non-autistics.
The participants of the study were between the age groups of 14-36 and evenly matched following their evaluation on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. They were put through RSPM problem-solving which was scrutinized through magnetic resonance imaging. And on conclusion of the test, it was found that autistics have efficient reasoning in comparison.
I do not find this result surprising because most of us are aware of the fact that those born with some kind of disability are gifted with sharp brains. Their intellectual abilities are far superior to those born without disability. In a previous write-up on autism, I had mentioned that brilliant minds as Einstein, Mozart, George Orwell and Vincent van Gogh were believed to be autistic. So, the result of this study should not in the least surprise us.
An earlier trend had been to dismiss autistics as ‘mentally retarded’ because of their inability to perform day-to-day functions as normally as others and also because of their poor speaking skills. But now, after many studies have been conducted on autism and those with the condition, it is believed that autistics are exceptionally gifted and some are real geniuses.
Perhaps, this is God’s way of keeping a balance in this world!