Autistic savants have always appealed to me–the idea that a person could be a startling genius but also mentally handicapped is a crazy thought. Before I continue to the point of this post, I must pay homage to the real Rain Man, Kim Peek, who died recently. The movie Rainman starring Tom Cruise was based on his life story.
Now onto Orlando Serrell. I made the discovery on him from an article in Neatorama, an online source of interesting tidbits. The article is entitled the “10 most fascinating savants”. For the article, go here:http://www.neatorama.com/2008/09/05/10-most-fascinating-savants-in-the-world/
Orlando is a savant without the typical mental handicap of autism. When he was a young boy, he was injured in a game of basketball. After a series of headaches, he realized that he now had new abilities in math and other areas. What’s fascinating is the fact that previous to the basketball game, he did not show any of these abilities, then after being hit in the head with a basketball, became a savant without paying the price of autism.
So the question is: if a certain part of our brain is triggered, could we all pocesses the genius of autistic savants?
intriguing.
To read more about Orlando, visit his site : http://www.orlandoserrell.com/about.htm
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