What the Savant Syndrome Can Tell Us About the Nature and Nurture of Talent

Recent research has begun to illuminate the composition and development of exceptional skills in those with intellectual disability. I argue that this research is relevant to more general discussions of talent. First, it provides a special opportunity to deconstruct talent in different domains. Because savants typically lack the general intellectual skills usually present in those with more domain-restricted achievement, this analysis helps to delineate both the core components of talent in those domains and how more general skills affect the expression and development of that talent. Second, savants often have disabilities that can modify the direction of development in unusual ways. Examining these conditions suggests new ways of thinking about how talent may be nurtured.