In my Behavior Disorders in Children class yesterday, we enjoyed watching a number of YouTube videos highlighting Stephen Wiltshire, an amazing young man with autism who can draw whole cities from memory after half hour or so helicopter rides over them. If we ever manage to understand how savant abilities like Stephen’s work, we will know a great deal about the brain. Enjoy.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAfaM_CBvP8[/youtube]
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9 Comments
rsheffel3 · January 23, 2009 at 1:50 pm
This video was inspirational in a way that is hard to understand. Stephen, a high-functioning man with autism, quite obviously possesses this skill that seems supernatural.
It is hard for me to find words to describe how unique and gifted this young man is. Indeed, once we solve this mystery of how and why autistic brains are wired differently to encompass these savant behaviors, anything is possible. As an aside, I think Stephen would be a priceless asset to the Architectural Engineering department at Cal Poly.
msirna · January 23, 2009 at 7:11 pm
This absolutely amazing. It would definitely be great to understand the wiring of an autistic brain, and be able to understand how they can possess such great abilities, yet lack the common conversational skills.
Mhusband · January 23, 2009 at 8:31 pm
That’s absolutely incredible! I’ve seen another video like this before with an amazing artist who was also autistic. It strange to think that with only a tweak to our brains that we could be capable of something so amazing. Hopefully, as we continue to study people with such amazing gifts we can unlock the secret to this mystery
Mhusband · January 23, 2009 at 8:32 pm
That’s absolutely incredible! I’ve seen another video like this before with an amazing artist who was also autistic. It strange to think that with only a tweak to our brains that we could be capable of something so amazing. Hopefully, as we continue to study people with such amazing gifts we can unlock the secret to this mystery.
krusch · January 25, 2009 at 8:03 pm
It is amazing to me that an individual would be able to draw any single building just by a quick helicopter ride, but it is almost unbelievable that anyone could draw 5.5 yards worth of paper of a city. His attention to detail is very good and his scale is almost perfect. It is crazy to think that not only is this individual able to draw such art, but he is also autistic! Hopefully sometime in the near future technology and research will allow us to understand mental disorders more.
Alexscharf · February 1, 2009 at 2:13 am
I thought his videos were amazing. I have been to Tokyo, Japan before and the architecture is very advanced and to be able to remember all the details is something remarkable. What I wound interesting was when he was done with the drawing, he would just say “Okay.” There was no celebration or spike in excitement. It was just something he did just because e had the urge to. I wonder what his next drawing is going to be. This also points out that we all have unique special skills and there is no limit to what one can achieve. I look forward to seeing some more of Stephen’s work.
jforsberg · February 6, 2009 at 12:54 pm
I found the videos to be so fascinating! I’m currently interning at a Pediatric Occupational Therapy clinic in San Luis Obispo and have had the opportunity to work with some wonderful children on the autism spectrum. Children with autism are such wonderful, unique people and are such a joy observe because of their unique and special personalities. It’s so fascinating to me whenever children present “savant syndrome” along with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. The fact that Stephen can be so gifted in some areas while still being impaired in others seems so hard to comprehend. The functioning of an autistic brain is so interesting and I look forward to future research findings in the area of autism.
jpham05 · March 12, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Stephen’s savant ability is absolutely amazing. His ability to draw such detailed murals of places after just seeing them once is unbelievable. It makes me wonder what part of Stephen’s mind is working to capture such detail in so little time. It would be interesting to see how the mind of savants compare to the average person. It’s incredible to know that Stephen’s mind allows him to be capable of a task I would have thought to be nearly impossible.
kpeters · March 14, 2009 at 4:17 pm
This kind of thing is truly incredible. It amazes me that he not only remembers it right then, but continues to remember it for 3 days later. That is truly amazing memory. All of the intricate detail is astounding. He possesses quite the talent. It is cool to see how people can find the good out of certain disabilities, so even though Stephen Wiltshire has autism, there are still obviously great things that come about as a result of this disability.
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