The Genuis
When I was writing out my first book, Escape To Phobos, I decided it would be interesting to create a savant character in my story.. I fashioned him after my own son, who happens to have Asperger's. Terms like prodigy, genius, and savants can be alittle confusing but prodigy describes a child and genius is used for adults, while savants are more specialized. Derived from the French verb savoir (to know) it describes individuals who possess “islands of genius” amidst otherwise average or diminished abilities. Individuals with savant syndrome characteristically excel in one of five categories: 1. Music (most often piano performance) 2. Art (usually drawing and painting) 3. Calendar calculating (e.g., May 4, 1632, was a Friday) 4. Mathematics (e.g., computing prime numbers), and 5. Mechanical or spatial skills (e.g., map making). Following a "typical" genuis would be someone who is born with a high IQ and uses thier skills over thier lifetime like Evangelos Katsioulis. Kat