Special Talents

[Cali Cat]

You hear a lot about people on the autistic spectrum who have particular savant-type talents that seem to come out of nowhere. They never studied whatever it may be, they just picked it up. I think I have one of those talents myself, and I'm wondering if anybody else has something like that they'd like to share, and I'd like to know if you developed that talent or used it to any great degree in adulthood.

My talent is for writing. From a very early age I had a large vocabulary, a knack for spelling and an almost inate knowledge of basic grammar and punctuation. It's true, I did start reading at a very early age. I believe I was 4, but they were just the typical children's books. I actually more memorized them than read them at that time. However, I never received more than the average education in English studies. It still baffles me how I picked up on all that from simply reading books.

I can't say that I took the time to develop that talent to any length. I'm sorry I did not, but I simply took it for granted during my youth. I was already better than most people who had degrees in the subject, so I just skated by on my natural talent. I could kick myself now. If I had put forth any effort in that direction, I could have been an editor of a magazine or worked for a publishing house. Basically, I could have been doing something I would have really enjoyed.

So, how about you? Any specific talent, and did you seek to develop it into something you could use?

 

[wanderer03]

I would say that computer opetating systems and networks are mine. Never needed any formal classes. I taught myself everything I needed to know. Too bad I hate technology as it applies to the authoritarian dictatorship that the workplace is.

 

[Cali Cat]

I would say that computer opetating systems and networks are mine. Never needed any formal classes. I taught myself everything I needed to know. Too bad I hate technology as it applies to the authoritarian dictatorship that the workplace is.

Seems like that would be a great position for an independent contractor. Ever looked into the possibilities in that field?

 

[clg114]

For me I would say thinking in pictures. I love machines of all kinds and spent most of my life working on them. In my minds eye, I can see how they work, how to take them apart, how to put them back together, to see possible solutions to problems and test the solutions. I also work on a lot of solid state electronics, which has no moving parts. While it is a little different without moving parts, I can see them working too. I know about solid state devices and what they do. So I can see current flow for the circuit in question in my head. This has made my work easy and enjoyable for me.

 

[Cali Cat]

For me I would say thinking in pictures. I love machines of all kinds and spent most of my life working on them. In my minds eye, I can see how they work, how to take them apart, how to put them back together, to see possible solutions to problems and test the solutions. I also work on a lot of solid state electronics, which has no moving parts. While it is a little different without moving parts, I can see them working too. I know about solid state devices and what they do. So I can see current flow for the circuit in question in my head. This has made my work easy and enjoyable for me.

Now that's a talent I really wish I had. I have no mind for mechanics at all. I can't see spatially. I'm a two-dimensional thinker.

My best friend is like you though. He used to have a food machinery business that designed and produced food processing machines for the likes of Del Monte, S&W and Smuckers. Unfortunately, his business skills did not match his engineering skills, and he ended up going into the antique sales business ... lol. I tend to think he is on the autistic spectrum too. Are there any Aspies who are introverts, but also loud and know-it-all?

It's really cool that you could utilize your natural talent to make your work life enjoyable.

 

[garnetflower13]

I was a lot like you, Cali Cat, in that I started reading at a very early age. So when I started school, I was skipped from kindergarten to first grade, and I was really upset because I had seen the play section of the kindergarten classroom and I hadn't had a chance to play! But by fourth grade I was pronounced to be reading nearly at college level. I also love to read; I read voraciously anything I could get my hands upon. I love to write creatively too, but am terrified to try getting published. I have entered a few contests but did not win.

 

[Cali Cat]

I was a lot like you, Cali Cat, in that I started reading at a very early age. So when I started school, I was skipped from kindergarten to first grade, and I was really upset because I had seen the play section of the kindergarten classroom and I hadn't had a chance to play! But by fourth grade I was pronounced to be reading nearly at college level. I also love to read; I read voraciously anything I could get my hands upon. I love to write creatively too, but am terrified to try getting published. I have entered a few contests but did not win.

Maybe there really is something about early reading that develops the mind for writing.

In sixth grade I was tested and was told (or rather my parents were told) my reading level was near college entry level, and my math was at a tenth grade level. They suggested that I skip junior high, but for various reasons, my parents didn't want me to do that. I sure wish they would have. I hated junior high.

I never entered any contests because I don't write fiction, but I have had articles published in a local newspaper and got paid for them.

Are you thinking of working in a field where you can make use of your writing skills?

 

[Judge]

Building quality computers I suppose. I never took any formal education in learning how.

Just something I chose to do. Mostly because the damn things intimidated me as a mere user!

 

[Cali Cat]

Building quality computers I suppose. I never took any formal education in learning how.

Just something I chose to do. Mostly because the damn things intimidated me as a mere user!

I can understand that. Nothing intimidates me more than a computer on the blink. Luckily, I have friends who have talents similar to yours. Pretty nifty for self-employment, too, I would think.

 

[FreeDiver]

Engineering, math , science and psychics? Defiantly my number one savant talents. I was already at collage level in those courses when I was still in the 5th grade. But do I have a job in any of those fields? No! Why? Because there are these homo sapien creatures here on this planet that use some kind of encrypted dialect that I'm still unable to crack. Even in spite of learning and being able to speak their native language fluently. I an still unable to establish sufficient communication with the homo sapien creatures of planet earth.

 

[Cali Cat]

Engineering, math , science and psychics? Defiantly my number one savant talents. I was already at collage level in those courses when I was still in the 5th grade. But do I have a job in any of those fields? No! Why? Because there are these homo sapien creatures here on this planet that use some kind of encrypted dialect that I'm still unable to crack. Even in spite of learning and being able to speak their native language fluently. I an still unable to establish sufficient communication with the homo sapien creatures of planet earth.

I'll bet the NT world has lost out on a lot of great talent because of its social requirements.

 

[garnetflower13]

Maybe there really is something about early reading that develops the mind for writing.

In sixth grade I was tested and was told (or rather my parents were told) my reading level was near college entry level, and my math was at a tenth grade level. They suggested that I skip junior high, but for various reasons, my parents didn't want me to do that. I sure wish they would have. I hated junior high.

I never entered any contests because I don't write fiction, but I have had articles published in a local newspaper and got paid for them.

Are you thinking of working in a field where you can make use of your writing skills?

Awesome that you got paid for your writing! I am retired now, so I just write for fun. I have had to accept that I won't be published for monetary compensation and it's a great burden lifted.

 

[Astroganga]

I have a few. I have difficulties with grammar in most languages but can easily memorise words and their meanings just by reading the word and its meaning in English. I know a lot of words (several thousand) in Danish, Welsh and Arabic, and many in French. I also learnt how to read and write Arabic in one evening, it took practice to get good at it, but the basic knowledge took an evening. I also memorised the meanings of lots of forenames, surnames and place names.

I can sew without patterns, copy dishes without a recipe and play tunes by ear-though I cannot play the chords at the same time as I cannot concentrate on two things at once. I also learnt to read music in the past, in the space of a couple of hours as well, I forgot it now as it was years ago but I know if I brushed up on it again I could learn again very quickly. I used to be able to memorise entire tv shows with one or two viewings and songs with one or two listens, can't memorise tv shows anymore but songs I still can.

I have also acquired a lot of medical and nutritional knowledge over the years and due to this people often come to me for medical and nutritional advice. I want to do the level 3 diploma in vegetarian and vegan nutrition, I know a few people who have done it and are working from home as nutritionists now-it costs a few hundred though so that is why I haven't done it yet.

I have written a few magazine articles and contributed to others, though I had an Aspie moment when I didn't know how long to write an article I got a comission for so I wrote a 5000 word detailed 'essay', they wanted 500 words. Whoops

 

[Warmheart]

We're kind of amazing.

When you take someone who focuses on details and has an incredible ability to perceive patterns, you get math geniuses, music superstars, phenomenally gifted writers, etc.

If one takes this extreme attention to detail...
Plus some sense of craving to feel patterns within things...
Add in amplified sensory sensitivities...
And a compelling special interest...
The ability to hyperfocus....
Some natural talent...
And tendency toward perseveration...
Include either a brilliant mind or profoundly intuitive heart intelligence..
You oftentimes get a savant.

I think there are many more savants than society knows of.
I also suspect that many savants are hidden, because their unique talents are in things society does not measure, value, or seek out.

 

[Cali Cat]

I have a few. I have difficulties with grammar in most languages but can easily memorise words and their meanings just by reading the word and its meaning in English. I know a lot of words (several thousand) in Danish, Welsh and Arabic, and many in French. I also learnt how to read and write Arabic in one evening, it took practice to get good at it, but the basic knowledge took an evening. I also memorised the meanings of lots of forenames, surnames and place names.

I can sew without patterns, copy dishes without a recipe and play tunes by ear-though I cannot play the chords at the same time as I cannot concentrate on two things at once. I also learnt to read music in the past, in the space of a couple of hours as well, I forgot it now as it was years ago but I know if I brushed up on it again I could learn again very quickly. I used to be able to memorise entire tv shows with one or two viewings and songs with one or two listens, can't memorise tv shows anymore but songs I still can.

I have also acquired a lot of medical and nutritional knowledge over the years and due to this people often come to me for medical and nutritional advice. I want to do the level 3 diploma in vegetarian and vegan nutrition, I know a few people who have done it and are working from home as nutritionists now-it costs a few hundred though so that is why I haven't done it yet.

I have written a few magazine articles and contributed to others, though I had an Aspie moment when I didn't know how long to write an article I got a comission for so I wrote a 5000 word detailed 'essay', they wanted 500 words. Whoops

Wow ... that's quite a resume of talents! I'm impressed.

 

[clg114]

Since this thread is about special talent, I am going to tell you about our youngest granddaughter. When she was a toddler I began to see the symptoms. She had big time meltdowns, would cover her ears a lot and seemed to be terrified in a crowded, noisy, bright store. She has always had knowledge and language that was advanced for her age. Our daughter (her mother) knew that she was very different from her older sisters, but resisted my suggestions about AS. When she started going to school, they bought it up too. Now she is in therapy to help her in live in a NT world. Now she is 7 years old and something very remarkable is happening. She is teaching herself to play the piano. They have a old upright piano that has been in my wife's family for years. Nobody in the house knows how to play it,but Kendra has liked playing with it for several years. What once was mixed up noise now sounds like music and no one has ever instructed her. I know she did not get it from me because I have no artistic talent at all.

 

[ChurchTheArtist]

As a kid I showed great talent in art. As an adult I realized I was going to have to be more than an artist and that I couldn't just coast on uncultivated talent.

I did much meditation to reverse engineer my talent in art and retool it for a different purpose. The talent to draw was not a talent at all but a resulting boost of skill from the root talent which was actually an innate understanding of visual geometry. My abilities are math based as I inherently understand parallax, mass and function. The ability to draw was an out-gas pressure release valve that my childhood brain used to aliviate my inability to comprehend my surroundings. Now I have it tooled towards more practical applications like mechanics and real world artisan projects.

 

[Maelstrom]

You hear a lot about people on the autistic spectrum who have particular savant-type talents that seem to come out of nowhere. They never studied whatever it may be, they just picked it up. I think I have one of those talents myself, and I'm wondering if anybody else has something like that they'd like to share, and I'd like to know if you developed that talent or used it to any great degree in adulthood.

My talent is for writing. From a very early age I had a large vocabulary, a knack for spelling and an almost inate knowledge of basic grammar and punctuation. It's true, I did start reading at a very early age. I believe I was 4, but they were just the typical children's books. I actually more memorized them than read them at that time. However, I never received more than the average education in English studies. It still baffles me how I picked up on all that from simply reading books.

I can't say that I took the time to develop that talent to any length. I'm sorry I did not, but I simply took it for granted during my youth. I was already better than most people who had degrees in the subject, so I just skated by on my natural talent. I could kick myself now. If I had put forth any effort in that direction, I could have been an editor of a magazine or worked for a publishing house. Basically, I could have been doing something I would have really enjoyed.

So, how about you? Any specific talent, and did you seek to develop it into something you could use?

Visualizing internally
associative empathic linking of matching patterns, ideas, and memories.
that would be sort of waking dream state memory or idea matching.
And Logic and deductive reasoning.

I could explain it more...but I don't feel like it at the moment...I don't value peoples belief in me that much...I can prove I am real whenever I feel like it...If I don't feel like it the world can go drop dead.

 

[Mads]

I also have a knack for reading and writing. My vocabulary is three levels above my current grade. I can be good when I want to be, and that's mainly when I'm not doing a writing assignment.

 

[Astroganga]

Wow ... that's quite a resume of talents! I'm impressed.

Thank you