Stephen Wiltshire was diagnosed as autistic at the age of three, at an extreme level of the autistic scale. He experienced severe delays in development, including the ability to communicate. At five, he was sent to school, and when he arrived, he started drawing. Drawing, in detail, what his eyes had glanced at during the journey he took from home to school.
Now he's in his thirties, and a reknowned architectural artist. Whatever he has set his eyes on, from one glance, he can replicate it on paper with amazing detail and accuracy.
3 comments:
I first read about him in Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars. Great to catch him on video, even better to hear that he is having a good career. Thanks for sharing!
That is just mad!
Yulin - You're welcome! It's pretty amazing. These cases really emphasize how the human brain is so unknown and mysterious... no wonder Oliver Sacks is so fascinated by him!
Shabby - It really seems surreal, but its true. Stephen has Savant Syndrome, where a person with development disorders (including autism spectrum disorders) has one or more areas of expertise/ability/brilliance which seem to 'compensate'for their overall limitations. However, having more than one ability is very rare, but Stephen not only has a photographic memory of which he applies to art, he also has perfect pitch. I think they only fully realised it recently, but yes, he is capable of applying that memorising skill to music as well.
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