呆超人 (Idiot Savants)
(From Hermelin, B.(2001)
Bright Splinters of the Mind.
l The accounts of ‘idiot savants’ had been given for over 100 years. The Frenchman Alfred Binet, who invented the first intelligence test, had introduced the term to describe those people who had great learning difficulties and could not cope with life on their own, but yet showed an outstanding ability in a specific area.
有關呆超人的記載已超過一百年了，第一個發明智商測試的法國人Binet 拿這個名詞來形容那些有學習困難、兼且不能獨立生活，但在某方面卻擁有超凡能力的人。
l It is noteworthy that savant ability is much more frequently found in those who suffer from some kind of autism. At most one or two in 200 of those within the autistic spectrum disorder can justifiably be regarded as having a genuine talent.
值得注意的是超凡能力多見於自閉症人士，但大概每二百名自閉症 (廣義) 人士中，最多只有一或兩個人擁有這份天賦。
l Savant talents are usually evident in the domains of number or date calculation, the visual arts and music. There are some rare cases with high-level abilities in the area of language.
超凡能力通常見於數字或日期的運算、視覺藝術和音樂，語言方面的超凡能力則屬罕有。
l Of all the savants that have been investigated half in fact had IQs below 75, that is below the average range, while the other 50% of cases fell into the lower normal range of intellectual functioning on at least some sub-tests of intelligence.
在研究裡，半數接受測試的呆超人的智商低於75 (也就是說低於常人)，其他的一半則歸於正常智商偏低一類 (只是指某部分智商測試)。
l It is characteristic of such individuals to show ‘islands of intelligence’. Their IQ profiles are more uneven than those of other mentally impaired people.
這類人士的特點是不平均的智商，比較其他的智障人士，他們的智商表現更不平均。
l Furthermore, the sub-tests in which autistic individuals without special talents tend to do well are the same as those in which savants also excel. Thus, one could possibly conclude that it might be the autism-related component functions of cognition that are evident in savants’ intelligence results.
沒有特殊才能的自閉症人士，他們表現得特別出色的測試，呆超人同樣表現得非常優秀，我們可以說，從他們的智商測試結果，可以找到和自閉症有關的認知功能。
l As with other savant gifts, mental processes that might not be evident in other behavioral areas become manifest in those activities which are directly talent related.
跟超凡能力一樣，一些可能不見於其他行為的思想過程，在這些與特殊才能有關的活動變得明顯可見。
l The mental impairments from which savants suffer set boundaries to the development of their talents. There are no geniuses about. Their mental limitations disallow and preclude an awareness of innovative developments in the areas of their special abilities. Their success will always have to be judged against the background of their general cognitive and affective restrictions.
呆超人的智障妨礙了他們特殊天賦的發展，他們不能成為天才，智商限制了他們在獨有天賦範疇內的創新，他們的成就應該就其認知和感情的障礙來加以評價。