An interesting case of Savant skills in a patient of autism spectrum disorder

BACKGROUND: ASD is a phenotypically heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental syndromes, with polygenic heritability with impairments in social communication and restricted and repetitive behaviours.(1) People with savant syndrome have talent in domains like music,art, memory, etc, a condition found in autism.(2) AIM:-: To assess a patient of ASD with Savant skills. METHODS: A 16 y/o male patient was brought to opd with c/o:- -Easy irritability on minor matters - Remaining withdrawn - Fearfulness on going out of house, since 2 months. Patient was diagnosed as “Autism spectrum disorder” at 5 y/o age and was maintaining well without meds since 10 years. ISAA scale was applied for this patient. RESULTS: ISAA score was 106(Mild autism), patient had exceptional skills and was able to:- -Correctly answer the day of any date from 1950 to 2050 within a span of seconds. -Quickly memorize any lyrics with ease and sing it efficently. -Write simultaneously using both hands. -Had exceptional skills in instruments like piano, harmonium and tabla. CONCLUSION: The causes of savant syndrome are not known, genetic reasons might be responsible and in some cases, savant syndrome can be induced following severe head trauma to the left anterior temporal lobe. Savant skills coexist with various developmental disabilities, brain injury or intellectual disability. Savant skills occur in less than 1% of such cases, but 1 in 10 patients of autistic disorder might have these skills and hence is found to be more common in those with autistic spectrum disorder.(3) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Dr. Minakshi Parikh (Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry, B.J. Medical College and Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad) Dr. Sunayna Pandey (Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, B.J. Medical College and Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad) REFERENCES: 1. Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., Ruiz, P., & Kaplan, H. I. Kaplan and sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry(11(th) ed), Wolters Kluwer. 2. Miller LK. The savant syndrome: intellectual impairment and exceptional skill. Psychol Bull. 1999;125:31–46. 3. Treffert DA (May 2009). “The savant syndrome: an extraordinary condition. A synopsis: past, present, future”. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 364 (1522): 1351–7. doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0326. PMC 2677584. PMID 19528017.This study aimed to determine the relationship between the level of insight in illness and internalized stigma among patients with depression and to identify the clinical factors associated with impaired insight.