In this blog and my next, I will talk about two autistic prodigies who continue to surprise with their immense knowledge and skill. In this blog, I will talk about the amazing talent of a 36-year-old man by the name of Derek Paravicini. Derek was born two and a half months prematurely and weighed only one pound at birth. Due to his premature birth, his lungs were still not completely formed, so he was put on oxygen therapy. While on this oxygen therapy, he received too much oxygen, due to the hospital’s lack of adequate machinery. As a consequence of this, Derek was blinded. His brain development was also affected, causing his learning disabilities and he is also autistic. (Wikipedia)

Derek’s family first discovered Derek’s talent for music at the age of two. He was given a small piano to play on and was quickly able to play well. They soon found out that Derek was able to play, perfectly, songs that he had heard just once. His playing style was erratic and unorganized; he often used his elbows and even his nose to play some of the notes. At the age of four, his parents decided to enroll him in the Linden Lodge School for the Blind. There, he met the man who would become his teacher and mentor, Adam Ockelford. Adam taught him how to properly play the piano and would give him lessons every day. (Wikipedia)

Up to date, Derek has made many public appearances, playing different types of music on the piano. He has absolute pitch, which means he can distinguish between every single note, and is able to recreate any song after hearing it just once. There are many interesting documentaries about Derek’s life that one can watch on YouTube. (Wikipedia)

Scientists are still very confused about how Derek and other autistic savants have their amazing talents. One thing that accompanies savant syndrome is an incredible memory. Many theories exist as to how these people can have such amazing talents but there is no consensus as to how they have them. The most interesting theory to me is that when people have damage in one side of their brain, the other side of the brain compensates for it. (NCBI)

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Paravicini

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677584/