Research-Art/Music

Autistic Children Show Outstanding Musical Skills (from the Schafer Report) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/05/040526070452.htm Specialist individual music lessons could hugely benefit children with autism, according to researchers Dr Pamela Heaton and Dr Francesca Happe at the University of London. The study, which was funded by ESRC, suggests that many children with this disorder have outstanding abilities in tone recognition. “A lot of work has been done on musical savants with exceptional musical memory and rarely found absolute pitch ability” says Dr Pamela Heaton who led the research. “But our research shows that even children without these special talents and no musical training can have highly developed musical 'splinter skills'. If we could develop effective non-verbal music teaching methods, we might be able to understand more about the way these children learn and process other information.” A series of music workshops in which children with autism will be taught to read musical notation are currently being planned. The research compared the skills of six to 19 year old individuals with autism, and a control group with matching age, IQ and level of musical background, on a series of tasks into tone memory and discrimination. Using a touch-screen laptop computer, they were asked to identify musical notes by moving the image of a boy up and down a flight of stairs. Although the children with autism had the communication difficulties associated with this disorder, a sub-group of them produced exceptional results. In one of the tests four children from the autism group achieved a score of 89 per cent compared to an average score of 30 per cent. “These findings were surprising, especially given that two of these children had intellectual impairment and none had experienced musical training. Autistic children can be highly analytical listeners and are able to access musical details more readily than typically developing children,” says Pamela Heaton, who worked as a musician before gaining a doctorate in psychology” Did Michelangelo Have Autism? Aloof, Obsessed, Self-Absorbed -- Yet One of History's Greatest Artists ~3[Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario.] By Jeanie Lerche DavisWebMD Medical News Classic tortured genius: The great artist Michelangelo may have suffered from autism, new research shows. The report, which appears in the Journal of Medical Biography, provides a synthesis of new evidence about the famous 16th century artist, renowned for painting the Sistine Chapel in Rome. “He was a loner, self-absorbed, and gave his undivided attention to his masterpieces -- a feature of autism,” writes lead researcher Muhammad Arshad, PhD, a psychiatrist at Five Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust in Great Britain. “Michelangelo met the criteria for Asperger's disorder, or high-functioning autism,” Arshad adds. In his report, Arshad outlines research into the great artist -- taken from numerous works, including notes from the artist's assistant and his family. It all points to high-functioning autism, he says. Autism is a complex disorder that does not affect intelligence. But it does impact how people perceive and process information. Difficulty communicating, social isolation, a need for control, and obsession with very specific interests are hallmarks of autism. For some people, all this makes daily functioning quite difficult. Others get along fairly well, even attend regular schools. Michelangelo likely suffered from high-functioning autism, called Asperger's syndrome, says Arshad. Some of his evidence: · The men in Michelangelo's family “displayed autistic traits” and mood disturbances. His family described him as “erratic” and “had trouble applying himself to anything.” As a child and young man, he did not get along with his family and suffered physical abuse. · The artist was aloof and a loner. The artist's mentor described Michelangelo as being unable to make friends or to maintain any relationship. He did not attend his brother's funeral, which underlined “his inability to show emotion,” writes Arshad. · He was obsessed with work and controlling everything in his life -- family, money, time. Loss of control caused him great frustration. He was able to generate, in a short time, many hundreds of sketches for the Sistine ceiling -- no two alike, nor any pose similar. He gave his undivided attention to his masterpieces. · He had difficulty holding up his end of a conversation, often walking away in the middle of an exchange, writes Arshad. He had a short temper, a sarcastic wit, and was paranoid at times. He was bad-tempered and had angry outbursts. · He rarely bathed, and often slept in his clothes including his boots. “He has sometimes gone so long without taking them off that then the skin came away, like a snake's, with the boots,” wrote the artist's assistant. “Michelangelo's single-minded work routine, unusual lifestyle, limited interests, poor social and communication skills, and various issues of life control appear to be features of high-functioning autism,” Arshad concludes. SOURCES: Arshad, M. Journal of Medical Biography, June 2004: vol 12, pp 115-120. WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise, “What is autism?

By Deborah Condon

A number of historical figures, including Eamon de Valera, WB Yeats and American artist, Andy Warhol, may have had a form of autism, a leading Irish psychiatrist has claimed.

According to Professor Michael Fitzgerald of Trinity College, Dublin, all showed sings of Asperger's syndrome, a type of autism in which the person affected generally has a very high IQ, but extremely poor social and communication skills.

Professor Fitzgerald makes the claim in a new book, 'In Autism and Creativity: Is There a Link Between Autism in Men and Exceptional Ability?', which is due to be published in the coming weeks.

Did Yeats have Asperger's syndrome?

The syndrome has previously been linked to historically significant people such as Albert Einstein. However having examined the biographies of prominent figures, Professor Fitzgerald believes that others such as Yeats, de Valera, the author Lewis Carroll, Charles Darwin and even Socrates, probably had the condition.

"WB Yeats for example did very poorly at school. He failed to get into Trinity College and was described by his teachers as 'pedestrian and demoralised'. His parents were told he would never amount to anything", said Professor Fitzgerald.

This, he added, is typical of people with Asperger's syndrome. They do not fit in as they do not relate to others. They are often seen as odd or eccentric and may be bullied at school as a result.

Professor Fitzgerald also said that the number of people being diagnosed with the condition is on the increase because doctors are recognising it more.