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Is synaesthesia more prevalent in autism spectrum conditions? Only where there is prodigious talent

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posted on 2023-06-09, 06:16 authored by James E A Hughes, Julia SimnerJulia Simner, Simon Baron-Cohen, Darold A Treffert, Jamie WardJamie Ward
Savant syndrome is a condition where prodigious talent co-occurs with developmental difficulties such as autism spectrum conditions (ASC). To better understand savant skills, we previously proposed a link with synaesthesia: that savant syndrome may arise in ASC individuals who also happen to have synaesthesia. A second, unrelated claim is that people with autism may have higher rates of synaesthesia. Here we ask whether synaesthesia is indeed found more often in autism per se, or only in cases where autism co-occurs with savant skills. People with autism in previous studies when tested for synaesthesia were not differentiated into those with and without savant abilities. Here we tested three groups: people with autism who also have savant skills (n = 40), people with autism without savant skills (n = 34), and controls without autism (n = 29). We used a validated test to diagnose grapheme–colour synaesthesia. Results show a significantly higher prevalence of synaesthesia in people with ASC, but only those who also have savant skills. This suggests that synaesthesia in autism is linked to those with savant abilities rather than autism per se. We discuss the role of synaesthesia in the development of prodigious talent.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Multisensory Research

ISSN

2213-4794

Publisher

Brill

Issue

3-5

Volume

30

Page range

391-408

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-05-12

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2017-05-12

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-05-12

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