Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting 1% of the population. It begins before birth and produces cerebral and mental effects throughout life. It is defined by behavior. It is usually detected in early childhood. It presents different degrees of severity, on a spectrum ranging from mild to severe autism. Although behavioral problems can improve with development and appropriate education and support, autistic people at every stage of life have characteristic impairments in communication and social interaction. They are unable to engage in genuine reciprocal interactions, and find it difficult to build lasting relationships and friendships. They have difficulty understanding common social behaviors - teasing, lying, attempts at persuasion or joking. This has been attributed to a mentalization deficit. Recent studies suggest that it is only the spontaneous ability to attribute mental states that is affected, but not the explicit form of mentalization, which involves attributing mental states autonomously. The former ability seems to be lacking in autism, while the latter can be acquired. In mild cases, autistic people show a deficiency in spontaneous mentalization, but not necessarily in explicit mentalization.
In autism, there are also other cognitive peculiarities responsible for both impairments and superior cognitive abilities. Various theories attempt to explain this irregularity. One of them suggests that a mode of processing that focuses attention on details explains both the strengths and weaknesses of cognition in autism. I present some evidence in support of this theory, which has the advantage of accounting for the cases of exceptional talent found in at least 10% and perhaps as many as 30% of autistic people. I would argue that in autism, a constellation of three factors may favor the development of exceptional talents :
- The absence of spontaneous mentalization frees the individual from conventional thinking and the ordinary use of skills.
- The absence of strong executive control enables "circulation" through unconscious perceptual-motor systems.
- The fact that attention is focused on details favors an original segmentation of perceptual inputs.
Taken together, these factors may explain the development of particular talents in fields as diverse as the ability to master calendars, musical interpretation and artistic production.
