Mind Reading Sharjah Girl ‘Exceedingly Rare’ Savant

khaleejtimes.com

Godfather of savant research ‘never seen’ a case like Sharjah’s Nandana, reports Sajila Saseendran

A nine-year-old autistic girl in Sharjah, whose extraordinary ability to read her mother’s mind was revealed to the world last week, could be the next name added to a worldwide registry of people with savant talents, according to the world’s top expert in savant syndrome.

People with savant syndrome exhibit extraordinary abilities, but have serious mental disabilities including autistic disorder.

Nine-year-old miracle girl Nandana has an extraordinary ability to read her mother’s mind. — KT photo by M. Sajjad

In an exclusive report published on March 25, Khaleej Times brought to light the story of miracle girl Nandana Unnikrishnan, an autistic Indian child who can feel her mother’s emotions and read her thoughts, without any medium.

The story that generated massive response among the readers, other media and experts in the fields of autism and psychiatry also caught the attention of Dr Darold A. Treffert, who is dubbed the godfather of savant research and was a consultant for the Oscar-winning box office smash Rain Man, which depicted Dustin Hoffman as a savant.

After reading the report on the Khaleej Times website, Dr Treffert wrote to Khaleej Times expressing his interest in the story and his long-term involvement researching savant syndrome.

“(I) have been involved in research on savant syndrome for many years. Savant syndrome itself is rare. But the type of telepathy Nandana exhibits is extraordinarily rare. I am investigating several cases now and appreciate learning about Nandana.”

Dr Treffert conveyed his desire to learn more about Nandana’s talents and called the Khaleej Times report “very convincing”.

He has been actively sharing the story with followers of his website and other colleagues, and said he expected Nandana’s ability to “remain exceedingly rare”.

According to Dr Treffert, Nandana’s story is fascinating even within the world of the savants who are indeed extraordinary people.

“I certainly want to emphasize that Nandana’s case is extraordinarily rare in an already rare condition, but with far-reaching ramifications. I also want to compliment you on the testing you did to confirm the ability…When it is musical skill, or art, the pieces speak for themselves. But in this instance the ability needs to be demonstrated by more rigorous testing of the type you did.”

He said what was most striking was that there was no physical contact between Nandana and her mother as in facilitated communication: “That’s good. Facilitated communication with the parent or another person actually touching the patient’s arm or elbow is a controversial technique.”

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