https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g91IQsS2spA
When Jacob Barnett was 2 years old, he was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism. Doctors told his parents that the boy would likely never talk or read and would probably be forever unable to independently manage basic daily activities like tying his shoe laces.
But they were sorely, extraordinarily mistaken.
Today, Barnett — now 14 — is a Master’s student, on his way to earning a PhD in quantum physics. According to the BBC, the teen, who boasts an IQ of 170, has already been tipped to one day win the Nobel Prize.
Since enrolling at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) at the age of 10, Barnett has flourished — astounding his professors, peers and family with his spectacular intelligence.
The teen tutors other college students in subjects like calculus and is a published scientific researcher, with an IQ that is believed to be higher than that of Albert Einstein. In fact, according to a 2011 TIME report, Barnett, who frequently tops his college classes, has asserted that he may one day disprove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. (Watch him explain his genius to 60 minutes’ Morley Safer in a 2012 interview in the video above.)
Outside of his rigorous university commitments, Barnett, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, is also an entrepreneur and aspiring author.
The teen, who, with his family, runs a charity called Jacob’s Place for kids on the spectrum, has used his story to raise awareness and dispel myths about autism.
"I’m not supposed to be here at all," he said last year during a TEDx Teen speech about "forgetting what you know" in New York City. "You know, I was told that I wouldn’t talk. There’s probably a therapist watching who is freaking out right now."
Though he makes it all look so easy, his mother, Kristine Barnett, says that he has to work hard on a daily basis to handle his autism.
"He overcomes it every day. There are things he knows about himself that he regulates everyday," his mother told the Indianapolis Star last month.
In April, Kristine Barnett’s memoir about her family’s experience with autism, "The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing Genius," was released. A movie deal is said to be in the works.
"I hope it really inspires children to actually be doing something," Barnett told the Star of his mom’s book and potential film. " encourages them to do what they like doing. I just hope it is inspirational."
For more on Jacob Barnett, watch this March 2013 YouTube video of him working through what is described as "a simple quantum mechanics problem":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DUerSdSgG0
Awesome story! I love it when people not only beat the odds but live so well it leaves the doctors scratching their heads.
"Fool me one time, shame on you. Fool me two times, cant put tha blame on you. Fool me three times, fuck tha peace signs, load the choppa and let it rain on you"
People like labels.
Autistic, for example. It’s a shitty label. It implies a whole host of things that often times aren’t true. People are all over the spectrum.
Everyone is different. People have gifts. People have weaknesses. Einstein would have been considered autistic as well.
He was told he would never amount to anything. The most open, natural, intelligent minds are often times misunderstood.
Some of the smartest people could be considered retarded.
Think about Stephen Hawking: He proved Einstein’s theory of general relativity, he redefined the big bang theory, he proved that the universe has no boundaries. He has an amazing mind.
If he was born only a score of years earlier he would have been considered a vegetable and likely allowed to die.
I hate labels. Every person is talented and beautiful in their own way.
"You can't buy happiness… but you can buy weed, which is pretty close."
People like labels.
Autistic, for example. It’s a shitty label. It implies a whole host of things that often times aren’t true. People are all over the spectrum.
Everyone is different. People have gifts. People have weaknesses. Einstein would have been considered autistic as well.
He was told he would never amount to anything. The most open, natural, intelligent minds are often times misunderstood.Some of the smartest people could be considered retarded.
Think about Stephen Hawking: He proved Einstein’s theory of general relativity, he redefined the big bang theory, he proved that the universe has no boundaries. He has an amazing mind.
If he was born only a score of years earlier he would have been considered a vegetable and likely allowed to die.I hate labels. Every person is talented and beautiful in their own way.
Savant is a better description either way.
True. InItelligence is measured by testing and is a standardized oprediction on someone’s ability to learn. The numbers are completely test generated. On the 2 most generally accepted tests the maximum one can score is 150–if anyone says they have an intelligence quotient more than 150 they are obviously lying and misinformed.
Autism spectral disorder does not preclude someone from being intelligent, Autism is more of a bahavioral disorder and there is a broad range of imparity and functionality. A person with a more mild form of Autism, formerly called Asbergers syndrom may be intellient and high functioning, and may be very good at scientific endeavors, especially ones that require rote memoriozation and drawn out mathematics (skills which tend to go along with or complement the symptoms of the disorder).
The ability to communicate ideas and put pieces of information together to solve problems are typically more important for success than intelligence. Intelligence quotients are more of an prediction of how well someone will do in a learning or school situation, and although a high IQ will often be correlated with higher grades the vast majority of successful people are of average intelligence. In science, the ability to accept years of mindless repetitive tasks and numbers to achieve a goal is necessary, as well as the ability to withstand the politics of academic life.
Here is another very interesting savant:
He draws several different cities skylines from memory, here is him drawing NY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3IMP0fwlCM