Nadia Revisited

"This book is essential reading for anyone striving to understand the beautiful otherness of the autistic mind. Lorna Selfe's original description of Nadia and her wonderful drawings captivated readers everywhere. This follow-up volume not only updates Nadia's story, but shows how the study and science of autism and of exceptional talent has developed." -- Francesca Happe, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK "The case of Nadia is unique in the history of autism and in the history of outsider art. Nadia's exuberantly prolific drawings in early childhood remain a mystery as well as an incredible achievement. This book sees the author who first discovered Nadia's abilities unravel the story and consider the exceptional case history within the context of the latest research on autism and talent." -- Uta Frith, UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UK "This book is completely unique; it contains a wealth of description, and applies the latest cognitive neuroscience research to our understanding of autism and savantism. There are few opportunities for a psychologist to have followed an autistic savant across their lifetime over 30 years to see how their condition changes, and readers will be fascinated with this new volume." -- Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and Director of the Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge, UK "Since in most savants the special skills continue to develop and accelerate, Nadia's case raises not only the question of where did her special art skills come from as a child, but also the equally important question of why did they disappear? Dr Selfe provides a comprehensive and intriguing exploration of both questions, now with the benefit of a 30+ year follow up, providing more 'grist for the mill' in trying to better unravel the mystery and mosaic that is savant syndrome." -- Darold A. Treffert M.D., Wisconsin Medical Society, USA