Abstract
‘Seeing the world differently’ examines the savant talents possessed by some autistic people. It asks: Could a different way of processing information lead to a different kind of intelligence? This question led to the theory of weak central coherence — a reference to the normally strong drive for meaning. With strong central coherence there is a pre-set preference towards perceiving wholes rather than parts. People with autistic disorder have written about their liking for detail and their ability to focus on detail. The criticisms of this theory are examined, one of which is that a detail-focused processing style seems to apply only to some but not all individuals with autistic disorder.
