In 2009, British researchers found that 20 percent of the 72 teens with autism they studied had a superior ability to distinguish pitch. Other studies found superior pitch to be more widespread in ASD.
According to one parent-report study, people with autism are about 500 times more likely than the general population to have absolute pitch — a savant-like skill that allows an individual to classify pitch completely out of context.
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who can speak often exhibit abnormal voice quality and speech prosody, but the exact nature and underlying mechanisms of these abnormalities, as well as their diagnostic power are currently unknown.
Out of every 10,000 people, only between 1 to 5 of them will have perfect pitch. Out of every 10,000 musicians, however, between 100 and 1100 (that's 1-11%) may have the gift. Perfect pitch is also observed to run in families, which suggests it's at least partially genetic.
They have argued consistently that perfect pitch is not a dichotomous ability that people either have or do not have: Instead, it may be better thought of as a continuous spectrum.
Some people with autism have an exceptional talent for music, math, art or language.
Physiological responses show that the music experiences of autistic people are normal in comparison with the musical experiences of non-autistic people. But their emotion understanding, imagination and description is not.
The results of 53 parent-reported questionnaires show that classical music (see also Bhatara & Quintin, 2013) and pop-rock are preferred genres in ASD compared to other genres (e.g., jazz or folk).
AP is often considered to reflect musical giftedness, but it has also been associated with certain disabilities due to increased prevalence of AP in individuals with sensory and developmental disorders.
How rare is perfect pitch, and is it genetic? A commonly cited number is that approximately one in 10,000, or . 01% of people, are thought to have perfect pitch.
Special abilities are more common in autism than in other groups, with one study1 finding that a third of autistic adults showed superior skills in one or more areas by parental report and on psychometric tests. Some well‐documented skills are as astounding as any in fiction, such as the renowned artist S.
As expected a number of research abstracts came up. While there is a moderate and positive correlation between the two variables in the study I'm citing below (r=0.43), it doesn't mean that a person with perfect pitch has a high IQ (however you might want to operationally define “high IQ”).
UCSF researchers report that the musical gift of “perfect pitch” requires both an inherited predisposition and very early musical training, offering new insight into the role of genes and environmental influences on human aptitude.
Perfect pitch, or as it is properly called, “absolute pitch”, is completely learned, 100%.
Perfect pitch is a rare skill, and a person with no absolute skill in naming a tone should at least have a relative pitch to develop perfect pitch technique. At most, people who are born with perfect pitch skill still have to undergo training and development in order to practice their perfect pitch skill well.
The ability to identify a note on the musical scale without a single reference point - known as absolute or perfect pitch - is a rarity even among musicians, but new studies with infants suggest that everyone may begin life with this remarkable talent.
Unusual speech.
Children with autism spectrum disorder have good vocabularies but unusual ways of expressing themselves. They may talk in a monotone voice and do not recognize the need to control the volume of their voice, speaking loudly in libraries or movie theaters, for example.
Repetitive behaviour
make repetitive noises like grunts, throat-clearing or squealing. do repetitive movements like body-rocking or hand-flapping.
excessive repetitions of phrases, revisions of ideas, filler words such as “um” or “uh” excessive over-coarticulation. Sounds in words run together and sounds or syllables may be deleted. For example, “It's like this” may sound like, “slikethi.”
Children with ASD are motivated to engage in music activities and it can be a preferred medium to operate within. They thrive within structure and music fulfills this need for structure and routine. First of all, children with ASD seem to enjoy musical experiences because they are often “good at it”.
Absolute pitch (AP), often called perfect pitch, is a rare ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone. AP may be demonstrated using linguistic labeling ("naming" a note), associating mental imagery with the note, or sensorimotor responses.
Using a noninvasive imaging technique they found that musicians with perfect pitch had less symmetrical brains than people with no musical training. In those with perfect pitch, a region in the left brain that is known to process language and nonverbal sounds is relatively larger than the same area in the right brain.
If you or a loved one has ASD, paying close attention to the foods being consumed is particularly important. For our patients with autism, we often recommend an elimination diet—eliminating gluten, dairy, sugar, corn, soy, and other categories of potentially allergenic foods for one month.