Autism is characterized by limited behavior, but a new study surprisingly found that people with autism are capable of producing highly creative ideas. They are also reportedly more keen to think outside the box.
Researchers from the University of East Anglia and the University of Stirling gave a series of creativity tests to 312 people, 75 of whom had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Those who had autistic traits gave fewer answers to the test problems, but their answers were very creative and original, according to The Christian Science Monitor.
"We speculate that it may be because they are approaching things very differently," study co-author Catherine Best from the University of Stirling told The Guardian. "It goes a way towards explaining how some people with what is often characterized as a disability exhibit superior creative talents in some domains."
The participants were also tested for divergent thinking. Some of the tasks included listing possible uses for common things such as a paper clip or a brick, and giving as many interpretations of an abstract picture as they could in 60 seconds. The most original ideas came from the participants with autistic traits.
The explanation is that people with autistic traits do not solve creativity problems the same way that others do. Instead of turning to the more common ideas, they generate the less typical solutions, study co-author Martin Doherty from the University of East Anglia said in a press release.
"The associative or memory-based route to being able to think of different ideas is impaired, whereas the specific ability to produce unusual responses is relatively unimpaired or superior," Doherty explained.
Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of the nonprofit organization Ambitious about Autism, said the results of the research breaks the myth that people of autistic traits lack creativity.
"While it is true that some people with autism can have very specific interests and may struggle with abstract concepts, this research helps to highlight the fact that seeing the world in a different way can be a positive trait, too," she told The Guardian.
The study was published in the Aug. 14 issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
