**2. Nature of autistic intelligence and creativity**

"Autistic intelligence" as described by Hans Asperger [13] is a sort of intelligence hardly touched by tradition and culture – "unconventional, unorthodox, strangely 'pure' and origi‐ nal, akin to the intelligence of pure creativity". As pointed out by Einstein "To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires imagination and makes real advance in science" [14 p. 40].

Individuals with ASD show great variation in IQ ranging from severe intellectual impair‐ ment to superior ability. In addition, intelligence as measured by traditional intelligence tests reveals a different intellectual profile in ASD than in the neurotypical population with peaks on Block Design and troughs in Comprehension that appears to be robust across IQ levels [15]. Individuals with ASD also generally display atypical cognitive processes when performing these tasks. More recent studies [16,17] revealed further evi‐ dence for a different nature of autistic intelligence including fast information processing despite poor measured IQ.

The relationship between intelligence and creativity is unclear and ranges from suggestions of totally distinct psychological entities to overlapping constructs to different labels for the same thing [18]. Guilford [19] in his 1950 landmark paper "Creativity" asserted that creative talent could not be understood in terms of "intelligence". Within the creativity literature, as noted by Lubart [20] "the dominant view is that certain intellectual abilities may be particu‐ larly useful in creative work, but no intellectual ability is devoted only to creativity" (p.288). Good general intelligence, domain-specific knowledge and special skills are necessary ingre‐ dients for creativity; however, these components alone are not sufficient for explaining crea‐ tive processes [21].

Gardner's [22] model of multiple intelligences holds that intelligence is a collection of differ‐ ent intellectual capacities including linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily kinaes‐ thetic, spatial intelligence and two forms of personal intelligence, - one oriented towards the understanding of other persons, the other towards an understanding of self. Autistic intelli‐ gence tends to be concentrated in the areas of music and logical-mathematical and spatial abilities. By nature, individuals with autism are extremely logical and analytical, and their thinking is concrete which makes them good mathematicians though lesser poets. The ex‐ ception may be a minority of gifted individuals with ASD who have special literary talents as suggested by Ilona Roth [23] in her analysis of autism spectrum poets including Donna Williams, Tito Mukhopadhyay and Wendy Lawson. Roth makes the point that "poetry, with its dependence on intensely abstract, symbolic, and free-flowing forms of expression" (p. 161) might be particularly suited to the autistic cognitive style.

Many features of Asperger syndrome enhance creativity, but the ability to focus deeply on a topic and to take endless pains is characteristic. Hans Asperger [24] emphasized the intensi‐ ty with which special interests are pursued already in his first lecture about children with "autistic psychopathology". It appears that these unique qualities of concentration and also perception as discussed in subsequent paragraphs in individuals with ASD may give rise to extraordinary creative abilities. Exceptionally gifted people like for example the animal sci‐ entist and author Temple Grandin [25] declares that her autism, as manifested in her acute visual/spatial mind and in her powers of concentration is what has made her success possi‐ ble (p.188). People with Asperger syndrome live very much in their intellects, and certain forms of creativity benefit greatly from this [26]. Apart from good concrete intelligence addi‐ tional characteristics of a gifted person with ASD include, ability to disregard social conven‐ tions, unconcern about the opinions of others and a sometimes-childlike naivety and inquisitiveness.

According Nancy Andreasen [27], who made a significant contribution to research on creativity, the personality traits that characterize creative individuals include "openness to experience, adventuresomeness, rebelliousness, individualism, … persistence, curiosity, simplicity, … the ability to see things in a different and novel way, indifference to social conventions, dislike of externally imposed rules, driven by own set of rules derived from within and a childlike manner" (p.30-32). Not surprisingly, the above two descriptions are strikingly similar.
