Happy Guru

1: a personal religious teacher and spiritual guide in Hinduism
2 a: a teacher and especially intellectual guide in matters of fundamental concern
b: one who is an acknowledged leader or chief proponent c: a person with knowledge or expertise : expert

A savant is a person with a learning disability such as autism who has a particular gift for mathematics, remembering facts or figures or for music etc. The term was first coined in 1887 by Dr J. Langdon Down, who first wrote about ‘idiot savants’. The term savant means wise or knowledgeable one. So it describes the person who on the one hand is unable to learn and develop, but on the other is extremely clever in one particular area.
The ‘idiot’ part of the term has now been dropped, due to its offensive connotations. The term savant is stilll used though.
Savants are 6 times more likely to be male than female and around 10% of autistic children are savants.
The film ‘Rainman’ starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise depicted a savant who was almost a genius at mathematics and figures, but who could not understand day to day life or tasks.

The world’s most well-known Savant is Kim Peek. Kim Peek was born with macrocephaly, damage to the cerebellum, and, perhaps most important, agenesis of the corpus callosum, a condition in which the bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the brain is missing; in Peek’s case, secondary connectors such as the anterior commissure are also missing. There is speculation that his neurons make other connections in the absence of a corpus callosum, which results in an increased memory capacity. According to Peek’s father, Fran, Peek was able to memorize things from the age of 16-20 months. He read books, memorized them, and then placed them upside down on the shelf to show that he had finished reading them, a practice he still maintains. He reads a book in about an hour and remembers approximately 98% of everything he has read, memorizing vast amounts of information in subjects ranging from history and literature, geography, and numbers, to sports, music, and dates. He can recall some 12,000 books from memory.

To learn more about Kim Peek and the medical term “Savant” - please Click Here to read more on the Wikipedia Web-site.

I find this syndrome totally extraordinary. I studied Psychology for 4 years at the University of Wollongong and found this area of study to be my absolute favourite. It still blows my mind what this wonderful man is capable of. Hope you enjoyed this post - Duncan PS: There are a whole swag of videos on Kim Peek in You Tube. Just search under - Kim Peek. I’ll attach a couple for you here in the HG blog.

1 : a person of prominence or brilliant achievement

2 : a body that gives light; especially : one of the celestial bodies

Example Sentence:

The front of the science building is engraved with the names of luminaries from various scientific disciplines.

Did you know?

Allow us to shed some light on “luminary.” It came to English by way of Anglo-French and Late Latin, and it traces back to the Latin word “lumen,” meaning “light.” Other “lumen” descendants in English include “illuminate” (to light up), “luminous” (emitting light) and “phillumenist” (one who collects matchbooks or matchbox labels). “Luminary” has been shining its light in English since the 15th century. 

1 cup self raising flour
pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon bi carb soda
2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
dessertspoon melted butter

Mix dry ingredients, add sugar, egg, milk and butter. Beat till smooth. Heat some butter in a frypan and spoon small amounts letting them spread into circles. When the top starts to bubble turn them over and cook the other side.
Yummy with jam and cream.

4 large fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into slices OR
2 cans (440g each) of sliced peaches packed in juice, drained
2 tablespoons of water
¼ cup all-fruit peach preserves
1 large package of chocolate flavored instant pudding mix
1½ cups milk
125g cream cheese, softened

Crepes:

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1¼ cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon margarine, melted
Nonstick cooking spray

To prepare crepes, combine cocoa, flour, salt and sugar in food processor; blend to process. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and margarine; process until smooth. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium high heat. Pour 2 tablespoons crepe batter into hot pan. Immediately rotate pan back and forth to swirl batter over entire surface of pan. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until crepe is brown around the edges and the top is dry. Turn the crepe carefully with a spatula and cook 30 seconds more. Transfer crepe to waxed paper to cool. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, spraying pan with cooking spray as needed. Separate crepes with sheets of waxed paper.

To prepare chocolate filling, beat cream cheese in medium bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until smooth; set aside. Prepare chocolate pudding with milk according to package directions. Gradually add pudding to cream cheese mixture; beat at high speed for 3 minutes.

To prepare peach topping, combine preserves and water in a large bowl until smooth. Add peaches; toss to coat.

Spread 2 tablespoons chocolate filling evenly over surface of crepe; roll tightly. Repeat with remaining crepes. Place two crepes on each plate. Spoon ¼ cup peach topping over each set of crepes. Serve immediately. Two crepes equals 1 serving. Eight servings total (16 crepes).

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of plain flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk

Method
Sift flour into a bowl (if you are into sifting.. I am not). Lightly beat the eggs and stir them into the flour until the mix is smooth. Gradually add the milk and stir till you have a nice smooth batter. Leave the mix for 30 minutes. (this lets any bubbles settle).
Heat a fry pan and grease well. Have hotplate on medium heat. Pour a couple of tablespoons of mixture in and swirl it to make it round. When it bubbles a bit on top its ready to flip. Then cook the other side and remove and start again. If you keep stacking the cooked ones on a plate as you go they stay pretty warm.
These are thin like crepes and are great sweet or savoury. Nice with just sugar and lemon juice.