It's something that I didn't think much about until I went to work for the Lab. We have a man on our team with a host of phobias, obsessions, compulsions, quirks, and a long list of savant abilities. He can be very difficult to be around but our team took him on after he proved too much for his previous team leader to handle. He memorizes numbers- zip codes, phone books, license plates, UPC codes. He memorizes the credits of certain shows on TVLand and can recite them by episode number. He can play entire pieces of classical music on the violin after hearing it once. He's amazing. A heck of an analyst, too.
Well, anyway, I only mention it because "idiot savant" is another one of those terms that has outlived it's usefulness. "Idiot" is too casual and too derogatory and he's too marvelous a human being.
I keep wondering if I should have just ignored that thread. No. That's ignorance and if not ignorance, it's evil, and I had to say something. But I'm not going to reply to the last guy who pinged me. When you don't get it, you don't get it. It's not about me being offended, it's about other people being offensive. Does that make sense?
But that last guy has me angry because he made a comment about some kid he knows who has Down Syndrome and he said "it's a shame". I HATE that reaction. It's not a shame. God gave my brother 47 chromosomes for a reason. I don't know what it is, but to say that my brother would be better if he were 'perfect' or that he's not worth as much as I am is just plain evil.
That's an incredible story about your coworker. I've known people who are mildly like that. Saying there's something wrong with them, is wrong. It's just different.