People that know the answer?

You may all think that I've got a screw loose somewhere, but I've just watched Casualty on BBC1 and had a thought...

I don't know much about this subject but it has occurred to me that people that have aspergers syndrome, or are autistic are people that can "see" patterns and calculate mathematical problems with consummate ease.

Question:

Would these people not make absolutely awesome traders? They would have the ability to recall and recognise recurring chart patterns over many, many years at a glance, and perhaps have the ability to accurately predict market moves.

Has anyone ever thought of showing some charts to one of these special people?

I would be very, very interested in the results of an experiental test.

Just imagine the money that an autistic person that could "see" the markets in this way could make?

I'd be their best friend!!!!!

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone gifted in this way.

What do you guys think?

In 'Rain Man' the autistic Hoffman is taken to Vegas by Tom Cruise to do some awsome card counting at BlackJack! I believe that outside of fiction and these popular steriotypes, there are many levels of the condition and many manifestations.
pete

This is a very fascinating subject.
I think ones needs to develop an awareness that the mind thinks in pictures. (which it does).
I'm a mild synaesthete (synaesthesia is the ability to hear colors and see sounds) and since I've used this awareness recently my chart reading skills have improved enormously where I feel that it is nearly a language (and I'd argue actually that chart-reading simply understanding the language of the markets).
It's not a special skill imo.

People with aspergers syndrome apparently are limited in feeling emotion than the ordinary person, and as we know the main enemy of the trader is emotion, so that would be an advantage.

When you consider that the person who the Raymond character in Rainman is based on can when reading a book read two pages at a time, one page with either eye, in something like 7 seconds, and has something like a 95% total photographic memory, and there are various other people around the world with similar talents, including the British guy who can resight pythagoras to 10,000 decimal places, and presumably many more people with lesser, but still highly unusual but very significant talents - then I suppose they would easily be able to employ their talent in trading..............

jtrader said:

........including the British guy who can resight pythagoras to 10,000 decimal places, and presumably many more people with lesser, but still highly unusual but very significant talents - then I suppose they would easily be able to employ their talent in trading..............

Click to expand...

There was a programme about him a while ago. I think the problem is, these people don't seem to be as interested in money as the rest of us. I remember there was something about him being able to predict stock market moves but he only did it once, so not much to go by.

Why not just develop the skills?

I suspect it's because just identifying them is difficult. Harnessing a farm of aspergers syndrome 'trade monkeys' seems a little unreal - though it's been tried in different guises a few times in the past. And if you could choose it for yourself, would you want the social downside that goes with it as well? Thought not. Neither would I.

Learning the skills seems to be the best option - once you've identified precisely what they are.

There is a very well known t2w member with Aspergers. Obviously I will not say who it is.
I suggest that you entitle a thread using the word "Aspergers" and he will certainly spot it. Whether he responds is something else.
Richard