Hao Hao, a preschooler from Hefei city, Anhui province displays such remarkable abilities of recall that he is considered to be a “genius,” yet he is unable to communicate verbally and has not been able to learn simple math. According to medical diagnoses, he is an autistic savant, similar to the character portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the movie "Rainman."

According to an April 19 article in the Anhui Business News,Hao Hao’s parents are university graduates who hold white-collar jobs. At the age of two, Hao Hao was singing children’s songs in their entirety. By age 5, he was able to count backwards from 200 and was able to recall road signs long after having gone by them. His parents thought he was a genius.

Hao Hao usually plays alone; he especially likes to play with things that resemble wheels and is fascinated by things that rotate, such as automobile wheels. He also has a keen interest in television commercials and instinctively recites the slogans of the products. But as he grew older, his parents discovered that the he was still not able to communicate verbally, but they thought that his verbal development was just slow.

"The child is extremely clever,” his mother said. “He frequently plays by himself for very long periods of time. He does not cry or make a lot of noise. He was like that even after entering preschool, always just playing by himself. Although he excels at tasks that require memorization, he is unable to learn how to draw or do basic addition or subtraction.”

Infant psychologist Zhong Hui from the Hefei Fourth People’s Hospital first suggested that Hao Hao be classified as an autistic savant. There has been an increase in the diagnoses of autism and other related developmental disorders in China.

Autistic children generally show signs of developmental disability before they reach age 3 and they are often engaged in repetitive activities. Some have varying levels of mental development, which affects their verbal communication skills and their ability to interact with others. In rare cases, they may exhibit such extraordinary abilities that people label them as geniuses.