Extraordinary People: The Rainman Twins

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Ratings: 6.86/10 from 69 users.

Extraordinary People: The Rainman TwinsThe story of Flo and Kay, the worlds only female autistic savant twins. Savantism is a rare condition in which sufferers of developmental disorders, often autism, are capable of acts of genius that far outstrip their expected levels of ability. In Flo and Kays case, they each have extraordinary memories for facts and dates.

Among their many special talents is an ability to compute the day of the week for any date – past or future. For any given day of their lives, they can remember what the weather was like and even what they had for breakfast.

According to psychologist Dr David Holmes, Flo and Kay’s well ordered minds are also reflected in their well ordered lives. The more that they can create order, the more secure they feel, he says.

At 52 years of age, the twins are bubbly and sociable. They are passionate about music, enjoy going to gigs and love to laugh. This means that they do not fit the classic stereotype of autism sufferers.

At the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, Dr Nancy Isenberg uses the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) to perform her assessment. She asks Flo and Kay a series of questions about friendships and emotions. As well as listening to their answers, she observes the sisters’ body language.

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29 Comments / User Reviews

  1. Stewart Law

    It's not accurate to talk about autism "sufferers" . People with Autism are wired differently but they are no more suffering than you or I. If they do suffer, then it will be through our reaction to them.

  2. Elaine

    What a honor it would be to meet these beautiful ladies. They are very inspiring.

  3. Celeste Rose

    My brother is an autistic savant. He is 58 years old. He is just like these twins. Was going 10th grade math when he was 6. Can repeat peoples names and phone numbers from a phone book he has read, knows all dates and the history of that date. Tons. He is a genius.

  4. Mo Peep

    Guest, vaccinations don't cause Autism. The brains of Autistic people is wired differently from people who don't have Autism. Your brain gets wired a certain way in the womb before birth.

    1. allison bradley

      So they had extensive brain scans and all the neuroscientists said that their brains were completely normal right and left sides so I guess that shoots your theory to sh*t! Your welcome

    2. CowEyes

      Yes, others here have noted as well that in the documentary, they had scans done on their brains . . . it was reported NO abnormalities were seen . . . they look normal. These ladies are amazing! I would love to meet them!

  5. AlreadyInUse

    I taught myself how to compute the day of the week for any date many years ago. After some memorization of single digit numbers between 0 and 6 for each month (January = 0, February = 3, and so on) and each day of the week (Sunday = 0, Monday = 1, Tuesday = 2, etc.) and the method for finding this number for each year, it becomes a fairly simple calculation. Whether these two are even conscious of the underlying formula, they and any other autistic are performing the same mental math in doing this.

    1. addnos

      That's not what they do. They not only give the day of the week, they give the weather, what they ate, what was in the news, who was in the news, etc. That's not a mental "trick"

  6. His Forever

    When I saw that Dick Clark died yesterday, the first thought that ran through my mind wasn't American Bandstand or Rockin' New Year's Eve will never be the same . . . . it was "I wonder how these two dear hearts are handling the news? They must be devistated!" I'm truly sorry, ladies. You have my condolences. Sincerely.

    1. Lisa

      This is a must-see documentary. Such amazing, lovely ladies!

  7. lazoon

    I've been suddenly cut off in the middle of this fascinating documentary for so called " copyright" reasons..Annoying and frustrating....Bo**ocks to the anal retentive, small minded, commercially oriented powers that be!

  8. Morsie

    It's great how they have each other for friendship through their lives. Let's hope that when the time comes, they will go together, but I wonder if this would be possible?

  9. Gary V

    A great doc, I would really like to meet them one day. A remarkable pair of Human beings.

  10. Dailst Richardson

    what sweethearts! a great documentary!
    i feel sad that they have to remember the horrors of their childhood in such detail.

  11. Violet Haller

    God bless these two ladies. They are wonderful and loving human beings, I am so happy they shared their story with America.
    A lady with the same autism worked in my office for over 20 years.
    I a few years ago when cuts were made, her job was eliminated and she was sent to a job that did not have any skills she had, as a result it gave the employer leverage to get rid of her. She was only 50 years old so that meant that she would not be eligible for retirement. She was extremely scared as she shared with me that she needed her job and how could she live and pay her bills. She lived alone; her job was all she had.
    Our society needs to stop being embarrassed by the differences in the handicapped people we live and work around. The handicapped have more to give than most rude normal nuts working in so called professional offices.

    1. Dailst Richardson

      you should have told her to move to canada...i'm serious! that would NEVER happen here.

    2. Tinh Danh

      I agree with you 100%

  12. Winston Smith

    We all should look very carefully at what this implies about the rest of us.

  13. Joseph Carl Ruger

    Inspiring to say the least

  14. His Forever

    Is autism becoming more common percentage wise or are more people just being correctly diagnosed with it? It seems like an autistic explosion has been happening for the past few decades.

    Extraordinary people indeed, but sadly, the savants are few even among the autistic.

    1. Guest

      Becoming much more prevalent, probably because of all the GM food, growth hormones, antibiotics in most food, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and no doubt the biggest culprit of all, vaccinations!

  15. medusa1963

    I loved this doc.. these girls brought a smile to my face..

  16. medusa1963

    I watched these girls and they brought a smile to my face..
    Despite the heart ship and tribes and tribulations they've had during their lives these two are truly an inspiration for the likes of us...

  17. Guest

    One says: i think a micro chip was implanted in our brain.
    Not a bad thought! If it was, we quite possibly wouldn't be told about it.
    Quite interesting to see them cataloguing the Pyramid show, they are two being one, or one being two
    az

  18. Irishkev

    It's hard to soar with eagles when you live with turkeys. Good doc. It's cool how they're unique even though they're identical twins.

  19. NAND Gate

    I have mild autism, and I wouldnt change a thing ;)

  20. Robert M

    Touching, I have often thought autism is more a gift for some, not a dis-ease but an enhancement

    1. PlaygroundPolitician

      i dont know a thing about autism but from my understanding i would see here, have a disability, the gift you get is a roll of this dice.

  21. pulunco

    These amazing ladies show more devotion and loyalty to Dick Clark than most religious people do towards thier gods.

    I was going to start worshipping Joe Pesci but screw it; Dick Clark is as good as anyone else.