Music and Autism

I don't think that it would be too bold to call Mozart one of the greatest composers to ever exist.  He was a child prodigy and wrote some of the best music in history.  He covered the bases when it came to writing in different genres.  He wrote concertos and operas and his Requiem Mass is, in my opinion, one of the best and haunting masses ever written.  You would expect a figure this great and this historical to be serious and stoic.  You would expect them to act appropriately and be an example to the people of his time (not just the musicians).  However, with historical evidence to back this up, Mozart was quite the opposite.  He would act inappropriately and would make rude comments to his employers and would joke around all the time.  Just watch the movie Amadeus which is, for the most part, pretty historically accurate.  There is a reason for Mozart's behavior and this is because he was high functioning autistic man.  While it may come to a shock that one of history's greatest musicians could be autistic, it does not to me.  There is a proven link between autism and music.  Many people who are autistic are actually musical geniuses, no matter how high or low functioning they are.  They have a remarkable ability to remember and repeat rhythms and melodies.  Many times they have perfect pitch, where if someone were to play any note on the piano they would be able to say what that note is just by listening to the pitch.  Mozart being autistic doesn't surprise me as much as it might knowing this link between autism and music.