Autistic UK Man Nicknamed The 'Human iPod'

An autistic man who is blind and can barely speak has earned the nickname the 'human iPod'.

But Derek Paravicini, now 27, is something else - a savant who cannot tell you which is his left or right hand, but can play a vast range of pieces at command on the piano.

Derek Paravicini, now 27, can't tell you which is his left or right hand but he can remember and play all the music he encounters on a piano. He began playing the piano when he was two and started performing at the age of four.

Born three months premature and weighing just one and a half pounds, Derek grew up blind and severely autistic.

"We think that because he can't see and doesn't understand a lot of what is going on, other parts of his brain have got used for making music - so he's got a sort of musical factory up there", his mentor Adam Ockleford said.

"For Derek music isn't just a hobby, it's a lifeline - it's his way of communicating with the world, of interrelating with other people and above all of making them happy".

"He likes to make people happy and he knows he can do that through his music".

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