“For example, a study of high-IQ children by Professor Ellen Winner of Boston College found these children to have “obsessive interests” and “often play alone and enjoy solitude,” as well as being children who “seem to march to their own drummer” and have “prodigious memories.””
This would be my Stephen.Although testing has not pointed towards autism, but rather central auditory processing disorder.
Hmmm. I have a cousin whose 3 year old could be the poster child for Professor Winner’s description. He is now on the “autism spectrum.”
I have told my mother that this diagnosis is bunk and he should be encouraged to develop his single minded problem solving skills (where do you think good researchers come from?)
Of course, according to my mom, he needs this “intervention.” Interestingly she held up the neighbor’s kid who was just like this at 3. I asked her how he turned out without intervention. He had the lead in his high school play last year.
In the presence of a high IQ, all those other “symptoms” just look like normal responses for a child who’s intelligence level is simply far above that of available similar-aged playmates. And the preference for playing alone and appearance of “marching to their own drummer” is common among low IQ children whose available playmates are all normal-to-high IQ children.