The youth in our church often get together outside of church to do things like play volleyball, hang out at someone's house playing games like Mafia, etc., so that my kids never really went through loneliness. They definitely knew they didn't fit in at school, but the hodgepodge group of church friends would often range between the ages of 10 to 25, so they're marked maturity in some area went largely unnoticed or was accepted and embraced. It think it really helped keep them balanced emotionally.
They also had friends from their sports world - climbing - where IQ was never a factor. It was all about just having a great time deep water soloing or camping outdoors before spending the day climbing or hanging out at competitions.
I think having circles of friends where the common ground is something that doesn't focus on intelligence is really a big help.
