Well, as I understand it, most kids who suffer from underachievement do so because they weren't challenged early enough. So skipping 1st grade (or even 2nd or 3rd or 4th...) is relatively early intervention. Keep in mind that this ONE person's experience saw him being unchallenged and not understood by his parents or teacher for years and years! You're taking action loooooong before he saw action taken, when you can effect change. Josh wasn't skipped until 9th grade! BIG difference!
What an early grade skip can often accomplish is to help your daughter avoid many/most/all of the problems he is describing. If your DD is challenged early, she will learn to do homework, to think about things that are hard, to WORK. If she learns how to do those things, she will probably not have the sorts of problems that this man had as a child and teen.
Also, it seems like you missed his conclusion: he does not feel like a failure! He feels that the schools failed him, not that he failed. He has found that he can find meaningful work outside of school. He writes:
...there are many jobs in which the importance is placed on "Did you do the job?" rather than "Did you meet each of the intermediate goals?" There are employers who want to know what you can do today rather than over the next month or two. The questions you will be asked are not about nightly homework of no particular significance, but on areas that are more likely to matter to you and to other people. Real products for real audiences.
And there are skills to be acquired that will aid you in meeting deadlines. There are ways to cope with the differences that make some types of tasks difficult. There are jobs in which the way you work is far more valuable than traditional academic strategies would be.
Don't despair.
I think that last sentence is the most important part!
