The really weird thing is, a lot of people just assume my son has a very high IQ because of the way he speaks and the way he instantly comes up with really good analogies and metaphors, and the way he not only learns concepts very quickly but is able to explain it in a different way, often an easier to remember way by relating it to something else. I think this ability would make him a really good teacher some day. He is so good at explaining things about the computer and electronics to adults who need help, like me, his sister, and my dad. We have had people tell us they think he will be a college professor, a politician, or a lawyer when he grows up and luckily these are professions that a mild disability in motor skills probably won't cause much trouble for him.
He wants to know how his motor dysgraphia and mild motor dyspraxia could be considered a "learning disability" when he not only doesn't have trouble learning anything, but learns faster than the average kid. His disability only causes a little more difficulty doing physical things and it isn't that he can't do them, he can't do them for as long because of the weaker muscles and the pain. He has some sensory issues and he deals with pain almost daily, yet he continues to learn so well that kids his age in his acting class think he is very smart. Even with his migraines and dealing with the pain from getting used to the brace that kept him from spending as much time as the other kids on doing school type work for the last six months, they still think he is very smart.
So in our family this "performance" part of the IQ test is kind of a joke. When I have to ask him for help or advice and he looks at me and says "Mom, you really need to learn how to do this yourself" or "Try harder"--the thing I used to tell him when he had a little trouble doing fine motor type activities--not a good thing to tell someone with a disability, I can tell him "Okay you are really smart in some things, but I can color better and do jigsaw puzzles better than you can." It is just that I can't see how that kind of intelligence did me much good. It didn't help me in my jobs as an executive assistant or accountant. My husband can't see where this type of intelligence really helped him in his job as a supervisor. If I am "smarter" in that area what good is it? What am I supposed to be able to do that my son can't do? Well, I guess I did teach myself how to crochet and could make my own patterns and he might have difficulty doing that, but I would gladly trade it for his ability to speak so articulately and learn things as fast as he does. Sometimes it is a little embarrassing to have a child that sounds so much smarter than me. I found out that my straight A's in school meant nothing. Nobody cares that I can color well and do jigsaw puzzles quickly. I could only do things the way I was taught. There is no way I could have taught myself to read or come up with my own way of solving math problems mentally like my son did to avoid writing. He is smarter than I am. He knows it, other kids see it, strangers see it, even public school teachers see it and make comments about it.
I think twice exceptional kids are amazing.
