My adult daughter could draw very well as a child and started reading at 4. I kept a few things she drew at various ages and she could definitely draw better then my son, who has motor dyspraxia and mild hypotonia. I have an uncle that could draw well enough that he got paid for it and I suspect that he was gifted, both artistically and verbally, but he is in his 60's and he was never tested. Like my highly gifted stepson, he seemed very, very smart but he lacks common sense.
My son couldn't draw but started reading at 2 1/2 without being taught, even though his eyes would tire and lose focus much faster than other kids without his disability. If IQ is determined partly by physical skills, then maybe my son's IQ would not be as high as my daughter's, yet she recently got upset with her 9 year old half brother because he was using words and talking about things that made her feel stupid. He asked her if she would like for him to dumb down his conversation and she told him yes and that he better watch how he talks around other people--even adults. He has learned that he can't be himself unless he is with his "geeky" friends.
Yesterday, he apologised and said he knew he was a nerd as he stopped to look up the definition of a word when we were reading.
He comes up with really interesting metaphors in his speech, but he is learning to hide this around other people now.
I don't think I will ever have my son's IQ tested. I just am really confused about what IQ really means anyway. My stepson, who tested highly gifted is in his 30's and content to work at a minimum wage job and lives alone because he doesn't want to deal with the "office politics" that he had to deal with in the higher paying jobs he had in the past.
