Talented people have an ability to notice a subtle way in which something isn't quite right in a way that most other people don't. And yet this particular ability can be vexing for others, because the questioning extends into so many areas. I suspect, but don't actually know, that people with a lot of talent in a given area see problems there where most other people simply don't --- which can make it hard to convince others that there's actually a problem. KWIM?
Yes, like a sensitivity to something that doesn't bother other people. I always have to work hard to convince people there's a gas leak, or the pilot light is out, because they don't smell anything and therefore there's no problem -- or, right now, a battle I've been fighting, that there is something wrong with the water when I'm the only one who can tell.
Ultramarina, her writing is ...variable. She will go in her room or get on the computer and write a long story that makes perfect sense (at least from her POV), but when she has to write five sentences for homework, it can take hours and not make much sense at all. She's in a writing group that meets at the library every other week (just a few kids), and she writes like crazy, but when she read one page to me a while back, about a weird picture she picked out, I couldn't believe how literal she was. She makes up all kinds of stories, is jam-packed with imagination in her play, and yet when it comes to an assignment it just turns off.
Her spelling is quite variable, as well. She normally gets 100% on spelling tests, but misspells things randomly (same word both right and wrong in one paragraph) in her fun writing and even on assignments where she can copy the word on the same page. It boggles my mind.
Val, yes, I'll see if I can get some extras from the teacher that she hasn't seen yet, and maybe I can come up with an idea where her wires are crossed.
