Tiarnan's view of himself

A few days ago, after I had just finished reading a new book, about a robot, to Fintan, three, Tiarnan, fifteen months, piped up.

He had been listening to me read and, when I had closed the book and rose to leave the room, Tiarnan looked up at me and said, quite insistently: "I'm a little robot!"

Now, that is half-right - he is little - but not a robot. It was however very sweet. He stood there, peering up at me, towering above him and seemed to be making himself as big and obvious as he could: "I am here, you know!", he seemed to be saying. He had evidently gathered that the story was about a robot - and the robot was being read about and thought about - so what better an identity - in terms of receiving the focus of our attention, at that moment, than being a "little robot!".

Very funny.

(If you would like to read more of Tiarnan, fifteen months, or his gifted brothers, including Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and five months, or Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children. Thanks.)

The Art of communication, Tiarnan style.

When you are a baby, communication is both very important, and very difficult. How do you relate to those giant adult beings, in a timely manner to have your needs met?

Tiarnan, fifteen months, has always been a good communicator, with both body language and words. He also goes out of his way to make himself understood.

A few days ago, his mother, Syahidah asked him:

"Why do you have these marks on your legs?"

"Jatuh." he said, which is Malay for "I fell down."

He has been speaking since he was two months old, so that was not the surprise. What was telling was what he did next. He picked up a plastic cup and threw it to the floor and repeated what he had said: "Jatuh".

I find this very interesting. It shows that he is tackling the need for communication in more than one mode: by word, then by deed, to demonstrate the meaning of the word and to show that he meant what it meant. This shows that he understands the problem of communication very well. It also shows that he is resourceful in tackling it in his own way.

He has, in this instance, translated a word into an action. This recalls his earlier development of many months ago, of translating between languages to show that he knew the corresponding words in both of his main languages.

(If you would like to know more of Tiarnan, fifteen months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and five months, or Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults, in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan, the brave

Last night Tiarnan, fourteen months, did something very interesting.

He pointed to a gap between the bed and the wall. He found it curious...like he was asking: "What is down there?"

I took the opportunity to tease him. I slid my hand down the side of the bed, then pretended some unseen monster had caught my hand and started tugging at it, making me thrash around, with a bit of added, appropriate-seeming, noise from my mouth, rather like a dog gnawing a bone.

I suddenly pulled my hand out, unscathed.

He looked at me in a kind of wonder, his eyes wide, his mouth quiet. Then he did something rather brave, considering what he had just seen. He slid his hand slowly down the side of the bed, clearly waiting for the unseen "Thing" to grab a hold of his hand and thrash him around.

Nothing happened.

He turned to me suddenly and said: "Daddy, look! It's gone!" Then he took his hand out.

I pretended to be surprised at this and slid my hand down there again, and began to thrash about, once more, accompanied by my bone-gnawing sound.

He smiled, and understood at once. He put his hand down there...and began to thrash around like me, with his own impression of the bone-gnawing sound. He understood that I had been teasing him. He took his hand out and smiled broadly at me.

What impressed me was the initial courage he showed in putting his hand down there, when I had convinced him, the first time, that some unseen creature would attack his hand. He had seen daddy do it. He had seen what happened to daddy - but he went ahead all the same. Brave boy.

The second time he did it, was also interesting, for it showed how quick he was to understand that it was just a game.

Tiarnan's sentences are also becoming longer. That was an implicit five word utterance. (Daddy, look! It is gone!"). Again, one may note that the structures are grammatically correct - just as his three word sentences were when he was eight months. It is interesting to observe what a good grasp of grammar even a young baby may have. It seems to me that would take a lot of analytical power to work out so young.

(If you would like to know more of Tiarnan or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, and Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The Daily Mail, UK: seekers of the truth?

Are the Daily Mail seekers of or censors of the Truth? I am left to wonder after a recent attempt to comment on one of their stories, online.

You see, two British papers - at least - covered a story about a walking six month old baby. They made a really big story of it. Now, as regular readers of this blog will know, my son Ainan was walking at six months. So I tried to comment on these stories pointing this out and also pointing out that in many other ways my children were more precocious than the child covered (he hadn't started speaking yet, for instance), and yet, oddly, had been ignored by the media.

The Daily Telegraph published my comment. The Daily Mail did not. Now you may say perhaps they have not had time to publish it: well, it is now Wednesday and I tried to comment on Friday. The Daily Telegraph carried my comment eight hours later (they had gone to bed, so had to wait until morning). The Daily Mail has ignored my comment and failed to publish it despite asking on their page: "If you know of a more advanced baby let us know." Well, I let them know...but they didn't want to let any of their readers know. Now, why is this? Could it be because it puts their story into a bit of a shadow? Could it be that I wrote "Singapore" on the location entry...and that they wouldn't want to cover a "Singaporean" above a Brit - not knowing that I grew up in Britain? It is all a little disappointing. You see, I used to read the Daily Mail. I used to enjoy their moral sounding campaigns on many issues. How moral are they being now? Is it moral to censor a story that surpasses one already covered? What would a true journalist do in that circumstance? I would have thought that a real journalist, on hearing of a better story would not censor it, but would actually contact the person concerned and cover it. That is what journalism should be about. Clearly, that is not what the Daily Mail is about these days.

There are some very advanced babies in this world - but curiously, your national newspaper may do nothing to let you learn of them. Interesting isn't it?

I am not impressed.

(If you would like to read about Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and three months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three, and Tiarnan, thirteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Early bilingual speech: Tiarnan's translations

Two weeks ago, Tiarnan did something I have never heard of a baby doing.

He was then twelve months old. His mother, Syahidah, said to him: "kuching". He immediately said: "cat" - a translation of the Malay word into English. He is making explicit his awareness of the two languages - and stating that they share words with common meaning, though different sound.

He continued this new behaviour later in the day as I was putting him to sleep. I was carrying him up the stairs and I said "tido" to him. He immediately said: "bed". He said it in such a way that he seemed to be correcting me, for he knew that I didn't speak Malay, normally, so why was I using it on him now?

It was notable that the translation came immediately upon the utterance of the word: as if he were playing verbal ping pong - I say a word, he says the translation. It is clear that he is building two good representations of language, with hints at a third - but more of that another time.

(If you would like to read more of Tiarnan or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and two months, or Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, intelligence, IQ, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children, in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan invents expletives

About a week ago, I scolded Tiarnan, twelve months, lightly for something: "You are a naughty boy!", I said, to him, quietly, while holding him in my arms. His reply rather surprised me:

"Baboon buttock!" he called me.

Now I found this both hilarious and surprising. Firstly, no-one had ever linked those two words together for him, though they would have been heard independently, in different circumstances, in the correct contexts. I was surprised that he had basically invented the idea of an expletive - and coined one, for himself.

I told my wife about it later, while he was in earshot - and he just smiled mischievously to himself. What a character.

(If you would like to read more of Tiarnan, twelve months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and two months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, intelligence, IQ, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children, in general. Thanks.)

Advice for Jena: early speech

Jena posted under First Words Of A Child Prodigy, that her gifted child began to speak at six weeks of age. She has encountered disbelief from her friends when she tells them of this - except for one who has witnessed it. Her account is beneath my post about First Words.

Now, Jena you wanted some advice on how to handle this situation. Firstly, you should expect disbelief to be widespread because people have little experience of early speech, even though it does occur, rarely, in extremely gifted children. It is clear to me, from your account, that your child is actually speaking - just as mine was - by using appropriate words in appropriate circumstances: it is not, therefore, just babbling.

Disbelief is not all you might encounter. According to research the first word of a child of the PG range is typically at nine months - though half will be before this since it is an average. The earliest speech in two groups of such gifted children, totalling 294 kids, was at six months. Therefore your child, Jena, is very much earlier than this. So you may actually encounter open hostility from other gifted parents, if you frequent "gifted community support groups" - since some of them, it seems are far from supportive, more like combatively competitive, jealous, or otherwise negatively oriented. Be careful, therefore, of discussing your child much in such groups until you get a flavour of the group: look for previously hostile or aggressive postings towards other parents, so as to know which ones to avoid. If they are aggressive to one parent, they will be aggressive to others.

It is likely that your gifted child will be very much more gifted than is typical since such early development in one area often goes along with early development in other ways, too. You have other children all of whom spoke between 6 and 9 months: these are early speakers themselves by all accounts. So, clearly, early speech is part of your genetic make-up.

Your child may have educational needs that far outstrip your ability to meet them. If your child has the type of character to enjoy solitude, books may be the answer there. Your child may also not fit in at school. Acceleration would be helpful - or homeschooling.

Remember when you relate to other gifted parents that very few children show this characteristic of early speech - and you may receive a negative reaction because of it. You will have to be strong and realize that many people are simply not nice to each other. Provide a warm environment for your child, encourage them - and strengthen them against the hostility they may receive for their gifts later.

Your child has great potential - such a gift could presage a very good mind to come. Just being being nurturing and kind will go a long way to providing what the child needs to grow up well-adjusted. As long as warmth is coming from somewhere, the sometimes hostile world won't matter so much.

I wish you luck and may post more advice in future. Feel free to comment. I hope you get to see this Jena. Thanks for posting.

(If you would like to read of my scientific child prodigy son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and three plus weeks, and his gifted brothers, then please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Words of Warning: sense of danger

Tiarnan Hasyl Cawley is a ten month old baby. Yesterday, while he was standing safely in the basement carpark of our apartment and his brothers were playing on the road adjacent to it, he noted the coming of a car, on their road.

"Car!" he shouted, in warning, his head turning to where the boys would be, if only he could see them, up the stairs in the way. "Car!" he shouted, again. "Car!"

Tiarnan understood that the car was dangerous to the boys and that they needed to be warned. It was inspiring to see him understand this - but also touching, for his first thought was for his brothers' safety.

It shows a certain complexity of thinking, that he should understand the situation - for it meant that he was able to put himself in the shoes of his brothers. Tiarnan was not on the road. Tiarnan was not in danger - but his brothers WERE on the road and WERE in danger. That he understood this, meant that he was able to take their perspective - and did so pretty quickly. This shows a great awareness of what is going on around him - and an understanding of it.

(If you would like to read about Tiarnan's gifted brothers, including Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and two weeks, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan tells daddy what to do

On the 5th of December 2006, I roared at Tiarnan, like a lion. He has been known to roar back. This time he did something different. He looked at me, and, in his little high voice said: "Don't do that!"

It was funny to hear him assert himself, so clearly. It is marvellous to see his personality solidify and grow stronger. He is becoming a little man on little feet, with his own opinion on matters - and willing to express it when he can.

For those who are not familiar with babies, they usually do not use three word sentences until the age of 23 months (this is the average point). So, Tiarnan's use of them, these past few months, is rather unusual. Tiarnan Hasyl Cawley is now ten months old.

(If you would like to read about Tiarnan's gifted brothers, including Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and two weeks, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Earliest walker, earliest talker, earliest runner

A cot is a place of safety for a baby. A place in which a baby may be placed and left alone, leaving the parents with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that the baby could not be anywhere else, but within its' cage-like bars.

This supposition used to be our own, too. But, when Ainan was eight months old, we would find him running about the house, after he had been placed in his cot. He would laugh when we saw him, knowing that he was being mischievous. Sometimes, he would then run back to his cot, and climb back in, as he had climbed out. At only eight months, he was athletic enough to climb into and out of his cot, at will.

Our naivety at our son's abilities was so great that when a representative of a child development company saw our four month old son crawling around the house and said: "You have a super baby!", we asked: "How do you know?" He was silent in reply, which in retrospect was unfair of him: it would have been nice to get an experienced perspective on our child instead of stumbling forward unawares, as we did.

At six and a half months, Ainan was walking confidently, freely and steadily, without difficulty. He was running by eight months. Note that the average child doesn't run until fifteen months. He moved from one level of achievement to another, and learned the new skill at high level, almost at once. He walked as if he had always walked, ran as if he had always run.

Is Ainan the earliest walker on Earth? We don't know...the information on the topic is sparse, but we haven't found an earlier example of motor development, on the net. It seems certain that he is the earliest runner, since that skill came very quickly upon the heels of walking. His brothers, too, are among the earliest walkers. Fintan Nadym Cawley, his brother of three, was crawling at six months and walking at eight months. Tiarnan Hasyl Cawley was crawling at four months and one week and started standing, while holding onto household objects, within two weeks. (Note that an average baby won’t do this until at least eight months.) He also began to crawl upstairs, unaided, at five months and two weeks, on the 6th July 2006. (Babies are typically twelve months old before they master stairs.) A week later he was able to squat down, in a controlled fashion, from a standing position. (An average baby tries this when they are nine or ten months.)

I have more detailed records for Tiarnan than for Ainan, because when Ainan was doing these things, we weren't really aware that they were remarkable: it was just the way he was.

Not only are they the earliest walkers, they are the earliest talkers, too: Ainan speaking his first words after a couple of weeks of life, Tiarnan in his second month. Again, we find no earlier example.

Any parent of a gifted child bears a responsibility to help them become whatever they can be: if my words can help some readers gain a perspective on their own gifted child, I would be pleased.

(For further posts on Ainan Celeste Cawley, six, a scientific child prodigy, and his gifted brothers, go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

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