Tokan film: Tiarnan’s Malaysian movie debut.

A couple of months back, a call came in, as they tend to do: “Can you bring your kids along to do a film tomorrow?” It was very last minute. This is typical of filming in Malaysia.

“Only Tiarnan is free. Fintan has exams to do and Ainan is at University and I don’t want him to miss a day.”

There was a pause, the silence evaluated my remark.

“OK. Bring Tiarnan.”

“What is it for?”

“The film is called Tokan. It is about drugs. The scenes you will be doing will be in an airport.”

The following day, I brought Tiarnan, fairly early in the morning, to the KTM railway station which was to be made to look like an airport scene. He was quietly expectant.

Now, Tiarnan, 6, has appeared on film before – but for TV documentaries and a reality TV show. He hasn’t been in a film.

He was to pretend to be the young son of a man going on holiday to Brazil. He was supposed to be excited to be visiting this new country.

The first scene was filmed going into and through a smoke filled tunnel through the airport. What was notable is that Tiarnan really tuned into his surroundings and the situation, like it was really happening in the way he had been told. He was properly excited, to be visiting Brazil. At just the right moment he had been instructed, he said: “Come on Daddy!”, and dragged me forward as he rushed ahead to see what was to be seen. His face glowed with excitement – yet, of course, none of it was real – it only seemed to be so. My young son was acting.

What impressed me was the patience he showed with the filming process. He did each take as if it were the first time he had experienced the scene. Between scenes he waited with the rest of the actors – his father and Ignas Versinskas, who is a friend of ours (usually a film director, actually). He never betrayed any signs of impatience with it all.

In one scene, on the train platform, as we set to leave the airport, he played a game with me – which he had invented, actually. The director had seen him playing it and liked it so much, he asked us to do it for the camera. We were the centre of the image. The game was simple: tossing a teddy bear back and forth between us in ever more exotic ways, always catching it and throwing it back.

Again and again he played the game, like it was his first time. He never failed to seem enthusiastic about it. I rather think that his smiling little form will steal that scene.

The final scene was as everyone was being checked through security. We were at the front of the scene. In it, Tiarnan looked properly impressed by the gun toting police. He whispered to me between takes: “It is not a real gun, is it? Just fake?”

“Just fake.” I assured him.

“And the police are only pretending to be police?” he continued, looking up at their tall, stern features.

“Yes. Just pretending.”

That reassured him somewhat.

At the end of the shoot, the agent, Sam came to pay us. She started to pay me, for the work – but I shook my head and indicated Tiarnan. She paid him directly. He was most pleased to see so much money for his day’s work.

For me, it was very instructive to watch Tiarnan act. He is, in my view, a natural actor. He treats the circumstances as if they are real and behaves within it, according to the director’s request. He is able to do take after take and he shows great patience with the process. Not that alone, but his acting is natural and not overdone, as many children’s acting is. It was a revelation for me to watch him work and a very pleasing day indeed.

In the days that followed, he asked me, quite a few times: “Are we filming again tomorrow?”

He had really enjoyed himself and wanted to do some more.

“Some time, Tiarnan, we will do it again.”

Fintan felt that he had missed out because of his exams because he too wished he had filmed. I assured him that next time he could do so, if there were no exams in the way.

For me, as an actor myself, it is pleasing to see the same ability and disposition growing in my sons. I had glimpsed this before, in Tiarnan, when I had taken him to an audition for a TV commercial and he had worked with me. He had been very good then...very realistic. However, this was the first time I had actually worked with him. That day, he was not merely my son. He was a real actor, too.

Well done, Tiarnan on your film debut, in Tokan!

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

Childhood stories, in the eyes of a child.

A few days ago, my wife Syahidah, told a story to her youngest son, Tiarnan, 6. The story was not a happy one. It was about a cruel old woman, who didn’t feed her cat, until the cat’s fur started to fall out. Eventually, the cat died of starvation.

On finishing the story, Syahidah looked expectantly at Tiarnan for a reaction. She expected him to empathize with the cat and be unhappy with the old woman.

Tiarnan looked thoughtful.

“Did the old woman have enough food for herself in the first place?”, he enquired, gently, of his surprised mother.

That was a thought that had not occurred to her. Tiarnan had come upon his own alternative interpretation of the possible story behind the events described.

His face grew even more intent.

“Also did the fur really fall out because of the lack of food? I see Mochi and Sushi pulling each other’s fur out.”

Mochi and Sushi are our female rabbits.

These two little thoughts, of Tiarnan’s left Syahidah rather impressed. They showed that Tiarnan wasn’t accepting the story at face value – at the value the writing of the story was trying to lead him to hold. No. Tiarnan was re-examining the story for other possible explanations and seeing in it, other reasons for why the events had unfolded as they had – reasons which absolved the old woman of personal blame and shifted the blame onto unfortunate circumstances, instead.

Tiarnan’s thinking, here, showed both creativity and critical analysis – and the ability to form his own view, apart from any view he was being led to believe. These are hopeful characteristics and bespeak the growth of an independent mind likely to hold its own views, no matter what the majority says. His is a young mind likely to grow into an original thinker, irrespective of what might commonly be believed.

What is most indicative of a creative mind at work, here, is that he did not accept the view he was being led to hold, but examined the situation for himself, testing it against his own understanding of the possibilities. He thought it through for himself, coming to his own conception of what was happening, or at least his own consideration of what might have been happening. He used his imagination for what the possible underlying truths might be. In doing so he was forming theories of motivation and circumstance, to explain observed behaviour - theories which were not stated in the story, but which he inferred would explain the observed actions, if they were operant. This is both quite complex thinking and creative, too, for he needed to invent possible explanations and reality test them for explanatory and predictive value, given his understanding of human behavioural possibilities. I would characterize this thinking as independent, mature, creative and insightful...and that is rather heartening to note in one just six years old.

Tiarnan is showing a very interesting blend of characteristics, in his thinking, in his personality and in the way he does things. His is a very complex young mind, in many ways, with multiple unexpected dispositions held in one mind. I will elucidate on these characteristics over time, in other posts – just let it be said, here, that Tiarnan promises to become a deep and subtle young man, one day.

In the meantime, as he grows up, he will, no doubt, be able to teach his mother, alternative ways of seeing the childhood stories she tells him. I wonder who will learn more, the son or the mother?

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

A superhero, on his off-day.

A few weeks ago, Tiarnan, five and Fintan, seven, were having a play acted "fight".

Now, as long term readers will know, Tiarnan is one of the world's youngest "superheroes". He has a liking for imagining himself as some kind of super powered hero and can quite often be found, in his own world, happily playing out some imaginary scenario. Such is his imagination, that he is quite capable of playing out such a scene, alone, accompanied only by his own imaginary adversaries.

On this particular day, he was having a battle with Fintan. To judge the situation, there is something you should know about Fintan: he is very strong for his age, and quite big, too. He is also dextrous, fast, and athletic to the point of being gymnastic. In other words, "fighting" him, is not a good prospect, if you are also a kid.

Tiarnan did his best. He engaged Fintan with absolute passion, focus, intensity and determination. Each "blow" was delivered with vigour and a certain style. Not only had Tiarnan's effort needed to be maximal, but each movement had to have a certain elegance and panache about it. With Tiarnan, the result had to be beautiful to watch, too.

Fintan defended himself, with relative ease. He also counter attacked in a less deliberately stylish manner, which managed to impress nevertheless. There was something masterful about his movements - and Tiarnan was simply unable to best him.

Tiarnan continued to strive his best to win this battle of the mini-Titans. However, he seemed to be becoming aware of the mismatch. This was inconvenient for his superhero self-image, since it was quite impossible for superhero Tiarnan to be beaten by a mere mortal older brother.

He had an explanation and solution, however.

"My powers," he began to announce, most intently, "only work, when I use them."

This declaration was meant, not only for Fintan, who didn't trouble himself to respond - but for his mother who was watching.

Fintan went on to win the encounter, pretty conclusively - but Tiarnan was not disheartened. He had, after all, and rather gentlemanly, elected not to use his powers - so the defeat was actually a demonstration of magnanimous nature.

The play fight came to an end happily. Neither was hurt physically, or psychologically - and both egos remained intact: Fintan's because he had won, Tiarnan's because, of course, he had only let him win!

There is something appealing in Tiarnan's rationalization of his physical power in relation to Fintan. It is actually quite beautiful to see him conceive this excuse and understanding - and to hold on to it, to the extent of seeming to believe in it, at least emotionally. His is the perfect way of seeing the world if you are a small boy - as he is - who wants to feel powerful - as he does.

In Tiarnan's world, he is powerful - and, in a way, he is: for his imagination is such that he is quite able to convince himself that he is such.

I, for one, watching him play, am quite prepared to accept him on his own terms - for he is so intent about it, that to do so, is the only reasonable and fair response.

So, Tiarnan is the superhero of the house, who is so considerate of his brothers that he refrains from using his powers against them. They, in turn, refrain from pointing out that he doesn't have any. It is the ideal arrangement.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.htmland here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

On refolding reality

On December 1st, Tiarnan, four, brought something unusual to the dinner table.

In his chunky little hands, he held a paper ornament, made of thin card. It was grey and instantly suggestive of something – at least, to me.

“What is that?”, asked Fintan, seven, peering curiously across the table at his younger brother.

“An elephant.”, I said, answering for Tiarnan, without pausing to reflect whether I should do so. Indeed, that is what it was: an origami elephant. Tiarnan’s teacher had made it at school, for him.

Tiarnan’s eyes were held captive by his paper elephant, but his mind was on other possibilities. He spoke, at once, on hearing my description, managing to declare his thought, even before mine had faded in the room.

“But it can turn into a plane!”, Tiarnan exclaimed. He then set about, immediately, unfolding the elephant, and making it into a plane.

In a few seconds, his elephant had become a jet fighter. He moved it through the air, as if on powerful jets, for Fintan to see.

Fintan was enamoured of the new born plane, in an instant, and reached over to Tiarnan to take it from him. Tiarnan obliged without argument, perhaps wishing to share the experience of the plane he had made from an elephant.

I watched Fintan play with the plane. It shot back and forth along the dining room table, propelled by its young, external, pilot. Though it didn’t show on my face, I smiled inwardly to see Fintan enjoy something so simple, so much. Indeed, it was wonderful to be a child, of such an age, that such things delight.

Tiarnan watched, attentively, from across the table, seeming to enjoy the sight almost as much as if he piloted it himself.

Seeing the plane fly gave a new meaning to “flying elephants” – for indeed, Tiarnan had made an elephant fly.

It was a perfect childhood scene, one both simple and beautiful. What made it more of interest, to me, is Tiarnan’s creative response to the situation. The elephant his teacher had made, was all very well. However, elephants don’t inspire children’s imaginations in the way that planes do. Yet, that had been no problem for Tiarnan. He had seen the possibility of a plane, within the folds of the elephant – and had remodelled it, in a moment, to suit the desires of his imagination, the better.

It is an essential part of the creative imagination, to be able to see what could be, in what is: to see the possibilities that lie unrealized in life and the moment. Tiarnan has that. It was such a casual simple thing for him to turn the elephant into a plane – yet so meaningful, too. Many children, you see, on seeing the paper elephant, would not be able to see it as anything but a paper elephant. Tiarnan, however, saw more deeply into it. He saw, without any evident delay, that the “elephant” could just as easily – and more enjoyably – become a plane, with a little judicious folding.

I wonder at what Tiarnan shall be, one day. He is such a blend of faculties, that it is difficult to say what he might make of them. He has many nascent gifts – gifts that don’t necessarily normally belong together, I think, in one person. Thus, he has the potential to become a most unexpected person – one who may not, reasonably, fit into any standard mould.

I have a hope that he will use his nascent creative powers to become a creative person of some kind. Of course, I can only hope that, for it is for him to choose what he will be. I see, though, quite clearly, that he has the basic mental foundations of a creative individual, of, perhaps, a surprising individual. I hope he chooses wisely and well, what he does with those powers and chooses to become a man worthy of the young child he is today. Yet, it is a long journey from now, to then. I can only help him along, in whatever way I am able, until the day he walks free in the world, without any need for help, at all. In the meantime, he can make elephants fly!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

The surreal dreams of a young boy.

Children are supposed to have imagination. Some children do, some children don't, some children just have TV (no imagination required). However, all children have dreams...and, of course, the more imaginative children show this characteristic when dreaming.

A couple of weeks ago, Tiarnan, four, had a dream. It struck me as a rather bizarre one. Can you imagine, for a moment, what Tiarnan might have dreamt? Try to imagine yourself into a four year old boy's world, and think what he might have dreamt.

Please think of every detail of your imagined dream that you can - one that would suit a four year old boy.

Perhaps you could write the dream you guessed he had, down below.

Well, Tiarnan spoke, rather excitedly, a couple of weeks ago, of his dream the night before. In it the Incredible Hulk had been belly dancing. That is right, a key feature of Tiarnan's dream was that the Hulk was doing a belly dance. Tiarnan thought it was very funny. Of course, he is unaware that dreams come from within him, I should think...he saw it as a very entertaining image of his nightly sleep.

Tiarnan's dream seems to be reflective of who he is: in his young mind, all sorts of unusual remarks take place. He seems to be able to connect the previously unconnected and see the previously unseen. It is a good quality and promises a creative future, in some way or other. I very much doubt whether anyone else has imagined the Incredible Hulk - the quintessential male - doing belly dancing - quintessentially female. Yet, Tiarnan saw fit to combine them, in his dream, for comic effect.

Of course, I have no idea why his dreaming mind thought it reasonable to make the Hulk do a belly dance - maybe it just thought it would be funny to watch.

What makes this dream image of Tiarnan's even more unlikely is that the only contexts in which he has seen the Hulk, are when he is fighting in a cartoon or in a computer game. He has never seen the Hulk as anything else...thus, it is quite a stretch, to suddenly imagine the Hulk as a graceful belly dancer! It seems his mind feels free to break from stereotypical categorizations, and try to see things in a new way. Perhaps, of course, it is just seeing potential comedy, in what it knows of the world. Whatever is the case, it is certainly a memorable image.

To some, this post might seem like a little thing - but, to me, it is not. It captures the essence of one of my youngest son's dreams. I have no such record of my own. So, I make this record so that, one day, Tiarnan might smile, perhaps in remembrance, at the dream he once had as a child, of a Marvel Superhero, doing a belly dance.

Happy dreaming, Tiarnan.

Can a prodigy be a genius?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is, "that depends". I shall explain.

Many prodigies are very adept in their area of skill, whether it be passing exams, or playing the piano. Their skill is supreme. Yet, those prodigies known for their skill are, quite frequently, lacking in one respect: creativity. Without creativity, a prodigy cannot be a genius and will never be a genius. However, with creativity, there is a high probability that that prodigy, will grow to be an adult genius.

Many of history's greatest geniuses began life as prodigies. Mozart is the most famed...but there have been many, many others. Picasso showed prodigiousness in Art, so did Leonardo da Vinci. The inventor of cybernetics, Norbert Wiener, was an academic prodigy and so on. There are many such examples. Yet, it is also true that many prodigies grow up to be something which is not a genius at all: an expert. So, how can we tell which is which? Which prodigies will become geniuses and which will become experts?

(An expert is someone skilled or knowledgeable in an area, but not needing to show any creativity in that area...they work with what is known, but do not add anything new to it.)

We actually don't need to know that much about prodigies, to have a fair idea which ones are likely to be geniuses and which ones are almost inevitably not going to be one. We can look simply, first, at what they want to be. This provides a big clue as to their natures.

I have seen a prodigy who wants to be an actuary when he grows up. This, to me, is a very strong indicator that the child in question, though skilled, is not creative. No creative person would ever want to be an actuary since there is very little opportunity to contribute creatively or to show creativity in that domain. A creative child, gifted in numbers, as this one is, would, instead, aim to be a research mathematician, or theoretical physicist etc - that would be an indicator of a creative disposition.

I have also seen several prodigies or precocious children who want to be doctors when they grow up. Now, a doctor is a type of expert: one knowledgeable in the ills of the human body. Again, it is not a creative profession - indeed, a creative person might be quite dangerous as a doctor, if they don't follow established procedures etc. So, again, a child who wants to be a doctor when they grow up, is almost certainly not the stuff of genius - they are predisposed to being an expert. A creative child, however, who was interested in biological science (which is related to the work of a doctor), would choose to be a research biologist of some kind. They would not choose to be a medical practitioner, since there is little creativity involved in its pursuit (unless they choose to be a clinical researcher - but, again, this is not the expressed desire of these children).

So, a prodigious child who aims for the professions - as many do - is destined, almost certainly, to be an expert - but not a genius. However, a child prodigy who aims for a creative pursuit - be it research scientist, artist, composer, or writer, is infinitely more likely to have the stuff of genius in them - for they are looking inward and realizing that they have something to contribute/say in these areas. These are the children to whom one should look for careers as adult geniuses, when the time comes.

Of course, for a more accurate assessment, it would be better to have more information about the creativity the children show in their lives - but often that information is not available. What we can usually find out, though, is what they want to be and that, in itself, is a powerful indicator of whether genius is present. Should there also be information concerning actual creative achievements in childhood, then that would be an almost certain indicator of genius to come - for the child would already be showing the mindset of a young genius at work.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)