Not every "change" is a success.

Fintan has a habit of noticing things that other five year olds might overlook. Worse still, where company is concerned, he also has a habit of speaking out about them.

Yesterday, we were watching TV as a family. An advert came on that featured quite a few people engaged in complex conversation. Fintan cocked an ear to this. At the end, a very glamorous model-like woman addressed the male protagonist of the commercial. Suddenly, Fintan turned sharply from the TV and spoke to his mother: "Mummy, that woman talks like a boy!"

Fintan - all of five years old - had spotted a trans-sexual on television. Syahidah and I laughed when we realized he had seen through all of "her"cosmetic surgery. We didn't, however, explain to him just why that "woman" spoke like a boy...it just seemed too delicate a matter to discuss with a five year old.

However, it shows that even a five year old is able to see through such a disguise. It makes one wonder how often such "changes" are actually successful, if a child can notice them - at least this child, anyway.

For those who are reading from afar, I should point out that trans-sexuals are much more common in Asia than they were in London, when I left at the end of the nineties. I don't know the situation there now, however. It is a cultural thing, in this part of the world. Many more young men seem to be choosing to alter their appearance in this way - so they are encountered, in every day life, much more frequently than would be the case in London or, from my observations, America.

This, of course, leads to situations where one may have to explain to one's children why a particular woman is so tall...or has such a low voice. To date, however, I have avoided explaining the issue to my own children: I have just let their observations pass. One day, however, no doubt I will have to explain what is going on. That day, however, is not today.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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Happy Easter All!

Easter is celebrated in Singapore, just as they celebrate the festivals of the other major religions. Here, Good Friday was a national holiday and today, the nation is snug in their homes (and churches) eating Easter eggs.

I tried to buy some Easter eggs yesterday and so went to the local supermarket. It seemed that a few hundred people had had the same idea before me: the shelves were empty of Easter eggs - which speaks of either under-stocking (quite possible) or a higher than expected demand. All that were left were mini-eggs and those eggs that have a "surprise" in them. We duly bought those.

Last night we hid them about the house, so that the children could have an egg hunt on Easter morning. Fintan found one almost immediately, with barely an effort (Mr. Eagle Eye, again!), but it was not so easy for Ainan, with a few minutes passing before he found his first. It was a fun way to spend the morning...and their efforts were rewarded by the sweet taste of chocolate.

Anyway, have a Happy Easter everyone...wherever you are.

Further observations on Fintan's perceptual ability

For a better understanding of Fintan's feat I should, perhaps, explain the circumstances of the monkey sighting a bit more.

Firstly, it was getting towards dusk and though not quite at the cusp, as it were, the light was already beginning to fade.

Secondly, the monkeys in question were pretty small. We are not talking gorillas here. We are talking little creatures that, as adults are perhaps fifteen inches tall (that is the biggest of them). The children were perhaps 9 or so inches tall.

Thirdly, the two monkeys that Fintan spotted were a child and a smaller adult - maybe a female. So the monkeys were really quite small.

Fourthly, the monkeys were grey, with some variation in colour which made them difficult to spot in the surroundings. Especially, in the relatively poor lighting.

Despite all of this, Fintan spotted them a full one hundred metres before I was able to. The implication is clear: in the same confusing conditions with multiple hiding places and varied terrain from buildings to jungle, to waterways and man made path, Fintan would be able to see an adult human at several times that distance - that is, at several hundred metres - perhaps five hundred metres - before I could - in poor lighting. I find that quite remarkable, particularly when we consider that Fintan is only three and therefore, relatively speaking, perceptually inexperienced. It would appear that he has particular gifts in the direction of visual perception, therefore, which should find a useful outlet in life, I hope.

Perhaps, in good conditions, he would be able to see someone further still, before I - or perhaps anyone else - could either.

As for uses, for this, a reader from California insightfully suggested search and rescue operations or crime scene investigator. In both roles, such a gift could prove remarkably effective.

I don't expect anything to be overlooked by him, then!

(If you would like to read more about Fintan, or his gifted brothers, including Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and three months, and Tiarnan, aged 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, IQ, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks)

Fintan's range of perception: "eagle eyed"

Fintan, three, is a boy who ever manages to surprise. There are, in him, many qualities which are not readily revealed but may only be noted through careful observation. These gifts are in addition to the more obvious ones he possesses.

Yesterday he showed an unusual gift on two occasions.

The first was at a shopping centre. He was on a third floor balcony (and this is quite a distance above the ground, given the depth of each floor)...when he looked over the balcony and pointed downwards and said: "Look at that man moving!".

Syahidah looked and saw a crowd milling below, a crowd of many women and many men, all bustling in many directions at once: hundreds, and hundreds of people. In that confusion, it was difficult to isolate any particular person or thing: there was simply too much going on.

At first, she could not see, therefore, what he meant. He pointed and she followed his arm to see what he might be picking out.

She was stunned to see what he had noted. There, far below, was a mechanical man, less than a foot tall, rocking back and forth on top of a stall. It was not a man he had seen, but a doll barely big enough at that distance to see at all - and certainly not to pick out in all that tumult.

She understood, then, that Fintan had a previously unnoticed gift for interpreting his environment - allied to very sharp eyesight.

Later that day, we were walking alongside a waterway, when we saw a monkey. We watched him climb along fences and up and down trees for some time, until he ran off.

As he did so, Fintan said: "Look, there are two monkeys".

I looked, but could not see the monkeys. I scanned the trees, the fences, the waterway, the buildings all around, but could see no other monkeys. We walked on.

About one hundred metres further on, I saw the monkeys, at last. There were two of them, resting together, on top of a fence, looking down at the pathway.

Somehow, Fintan had been able to see them, amongst all the confusion of the "jungle", and the buildings, fences and waterways, path and foliage, ONE HUNDRED METRES further than I could. That quietly surprised me. I should add that I am not short-sighted. This is not a matter of my having blurred vision - it is a matter of perception, of skill in interpreting the environment and understanding what is there. In that respect, Fintan outclasses both his adult parents. Whether we were better as children is now untestable, but the disparity now, is shockingly marked.

Of what use is this gift in the modern world? He would have made a great stone-age hunter...but now what good can it do? I don't want him to be a soldier - which is the obvious application of such a gift. I want him to have a safer life than that. Any suggestions?

(If you would like to read more of Fintan, or his gifted brothers including Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific-child-prodigy, aged seven years and three 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, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)