How to identify a person with your eyes closed.

Ainan is a boy of many peculiar talents. He can do things which, at times, seem uncanny. A few weeks ago, he gave me insight into one of these quirks.

I had just walked into the kitchen with an empty cup in my hand.

“I knew it was you, Daddy.” He began, as if an expectation had been fulfilled.

My eyes queried him in silence.

“You see I always know who it is, if they are carrying a cup – because both you and mummy move in a different way, and so the cup clinks differently.”

I was not surprised, not because this was not surprising but because I was used to being surprised by him. Thus, I was unsurprised to be surprised, by this latest revelation.

If there is one thing that sets Ainan apart from others, besides his intelligence, it is his perception: he is so acute in his observational ability that it is, at times, a bit like living with Sherlock Holmes. He does things with his senses that one might only expect to find in Marvel comic fiction. Yet, he does it so naturally, so casually, and so effortlessly. This, of course, only emphasizes the uniqueness of his perceptions.

I walked across the kitchen and set my cup down carefully by the sink, with a new appreciation of just how much my cup was telling about me – at least to Ainan, anyway.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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Ainan's uncanny attention to detail.

Ainan has always been observant. Just how observant has become clear in recent conversations.

Ainan has been watching Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. He enjoys this for reasons that are probably quite beyond Michael Bay. Ainan has taken to analyzing the most minor detail of this film: gesture, by gesture, word by word, action by action, frame by frame, he comments on it...from memory. Then he shows me what he means. In doing this he has noticed quite a few errors in the film - even basic continuity errors. He is very perceptive at this: much more so than whoever edited this particular work together. Perhaps he could make a good living, on the side, watching films and then writing a list of all their problems.

What amazes me about all of this is that what Ainan notices often occupies just a few frames of the screen: he picks up on the most minor issues, he notices every flaw, every nuance, every intended effect and every unintended result. In one example, for instance, he pointed out that in one frame, a transformer was beginning to use its right foot to crush an enemy, in the next cut, we see the same robot has just crushed the said enemy with his left foot. Ainan saw this in the rapid blur of the Transformers battles. Anyone who has seen the film will know what I mean when I say "rapid blur". He seems to have an internal view of the film, which he plays back to himself, noticing every little problem. Perhaps he does: perhaps he sees it all in his inner eye and is able to reflect on it. It certainly seems that way when he talks about it: he seems to be seeing it as he speaks.

Of course, this degree of and detail of observation skill are very useful in many more important issues than watching a film. They could make him a very good scientist - or if his interests develop in another way, artist. After all, one of the best observers in history, was no other than Leonardo da Vinci. So, observation skill is not a minor gift, but a very important substrate on which many other achievements can rest.

I can't say at this time what use Ainan might put this observation skill to, but I can say this: whatever he does, I am sure it will astonish people, who actually get the chance to hear him speak and think on his feet. For, in some ways, there is no more surprising a thing, than to just listen to what he actually manages to notice. For me, however, I am used to this kind of thing from him, but to many, who have not, it would be a real shock.

Happy looking at the world, Ainan. I hope you continue to see in it, what others miss. Perhaps that will be one pillar of who you become, one day: actually seeing, truly, what is in the world.

(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.)

Perceptiveness in a young child.

Tiarnan, three, is a perceptive child. In fact, I cannot really make it clear what I mean by this, unless you are acquainted with him. He sees what others do not see...indeed, he notes every little thing about what is going on around him. In particular, he sees the subtlest nuances of people.

The other day, he said to his mother, who had just sat down: "Why do you sit like that?"

"What do you mean?", she asked, surprised to be accused of sitting in any way, in particular.

"Why do you put your hand down first?" He then showed her what she had done, sitting just like his mummy. For a moment, he was his mummy. He captured her in motion and gesture, as he sat.

In seeing him, doing so, she finally saw herself and became aware that, yes, she does have her own unique way of approaching a chair.

What Syahidah found uncanny about the moment is that Tiarnan had actually perceived the subtleties of her motion, even though she, herself, was unconscious of them. He had seen what others would never see. He had not just seen: "My mother is sitting.", as most would, but had seen just HOW she was sitting.

Tiarnan is funny like that. He observes the essence of people and is then able to express what he has seen, with his own body. It reminds me of the time he captured me, in thought, with a notebook - giving an impression of his father conceiving an idea and writing it down, with the haste of inspiration. His impression of me was a shocking echo...for he had suddenly seemed old, wise and thoughtful, adopting, for a few brief seconds, my posture, mannerisms and facial expressions.

Given his propensity to portray his understanding of others in this way, I rather think that Tiarnan has the makings of an actor. The question is, of course, whether he would like to be one. Right now, he is just a little boy with a penchant for expressing his understanding of others, in a physical way.

We will see how it turns out.

(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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This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)