The font nerd.

Ainan has always looked at the world in his own way. One of these ways, is a little uncanny.

When Ainan is out and about, he has the habit of pointing at the written script around him – for instance, the sign on a health centre: “That is Trajan”, he says, naming the font used. Or in a restaurant, he will pick up a menu and observe: “That is Palatino Linotype”. 

Everywhere he looks, he sees not just words, but fonts. In a day, he will name many different fonts, as he notes them in the world around him.

He did this, recently, in the company of a noted artist, who was a guest lecturer at an event we attended. He was very surprised when Ainan noted that the font used on a book he had published, was Gill Sans.

“How do you know that?”, asked the dumbfounded artist.

“Oh, he is a prodigy.” My wife answered, intervening, with a shrug, as if that was explanation enough. Ainan himself was silent on the matter – as usual, never commenting on himself, in company.

What I find most interesting about this is what it says about Ainan’s visual perception and visual memory. He is able to identify a huge number of fonts – indeed, any font he has ever seen, and learnt the name of – at a single glance. This suggests that he retains an accurate image of each letter used in the fonts and is able to discriminate the often subtle differences between fonts, with a very rapid glance. He has had no training in typography, or lessons of any kind – but has simply picked up these discriminations on his own.

This phenomenon is just one of many with Ainan, that show him to be a close observer of the world around him. Of course, this ability to observe, remember and distinguish is much more useful in other contexts, than simply labelling the written world in fonts. There are clearly many practical advantages to such observational skill, which lend themselves well to many areas of work, and creation. I have a few ideas of how Ainan might apply this observational skill...but I will leave those for another day.

Written 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.) 

Portal 2 and spatial problem solving skills.

Portal 2 is a science fiction puzzle game, on the PS3 and other platforms. Each level is a spatial puzzle, requiring the player to interact with the environment and change it or behave within it so as to achieve an unstated spatial aim. The puzzles are of varying difficulty, throughout, some of them very obscure indeed, requiring quite a bit of thought to solve. It is, I would say, aimed at engaged, smart, young adults, willing to put in the hours to solve the puzzles. It requires, therefore, a much more thoughtful approach than is typical of computer games. Thus, it most likely appeals to the more cerebral game player.

In June of this year, Fintan received Portal 2 for his birthday, from his grandmother (my mother). He couldn’t have been happier at his present and immediately dived into the game world, on the very first day. Ainan joined him on the adventure and Tiarnan watched, largely silently, from the sidelines. Together, they solved every puzzle in the game, and completed it in a few days. However, there was one day which was particularly surprising. Ainan and Fintan had encountered a particularly devious puzzle. They had wrestled with it, together for much of one afternoon, whilst Tiarnan had watched them. Then they decided to take a break. Whilst they did so, Tiarnan, five, picked up the controls and began to play. A few minutes later, his little voice could be heard crying: “I did it! I did it!” Ainan and Fintan rushed to see what had happened. To their shock, Tiarnan had solved the problem, on his own, that had stumped them for hours. Ainan came to me with the news and I came to see for myself what he had done.

Tiarnan’s solution struck me as complex and clever – yet he had seen it in a few minutes of being in charge of the controls. I understood, then, that Tiarnan was showing considerable skill in spatial thinking. This was not the only time I had been led to understand so – but this example was particularly striking since I know that both of his elder brothers are also strong spatial thinkers. Tiarnan’s grasp of spatial problems is rather uncanny. How could he have solved, so quickly, that which had stumped his two elder brothers for a few hours? Part of the reason, might have been the obscurity of the solution...and somehow Tiarnan’s thinking leads him to consider obscure solutions, or less likely approaches.

That Tiarnan should have solved a difficult problem so quickly, with such apparent ease, reminds me of Ainan’s early years, when he, too, did things that were totally surprising and quite beyond belief. There seems to be much in common between the eldest and youngest brothers, which is not surprising, I suppose, given their common origin.

It was funny to watch Ainan and Fintan’s reaction to Tiarnan’s solution to the problem. They were very excited for him. There was no jealousy, at all. In fact, they were really impressed that he had done so. They, more than myself, knew how hard the problem was – and how surprising it was, therefore, that Tiarnan should have solved it. It is good to see them accepting each other, without rancour and being positive towards the abilities and achievements of each other. I have never seen any achievement inspired envy in any of them. I am glad that this is the prevailing “culture” in the family – long may it be so.

It should be noted that the problem that Tiarnan solved was the only one that Ainan and Fintan could not solve, in good time, themselves. There was something unexpected about it, which had thwarted them.

I can recommend Portal 2 as a challenge to any child and adult. I warn you though – that, to solve the game, many an hour, will have to be invested. It seems to me that a bright child is more likely to invest that time than a time harried adult. Nevertheless, both will find the challenge interesting. It is a game that actually requires an intellect to play – and there are too few of them around. I hope, one day, that there is a Portal 3 for my children to enjoy.

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/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.)

The signs of an artist

I believe that who we are to become is evident in our childhoods. Careful observation of any child will lead to an understanding of their special gifts, strengths and passions, their natural inclinations and ways of thinking.

Observation of Fintan, four exactly, points us in several directions but mainly, two: life as an actor and life as an artist.

At the weekend, I took Fintan to see Transformers. At the end of the show, I asked him which transformer he had liked best. Instead of giving me a name, or a description, he did what can only be interpreted to be an infallible sign of an artist. Fintan drew the Transformer in the air, before my eyes. He traced the lines of the one he liked, as I watched.

"Optimus Prime? The big truck Transformer?" I gathered.

He nodded.

This display pleased me. It showed me how Fintan is beginning to think: as an artist does - in terms of lines and structures. Here what is significant is not only what Fintan did - but what he did not do. He did not reach for words, to describe his favourite Transformer; he did not give a name, he did not give a description - his instinct was to draw it, in front of him - to convey the image he had in his mind, directly to me. This shows me that visual thinking predominates in him - but it also shows me that the visual mode is his preferred means of communication.

I think Fintan will one day say much, in silence, with his pencil in his hand, sketching his thought, but not speaking of it. This is the characteristic of a true artist.

(If you would like to learn more of Fintan, four years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and seven months, and Tiarnan, seventeen 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 children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan and the meaning of art

A few days ago, Tiarnan was hurtling about the house, as he likes to do, when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He pointed at a little green badge and said: "Kuda". This is Malay for horse.

There, on the badge was a rather confused line drawing. It was of a male rider, drawn over a horse, about a centimetre tall. It wasn't a very good work of art for the lines of the man became confused with the lines of the horse. An adult would know what was meant to be represented (if only from the name of a riding school on the badge), but it was a surprise that a seventeen month old baby could work it out - for it was not at all clear.

From this, it is clear that Tiarnan is aware of the littlest things in his environment, which he is able to pick up at speed, even when moving around quite quickly. It is also clear that he understands the relationship between art and object; between the representation and the thing represented. He has long shown this understanding, but this is just one more example of him drawing that connection, with little information to go on.

(If you would like to more of Tiarnan, seventeen months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and seven months, or Fintan, four years and no months, then please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com.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.)

Singapore Zoo: a day out.

Yesterday we went to Singapore zoo with Tiarnan, sixteen months and Fintan, three.

Now, Tiarnan had never been to a zoo before and his reactions were most interesting. When he was taken to the White Tiger enclosure, he looked inside at its green expanse and seemed puzzled: he didn't know what he was supposed to see. It was about a minute of looking around, until, one sudden moment of perception, he saw the two big cats basking in the Sun. His face split wide in his enthusiastic grin, the one he saves for when he is very happy, and he pointed at the White Tigers. They were, indeed, beautiful - and it is somewhat saddening to read, elsewhere, that there are as few as 7,000 tigers (of all kinds) left in the world today. 100 years ago, that total was over 100,000. Someone has been doing a lot of hunting.

There were several instances of Tiarnan's behaviour that are worth remarking on. Throughout he was very intense, with a slight frown as he looked at the animals, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing: these strange looking animals were actually alive and moving.

On one occasion, Tiarnan excitedly pointed at a metal bin and said, very clearly: "Zebra!". We looked at the bin. It was black and white striped, like a Zebra. It was a funny moment - and an enlightening one, too. Tiarnan has never seen a Zebra in the flesh - but he recognized its coat pattern when suggested in paint. That speaks well of his visual perception - and ability to associate.

Later he saw actual Zebras and he was reduced to pointing and going "OOOH!", so excited was he.

At one time, he pointed and said: "Crocodile!" and looking where he had pointed, we saw a TV monitor, with a crocodile showing. I find it interesting that he is already able to name and identify animals of all kinds - and yet he had never seen any in the flesh, until yesterday.

I will save Fintan's zoo behaviour for another post.

Tiarnan interprets for daddy

The day before yesterday we were walking in a park-like area in the evening. The only available light was that thrown by nearby buildings across the darkened expanse of tree and grass.

Into this expanse, Tiarnan, fifteen months, who was walking beside us, pointed and said: "Tidur" (if I have the spelling right - I have mispelt it before as "tido").

I knew what that meant and I searched for the animal that it must have been referring to. Though I peered as intently as I might, I could see nothing in the gloom that might correspond to this "tidur".

"What is tidur?", I asked, Tiarnan, thinking another question to the one he logically answered.

He turned at once, in seeming exasperation, at me and said, sharply: "Sleeeeeeep!", in a tone that it made it most clear what he thought of my question: surely you know THAT one, daddy, he was essentially saying.

It was a revealing moment. It showed that he knew my language preference, knew which word to use with Daddy - which for others. It also showed his growing mastery of language - for him, the question had so obvious an answer that it exasperated him to hear it asked.

It was funny to see him take that stance and tone with me. Refreshing.

I never did get to see the sleeping animal he had pointed out: I think his night vision/visual perception must be better than mine.

(If you would like to read 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, child prodigy, intelligence, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults. Thanks.)

Tiarnan's observation skills

Tiarnan, fourteen months, like Fintan, three, is a very observant child. He sees things other would miss - and finds interest in matters which others would not.

A few days ago, Tiarnan was walking around our house when he suddenly pointed at a blank white wall, and said: "Look at that!", very clearly.

On this invitation, we indeed, "looked at that." He was pointing at two pin pricks in the wall, one above the other. In its white surface they were two little points of darkness. They weren't much to notice, but notice them Tiarnan had from a distance of perhaps four or five feet, when he first pointed them out.

He then told us: "Go there!" That is, we were to look more closely. We did as we were told. To an adult eye, they were probably evidence that something had been pinned to the wall. To Tiarnan they were a mystery worth pointing out, in an otherwise perfect, blank, white wall.

What is interesting about this is that his eye is drawn to imperfection and exception: that which is different is noticed by him.

We then went outside and he did something more revealing of his observation skills. He pointed upwards and about six metres away: "Look at that!" In his line of sight, tucked away near the corner of roof and wall, was a brown moth, lying still on the wall, in the shade.

I hadn't noticed it. It was far too far above my line of sight to do so. Yet, he had - and it was so much more above his line of sight. His gaze captures all. This is very reminiscent of Fintan's visual skill.

He studied the moth with great attention and enthusiasm: he has a definite liking for living things - he gets excited when he sees them - and this is both sweet and encouraging. Sweet because it is - encouraging because it shows that he is a child of passion - and such children always develop into something worthwhile. Their passion makes them so.

Singapore is quite a standardized environment. It is much the same everywhere. But, it seems to me, that for Tiarnan (and probably Fintan) in looking so closely at the world, they will always find something interesting to see. It is the detail that will occupy them.

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.)