He was very gifted. At the age of three, he taught himself to read fluently. His parents did not suspect he was interested, let alone help him to learn to read. So there it was, he was reading very well at age three plus. Then he went on to excel in his academics. His parents sent him to a premier school famous for producing candidates for medical degrees He was doing well in Grade school. Then he went on to ace in his O-levels. By then, my family moved to a distant town. From friends I heard he went into a pre-medical program.
It sounded like all is well. But no, the next thing that happened shocked me. I happened to visit and learned that he ran away. He didn't go far and was found within a very short time. Now this is not something within the range of possibilities one expects!
Let me travel back in time and share one scene with you. I walked out of a building and saw Gabriel's father attempted to hold on to him. The normal quiet and serious child (he was about five) was almost hysterical. He was shouting, struggling, crying with real tears. He basically wanted to be set free. A few adults were standing nearby, thunder struck, with our jaws dropped. I needed to go somewhere and I resumed my interrupted steps. Later I returned and all was well. The child was calm.
Both Gabriel's parents are very gentle people. I put the matter out of my mind and thought it was a once-off thing because the child was unwell and he played up.
The next thing of significance is a segment of overheard conversation. Gabriel was a teenager by then. He seemed moody and a little sulky. But that is not very unusual for a 13 year old boy once in a while. I was quietly reading in one corner. Two boys walked in, stopped at the circulation desk, saw me and went out. Gabriel was looking for his sister, Milly.
" ....why don't you tell them?" the other boy asked.
"Ah! No use. They wouldn't understand!" Gabriel said in a dejected manner.
At that point, the other boy saw me look up and told Gabriel that Milly was not there. Next destination: Music Room.
Now, were I to tell you that I know something is not quite right from the beginning, I would be lying. But somewhere along the line, I was interested. And I found myself filing away every scrap of information that came my way. Was I expecting trouble? No, not exactly. Was I jealous that Gabriel was doing much better than my son? Not really. Much is given, much is expected. The life of the gifted is often much harder than an above average, intelligent person. There is no way to intervene, no way of finding out more, short of being a busy body which I try not to become. Anyway, I often wish I know more than I do, and it would help if I have some solid qualification to justify my interest in matters of this kind. And, sad to say, Gabriel is not the first, and he will not be the last child that requires some sort of extra something that a former gifted person who had walked down the road less traveled can give. Sad, but sometimes life's like that.
You probably think I am nuts to include this article here. Please don't be mad! Very often, learning difficulties come with extraordinary talents. A highly intelligent child can deflect an adult's attention from his short-comings to his gifts. Hence, unless you are looking for it, you would not see the hidden struggles. But, if a person had been through the experience, she will see glimpses of something familiar and something that cause her to look further. One thing for sure, such struggles would leave behind a fair amount of frustration and anger. That I saw very clearly when Gabriel passed the age of ten.
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