Posted by Ann in KY on 9:17 Jan 8
In Reply to: Please help re: gifted son -- PLEASE posted by Dawn K
Does he really converse well with an adult or child? Is there lots of give and take or is mainly one sided? If the conversation turns to what the other person is interested in, how does he react? If he's talking and someone starts to ignore him, does he notice it or just keep talking because he loves whatever it is he is talking about?
My brother is very smart and had a lack of social skills like you describe. It doesn't have to do with homeschooling probably as with his high intelligence. If you go into areas like physic or engineering workplaces, you'll find some of very smart geeky socially awkward adults. High intelligence and lack of social skills does not by itself means that he will be successful or unsuccessful (like your cousin) in life. My DB became much less socially awkward as a teen, in college and later in life.
The question is what do you do? 1) Nothing - which is okay. 2) Gently teach some specific social skills. Alot of this is becoming aware of other people and paying attention to social cues. I can't recommend a book, but I'm sure that there are books on EQ or Social Intellence that may give you some ideas.
Good luck and be happy for what makes him wonderful. There are so many worse problems out there that you could be dealing with.