Having been formerly labeled a gifted child, I'm not sure they really exist. I'm not sure the child has something different -- rather s/he does something different.
I was definitely very intelligent by IQ tests, but it seems to me that what I really had as a child was focus. Arbitrary tasks -- ones that I set for myself, as well as the ones the world does -- were met with the total commitment that adults usually reserve for wartime. So of course I advanced more quickly.
As for why I had such focus, that's complicated and probably varies from person to person. But did anyone else feel that way?
I was definitely very intelligent by IQ tests, but it seems to me that what I really had as a child was focus. Arbitrary tasks -- ones that I set for myself, as well as the ones the world does -- were met with the total commitment that adults usually reserve for wartime. So of course I advanced more quickly.
As for why I had such focus, that's complicated and probably varies from person to person. But did anyone else feel that way?