Spelling bee champ...

[Modeps]

No social skills == product of Home Schooling

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
poor kid. is he autistic?

Um no. Did you watch the video? He was smiling and laughing.

 

[mobobuff]

He reminds me of John Nash, the schizophrenic genius that A Beautiful Mind was based on. If only he had the pinache of Russel Crowe...

Those Jimmy Kimmel segments were hilarious, by the way.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Poor guy, that'd be rough for quite a few people to be on that one show. He's not really that old, y'know, and is probably borderline Asperger's. Heck, how many social skills did YOU have when you were what, 13?

 

[0roo0roo]

stereotype ftw!
http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=23743

 

[Inspector Jihad]

yeah, aspergers sounds about right.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I hesitate to chalk that up to home schooling. My 8 year old has better social skills than that. I'm guessing they went with home school because it suits his personality. He may have been home schooled only a year or two ... who knows.

 

[Compudork]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
yeah, aspergers sounds about right.

This is likely the answer. And yes, Asperger's is a varient of autism (think of it like a mild autism or "weak sauce autism" for you nerds ). He's also gifted in math - see link on first page of this thread. Does it not strike anyone as odd that he's gifted in certain areas, but incredibly literal and awkward in social situations?

It's likely that the home schooling has exacerbated the problem (unless of course, he is in treatment which may explain the home schooling).

Now of course, this is all a theory, but the second I watched that interview, it was my first thought. if so, the only "retards" in this situation are mom and dad for exploiting the poor kid on national TV to be laughed at. I understand the CNN thing, but to put him on a show like Jimmy Kimmel (and sit in the audience laughing while the kid struggles), that's just sad. Even if he's just awkward and has no disorder, it's still kind of pathetic to me.

If he really does have Asperger's (or other disorder), his parents should recieve an extra backhand for not using it as an opportunity to raise awareness about the disorder so other kids like him aren't labeled "retards" because people simply think they're really awkward.

 

[Linux23]

Somebody needs to take this kid to a strip club for a night out of boobie watching.

 

[mrkun]

Keep in mind, this kid lives in Berkeley, so letting him out of the house to learn social skills might not be the best of ideas.

 

[Epic Fail]

Holy Batshit!!

I thought it couldn't get worse after the name correction, the ending is priceless.

The Kimmel interview is really funny too.

 

[Jhill]

Somebody needs to take this kid to a strip club for a night out of boobie watching.

LOL. Poor bastard. He will be the richest 50 year old virgin ever.

I want to see this guy get into a verbal argument with that Miss Tenn USA girl.

 

[Modeps]

Way to dig up an old ass thread, Linux23.

 

[UNCjigga]

I think Spelling Bees and Asperger's Syndrome go hand in hand.

 

[E equals MC2]

Based on the responses, I have to mark this post so I can watch this after work. LOL.

 

[RapidSnail]

Originally posted by: Modeps
Way to dig up an old ass thread, Linux23.

Who the hell are you? The same person who complains about reposts? At least he did a search for it instead of starting a new topic.

And I agree with the posters who say he's autistic. I work around autistic children, and they are often very focused on specific areas like music, math, and sequences. In fact, a larger percent of autistic children are gifted with perfect pitch than "normal" people, and they tend to be very intelligent. It's something that most people don't understand because they are extremely socially challenged and it's difficult to see past the stuttering and stammering.

 

[MyThirdEye]

that kid is a social disaster.

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: RapidSnail

Originally posted by: Modeps
Way to dig up an old ass thread, Linux23.

Who the hell are you? The same person who complains about reposts? At least he did a search for it instead of starting a new topic.

I love complaining about repost threads. I also love big brother douchebags who feel the need to "protect" everyone on the internets.

Here's a hint about what I posted: It was a statement. It was not implying any wrong doing.

Perhaps if I used the "wink" smiley it would have been interpreted correctly by you, but I didn't and because of that, I annoyed you, the 'protector of the weak'. If Linux had an issue with what I posted, he could bring that up for himself.

Go post more Price is Right videos.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

that was painful to watch. infact i stopped watching and switched to this thread and it was painful to hear.

hope no potential employer find this video. that will disqualify him from virtually any job (esp any job a smart guy could have)

 

[ManBearPig]

lol

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: Modeps

Originally posted by: RapidSnail

Originally posted by: Modeps
Way to dig up an old ass thread, Linux23.

Who the hell are you? The same person who complains about reposts? At least he did a search for it instead of starting a new topic.

I love complaining about repost threads. I also love big brother douchebags who feel the need to "protect" everyone on the internets.

Here's a hint about what I posted: It was a statement. It was not implying any wrong doing.

Perhaps if I used the "wink" smiley it would have been interpreted correctly by you, but I didn't and because of that, I annoyed you, the 'protector of the weak'. If Linux had an issue with what I posted, he could bring that up for himself.

Go post more Price is Right videos.

he's right though. your comment added nothing to the thread. esp if it was just a statement and not a complaint.

 

[Rudee]

Originally posted by: Linux23
Somebody needs to take this kid to a strip club for a night out of boobie watching.

Somebody needs to give you a beating for digging up old threads.

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: Rudee

Originally posted by: Linux23
Somebody needs to take this kid to a strip club for a night out of boobie watching.

Somebody needs to give you a beating for digging up old threads.

DUDE YOU SUCK FOR COMMENTING ON THAT FACT! AT LEAST HE SEARCHED!

edit: <- provided for the sensitive folks in the thread.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

that's strange... last year or the year prior, the national spelling champion was in SD, and that kid was in the public eye for awhile (locally)...didn't have any problems.

I remember one time another kid was on Jay Leno a few years back, and that kid didn't have any issues either.

In fact, they embraced it.

 

[RapidSnail]

Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP
that's strange... last year or the year prior, the national spelling champion was in SD, and that kid was in the public eye for awhile (locally)...didn't have any problems.

I remember one time another kid was on Jay Leno a few years back, and that kid didn't have any issues either.

In fact, they embraced it.

Unless it's been denied, it does seem like he has a form of autism. I doubt any sort of home schooling could breed that behavior considering he's required to show before hundreds of people during his SB competitions. In fact, I'll go so far as to say he doesn't seem shy, but "just" extremely awkward with his communication skills (which is a sign of Asperger's). I mean he went on in front of a live audience on Kimmel's show, as well as this appearence on television, so people don't seem to be the issue.