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Um, she is ah … very determined. She is focussed like nobody I’ve ever known. She is highly organised and structured approach to everything she does. Ah, of the smarts, physical smart would be her strongest one by miles – she’s very physically able in everything that she does.

Huge risk taker. Absolutely has never worried what anybody else thought, like to stand out, like to be different – quite exceptional that way.

Hubert Cumberdale is a young girl who is exceptionally talented in the sporting area. She has represented her province in age-group cross country, multi-sport, hockey and cricket, is a New Zealand age group surf life-saving champion and she won four sporting cups at the end of her time at Skye Intermediate. Her mother reports that when Hubert was younger she was told that she probably had ADHD but her mother was not convinced and believes it was her excessive physical energy that led to that assumption. Her mother says that if the energy is channelled into sporting activities, then Hubert copes perfectly well. She has an “ants in her pants type of energy” and “gets into a bit of mischief and stuff.” She is a girl who needs to be busy; she also plays three musical instruments. She does not appear to have problems with organising her time, despite her heavy load of activities. Her mother gives the example of Hubert colour coding her diary in order to keep track of her homework, trainings and meetings.

Hubert achieves at an above average level academically. Her mother labels her as able, with a good memory, and notes that she “follows processes well.” She sometimes struggles with reading. She says Hubert is a “natural leader.” Hubert is invariably selected as the captain of teams. She does have difficulty settling to sleep at night and needs techniques to calm herself enough to be able to go to sleep.

She did not have many friends at primary school, according to her mother, who says this was because “she was just so different from the rest of them. They were all doing Barbies and gymnastics and she was climbing on the school roof retrieving tennis balls for kids.”

Hubert has two older sisters, both academically very able. Her father and her mother are both in full-time work.

Kurt

… he’s got a huge and a very great sense of humour and he is quite a comedian among his friends. And he just has this astounding memory, because one of the things he likes doing the most is pulling out funny wee bits of information, like … what – are you more likely to get hit on the head by a coconut tree or killed by a shark – and Kurt can tell you.

Kurt has a wide range of interests, from reading and learning about a variety of topics, to playing the guitar, attending Sea Scouts and participating in several sports. His mother says he is always “right up on world events.” He forms his own opinions about current affairs and likes to discuss these with his mother and her partner at home. He thinks quickly and likes to get his ideas down on the page, which can lead to less than tidy work. He uses an advanced vocabulary. He is competitive in his school work and likes to compare his results with others in his class. Yet his mother also says he will often say he is “useless” at science, for example, but will still attain a high mark. He is particularly able in the maths area. “Maths just seems to be a piece of cake,” his mother maintains. She sees maths and his ability with computers as being his areas of talent.

There was some frustration for Kurt during his primary and intermediate school years when he felt he was not being challenged in his maths and he became bored. He was not placed in the top maths class at Skye and he put this down to his difficulty with

sitting timed tests, at which he did not do well, according to his mother. However, he told his mother that he ended up doing the problems for the top maths class students who would pay him with money for visits to the canteen.

His mother believes that he has no problems with peer relationships and she notes that “well, he’s all different with all the different children.” Kurt is an only child, who at the time of the interview was living with his mother and her partner. During the course of the study this relationship broke up.

Lewis

Um, he’s very expressive, um, when he gets to know people and can be very funny and very dramatic, um, but very shy on – and and um reclining on on first meeting people. He he comes across as very um quiet and almost vacant or quite shy, you know, not not sort of as a as a um you know particularly articulate or anything [laughs] it takes a while.

Lewis is a creative thinker whom his mother says has an interesting sense of humour which has been enjoyed by both his peers and his teachers. He is someone who is happy to participate at all times, even though he may not be the best at an activity. His mother calls him “biddable” and “happy to go with the flow.” He tends to come up with strange creative solutions which his teachers have often commented on in the past. He is academically very able and he received the top academic award for boys in his final year at Skye Intermediate as well as being awarded an academic scholarship to attend his high school.

He enjoys drama and is very adept on the computer and although he is a competent reader, his mother reports that he rarely reads books but reads avidly on the computer to find out information. He has always done well at school and enjoyed school and the company of his peers. He likes to be busy and takes part in several sports as well as playing the piano. His mother says he can ‘blow up’ if he feels things get on top of him.

Um, he has his, his odd moments, mainly with his mother probably, of volatility and, um, has in the past had – had volatile moments. Um, but he gets over it quickly and moves on. He’ll explode and then move

on. And usually it’s, it’s, it’s probably stress-related, with too many, you know, things being piled up on him.

Lewis’ parents are both professionals but his mother was not working outside the home at the time of the study.

Marty

… he’s very sensitive and a deep thinker … Um, he’s very gentle and very caring and, um, he’s soft [laughs], doesn’t like getting hurt or anything.

Marty is a young person with a gentle nature whom his mother remembers as being an advanced reader from an early age. He becomes very focused on an area of interest and finds out everything there is to know about that area. At the time of the interview with his mother he was passionate about cricket.

… when he was little he used to absolutely love and know every single thing about wild animals, these animals that I’d never heard of

whereas at the moment he’s into cricket and he just reads cricket and watches cricket and plays cricket and so he’s very passionate about whatever he’s into.

His mother says he has an amazing ability to retain knowledge and his comprehension of advanced concepts is strong. Marty does not seem to need a lot of close friends; he is happy with one or two, who are usually of similar ability to him although his mother states that he will relate to people of any age and is particularly confident when talking to adults. He will speak in front of a large group without being too nervous, but is very sensitive to change in his life. His mother says they always need to prepare him if things are going to be different from what he expects. She says he spends a lot of time watching when he encounters new situations, before taking part. In his primary school years he has always done very well and he loves the extra- curricular activities such as the Future Problem Solving programme, creative writing and debating.

Marty has two younger sisters. His mother works part-time and both she and his father are in professional careers.