She can’t keep track of objects such as shoes, and her mind appears to wander during routine chores such as toothbrushing. Often, after a bout of daydreaming, she’ll announce a new math insight or some other significant realization.
Apparently, from an early age, she needs to save any object that crosses her path. But she hasn’t yet learned how to organize her collection, which can range from a tennis ball and a pad of sticky notes to a small calculator and a bunch of pens. Even paper clips and other tiny things appear important.
Although this will cause major disorder in her bedroom and on her desk, if she has one, perhaps it’s best not to mandate tidiness, except to keep the basic rules of safety. Although vacuuming will be difficult, it might be harder still for her to try to decide where items should be put.
For parents to impose a scheme of organization might not work either because often these children need to discover their own methods—for everything, including how to keep track of their treasures.
The solution? Hands-off, perhaps, because it might cause intolerable stress to suggest or require neatness of a child for whom collecting is more important.
A Case of Brilliance 