Editing George Bernard Shaw (section)

=== Early Life and Developmental Profile ===
Shaw was born in Dublin into a socially declining Protestant family. His childhood was marked by '''emotional withdrawal''', intense reading, and discomfort with group interaction. He showed '''precocious verbal abilities''', early mastery of classical texts, and an aversion to physical activity and peer games.

These are familiar features in Asperger childhoods—'''social detachment paired with narrow cognitive specialization'''. He displayed what I describe as '''asynchronous development''': his language far outpaced his social awareness. Teachers and peers described him as '''eccentric, aloof, and literal-minded'''.

He was self-educated through obsessive private reading—another common pattern in autistic adolescents, who prefer '''self-directed cognitive immersion''' over classroom conformity.
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