^ “Other interesting tidbits about my dad: 1) he was incredibly nearsighted, and no one knew until he was in third grade. He had such intelligence and such highly developed coping skills no one even suspected.”
This kind of story is not uncommon. Gifted kids who have a physical are often able to compensate, or mask the problem by virtue of their analytic prowess, and still achieve above the norm, so they are not identified has having a problem. Auditory and sensory processing disorders are fairly common. Here’s one example:
http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/blogs/bobbie-and-lindas-blog/ear-infections-can-lower-iq-scores