I feel like you have a kid that different, you have to do really different things to give them a childhood they connect to. Sure, it’s not catching frogs at the pond all summer with a gaggle of boys you’ve been best friends with from kindergarten but really, who even has that? If the kid is happy and engaged then he’s getting his own “perfect childhood.” Slowing him down wasn’t going to magically make peer relationships forthcoming and more typical childhood fancies fulfilling.
Everyone wants their kids to be “top of the class” but most still want them to BELONG in that class. I feel for the family who can’t have anticipated this. Glad the boy will continue his education and hope he finds what makes the world worth while for him.