Carl sidles up to people that he has never met and starts conversations with the ease of a cocktail party schmoozer and the urgency of a congressional lobbyist. The 8-½-year-old boy has received countless warnings from his parents about talking to strangers. He just can’t help himself.
Given his small size and smooth banter, many of Carl’s new acquaintances peg him as a bright, elfin-faced go-getter. Beneath that first impression, however, lie some unusual intellectual peaks and valleys, as well as an IQ indicating moderate retardation.
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