Kinda uncomfortable. Obviously a bright kid, but just doesn’t seem “all there.”
Best thread title evar!
Maybe autistic?
ETA: Holy crap, that is the best thread title ever!
That is what my wife thought as well when she saw an interview with him (not sure if it was that one or another one). She isn’t any kind of expert but she thought maybe Asperger’s.
I think he was obviously having some trouble with the audio hookup, there might have been a satelite delay as well which wouldn’t help. I have seen on TV and heard on the radio interviews with grownups which were almost as painful.
Also I think most adults would have a reasonable expectation going into a situation like that what kind of questions an interviewer might ask and would have a set of answers in place (“It felt great to win!” “My mom was really proud of me!”). He looked like he was caught completely unawares. Maybe he just doesn’t watch a lot of TV, if so good for him.
He was on Kimmel and nearly every question was met with a silent blank stare.
I too thought he possibly has Asperger’s when I saw the end of the bee; it makes a lot of sense from the way he acts. I had a friend in college who was autistic, though very high-functioning (not Asperger’s, though), and his social reactions seemed similarly oddballish a lot of the time. He was really smart and a talented musician, he just was no good at all with social interaction. The kid reminded me a bit of him.
He’s obviously very bright, regardless of what else might be going on. I’d be insanely proud of him if he were my kid!
Yeah, Kimmel handled the kid way better than the CNN woman.
P.S. Autistic? I don’t think so. Asperger’s? Maybe. Socially retarded parents isolating a already inept kid and turning him into social misfit completely unprepared and incapable of “normal” homan interaction? Yeah, that’s my vote.
P.P.S. Second-best thread title ever.
Watching that interview was excruciating. There’s not much that can be done about the strange social interaction if there is something going on like Asperger’s. I hope that his mother isn’t screwing him up. That would just be sad.
Ouch that was painful. :X
That is not even close to autistic or Asperger’s or whatever. Awkward, undiplomatic, yes, but he only looks to be about 14 years old. He was thrown by her unaccountable ignorance of how to pronounce the letters AE at the end of the word. Rhymes with “lie”, not “lay”.
So what’s your explanation for the behavior during the rest of the interview…before the spelling question?
Great thread title…
The kid is a perfect example of why homeschooling is not a wise idea for all children.
Hey kid, can you spell, “antisocial”? It is a word that means smart-ass, asshole dip-shit.
Heh. The newscaster is obviously used to interviewing people who automatically elaborate on their answers (rather than just leave them at say, yes or no), and you can really see her frustration, naturally masked with a cheery bright smile, when she says “You’re really making this tough for me!” I think his best line was in response to “What did your mom say when you finally won?”
“Well I don’t know what my mom said. You better ask my mom if you want the answer to that question.”
Smartass. 
I saw this “live” and it was even worse: The YouTube clip edited out some of the excruciatingly drawn-out pauses. I was howling the entire time. That kid pwns.
I don’t think he was actually trying to be a smartass. It seemed to me that he failed to see the question beyond it’s face value. I wonder if he can spell ‘rhetorical’?
Very funny.
I think the reporter was being set up a little too with such a strange word choice. They should at least ran it by her before give it to the kid.
He is just a kid though. If I was going to be on CNN now at 21, I think I would be pretty nervous and look just as awkward.
Sundae, Bloody Sundae…
d&r
Doesn’t make it any less funny (actually, that’s probably why it’s funny to me). 
I think it makes it funnier, actually.
He seems a bit young for 14, even if he did have some audio difficulties.