The hidden injuries of class

I doubt that a socialist welfare state like Sweden or Denmark would have allowed these kids to slip under the radar for so long. The state would have mandated an assessment of some kind. They would not have been allowed to skip school.

Mr. and Ms. Kennedy came from poor, low-IQ parents and were clearly ashamed of, overwhelmed by, and estranged from their twins. The maternal grandmother, obsessed with the fulfillment of German working-class virtues such as cleanliness, obedience and propriety, could give nothing of herself, neither warmth nor mental stimulation.

Then, when Ginny and Gracie finally entered primary school, they were subjected to the authoritarian teaching methods typical of working-class America.

Any parent might have been influenced by a doctor's suspicions of mental retardation. Yet it seems likely that in a smarter, more affluent, and nurturing environment, the twins' IQ could have been as much as 30 IQ points higher, perhaps not enough to secure them a professional career, but certainly adequate for most clerical work.