My brother has 10 IQ points on me, and he sailed through school in all its forms, from 1st grade to finishing his university degree. So yea, it helps to be smart. Also he was driven by fear and had a good sense of discipline.

Me, I was OK in the lower grades, I learned with ease and there was no pressure, and I think I knew a lot before it was taught. Grade 7 to 9 should have been a lot harder, but I went to a really bad school and my class was really bad at most everything, so I got good grades because at least I learned a little. They needed me for statistics. I was an average student but scored higher. I didn't do homework, no discipline, and I hated the idea to be told what to do. The nerve they have to tell me what to put in MY brain, I thought. Truth is I couldn't learn unless I was focused and interested. The next two grades I really noticed when I tried to do be better because the teachers harassed me for not knowing my homework. I just couldn't....

Still, some stuff I learn with ease. It just sinks in. Some stuff my brain will reject, and I can't learn it even if I know it is good to have that knowledge. That goes for today as well, even being an adult.

Very uneven profile in learning and knowing. I'm told that is one of the hallmarks of Asperger's. Some people think I'm joking when I say I can't do math. Because I know some other subject... Sigh.

I'm actually very intelligent. When I had the WAIS I was told by my test psych that she had never tested anyone as intelligent as me. She seemed to think I was pretty much off the charts.

I used to see intelligence as my thing. Even if I really sucked at life, I had intelligence. Sometimes I could even apply it on things. These days I don't know. I don't value it as high. I realized the difference between me and my brother is that I don't try to conform. He probably wondered who he was for a long time. He can learn anything almost. I can't. But he has no creativity. He sees doing something in a very flat way, if it worked before it works now. Doesn't matter. I look for improvement. I don't try, I just always look at things and think how that could be done better. He has no artistic traits. I can make music, write, paint. I can think of being. Of how things are connected. I think things through deeply. He can't. Still he would beat me at any boardgame.

This was a quite long answer, but what I meant to say is, you can be really intelligent and suck at school.