[madnak]

I'm a pretty classic "smart person with poor social skills," so I think I'm qualified to answer. I don't think smart people actually tend to have poor social skills, but when a person's social development is slower than their mental development the gap can be noticeable. This problem is exacerbated because there is often a strong expectation of heightened maturity and social savvy in smart kids and because those kids may have different interests from their peers.

I think the problem is at its worst during adolescence. "Fitting in" is very important during the teenage years, and the effects of poor socialization in early childhood will often become most apparent at this time. Most of us do finally "figure it out" in our twenties - some people even develop exceptional social skills in adulthood despite a childhood of social ineptitude.