I know some very intelligent people were put into special ed, just because they were a more quiet, nerdy type of intelligent, or even "mad scientist" type intelligent. This of course destroyed them, seeing as they're just children.

Once you brand a child as "retarded", that child will never be happy again. It's not a good feeling to have authorities brand you as a failure of evolution, a person who is too broken to breed or love, or even have friends. It's not some sort of secret that anyone who's put into special ed loses all of their friends. It's utter annihilation of their confidence and psyche. And it was common.

They're all kept away from each other, so none of them can ever communicate, and they all shut down as people, making them feel isolated and alone. It's obvious why schools do this to intelligent children though.

Intelligent people are dangerous.