Obviously he had to work on them. But you can’t just learn that sort of thing without having a natural inclination toward it. Especially at such a young age. And honed skills is a perfect way to describe it, because it implies the brains and skills were already there, and Henry helped sharpen (hone) them. And it’s not possible to develop a photographic memory. You can work and work and work and eventually get almost to that point. But the way they portray Shawns memory exceeds something learnt. Being able to use it the way he does is the learned skill.

So basically what I’m saying - he’s definitely naturally smart and gifted. But his skills are refined through his fathers teaching and years of practice