If the kid can't find someone to work with, or work with his/her nieghbor on
the codes, why can't s/he do it alone?
I don't think the following of any of the examples you gave -- all of which
would find support to some extent in the school community, but some of which
don't need all that much -- would mark a kid as nerdy, as different, as
anything. Different strokes for different folks, and lots of respect to go
with it.
Mimsy