On being gifted as well as Aspergers

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If you've seen my introduction thread, you know that I'm gifted, as well as Aspergers.

Gifted is defined as a collection of several traits, including precocious development, high IQ (over 130), and a different worldview.

The autism spectrum disorders are also defined as a collection of several traits... which I won't list here.

Being, of course, a member of both groups, I wonder what you might be. Do you think you're gifted?

I was tested at 135 +/- 5 so I guess Im gifted as well. I always had a way with understanding things, it just took a couple extra seconds, and it was always in a different perspective. My mind is capable of breaking down a subject to its core if I allow it enough time, I just dont have the patience usually. It can be physically draining, and I bet thats the aspergers side. In fact its only because of my iq that I've learned to understand emotions as well as I do. Social things still boggle my mind cause they're based on opinions, not facts, and Im not a body or mind reader.

Wow, same IQ, same thought processes. I feel like I could've wrote that myself.

I was inducted into the gifted program in grade 4 after maxing out the IQ test they gave me twice, so I guess that makes me "gifted". They kicked me out after a week of such due to not listening to them.

I don't think it affects the ASD much, but I've had people tell me it's why I adapted so well to mainstream schooling without problems (barring early difficulties with reading and writing); socially and academically. They say that a high IQ really only means that one will do well in schooling, so that's correct in my observations; I still suck at working with people, and listening to them.

I have no clue what my IQ level is. What I do know is that intellegence is a subjective term. My view of what is intellegent in a person may be something you define as being stupid and immature.

"I was inducted into the gifted program in grade 4 after maxing out the IQ test they gave me twice, so I guess that makes me "gifted". They kicked me out after a week of such due to not listening to them. "


I went through the same thing in 4th grade, but I stuck with the program(called enrichment) until 9th grade, mainly because I got to skip alot of my regular classes.

Everything I'm reading in this thread sounds pretty familiar. When I was in the 1st grade, my parents were called into a meeting by my teacher, where she told them that I had the highest IQ in the school(which was 1st-6th grade), at 150.

All of a sudden, I was enrolled in a bunch of special programs and it seemed as though nothing I did was ever good enough. I was constantly told that I wasn't "living up to my potential." I really couldn't stand it, so one day I just stopped paying attention and retreated into the nice, warm cocoon of my own head-space, at which point my parents were called in and told that I needed to stop daydreaming.

I'd say that the generally accepted explanation of intelligence, at least as far as your intelligence quotient goes (which is, of course, what is being discussed in this thread),is that it is the ability to recognize patterns and then use that understanding to predict future outcomes.

Of course, there are the terms social intelligence and emotional intelligence, which are used to describe intelligence in a much more general sense while applying it to a more specific area. In my opinion, they describe instinct and reflex more than they describe an actual conscious, cognitive process. These terms use the word "intelligence" as more of a synonym for the word "ability."

I've been reading a lot about giftedness in the last couple of years ever since I tested 130+ on some both official (psychologist administered) and unofficial (internet). As far as my school grades went, my giftedness was hidden - I talked late, read sentences late, and failed math in the 3rd grade. A couple of decades ago, a child was not thought of as being gifted unless they excelled in all areas - now children are considered gifted if they test high in any of a number of areas - and do poorly in others. The spottiness of abilities is called asynchronous development.

I've found it very interesting to note all of the similarities between pervasive developmental disorder and giftedness. Some doctors and professors who think about these things are theorizing that the two are related, and the more characteristics one has (such as intense focus, narrow area of interest, neurological sensitivity, difficulty understanding emotions), the more likely it is that they will receive a diagnosis of Asperger's.

Here is an example from James T. Webb, Misdiagnosis And Dual Diagnoses Of Gifted Children And Adults: ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, Asperger's, Depression, And Other Disorders"

p. 98 Since people with Asperger’s Disorder function at an average or above average intellectual level, it appears that there may be a true relationship between Asperger’s Disorder and giftedness.

p. 100 It can be difficult to differentiate between some gifted children and children with Asperger’s Disorder. In fact, there may be a gradation, rather than Asperger’s Disorder being a discrete category. That is, there may be increasing degrees of characteristic behaviors that end up with an impairment that is then called Asperger’s disorder.

Z

Well, my IQ is 152...
So I suppose I'm gifted. But I never did brilliantly at school. I didn't get put in any accelerated class. Although I managed to get reasonable marks without trying. But I think IQs and giftedness have only limited relevance in the real world. It's an interesting trait, an unusual trait, but in many ways not an important trait. Not that I'd give away my intelligence for anything, but in terms of society, well, other things take priority.

my IQ is 146. I´m 15..
I was tested and found to be in the top 1-2% of my age group in scotland, but I never wanted treated any different so my mum didn´t share my results with my school. The only thing I could say is I seem to be a very philishopical minded person, I look deep into things and come up with views that people havent thought of before generally. Howver I am still really immature sometimes. ^-^
I never thought of myself as gifted........

I was sent to school at 5 together with 7-year old kids so I guess I must have been at least a little bit gifted. I remember doing really well at school and being bored after having done all tasks when everyone else was still struggling with it...

then when I turned 13 I started to rebel and my marks went suddenly down on most subjects, apart from the ones I was interested in. I think I've wasted a lot of my talents because I was too busy rebelling against "school oppression" and having to learn things that I couldn't at all focus on, I just found them a waste of my time.

I was in gifted programs, although my tested IQ only once went over 130 (which I attribute to having abilities early in life that are more impressive in a young child than in a teen or young adult, and those abilities not progressing at the same rate s most people's -- like having some skills pop up nearly fully formed, which is amazing to most people in a 5-year-old, but not at 15 or 22 which are the other times I was tested). Having scores that varied as much as mine have (I've never even had two within the same set of standard deviations), gives me very little confidence in the test as measuring anything truly substantial and lasting about a person.

I have extreme talents compared to what's usual in some areas at some times, and the opposite in others. I once identified with the term 'gifted', but having interacted with a large number of other people so labeled, the main thing we have in common is a shared sociological experience at one point in our lives. I now don't really identify with any grouping of people by IQ, because I don't think the groupings are particularly valid. I do identify with people who share my specific strengths, or specific weaknesses, but I have found that such people can have literally any IQ imaginable. And I also identify with the social experiences of people who've been considered gifted, as well as those who have been written off as incompetent, and especially with those who have been considered both, because all of those things get you treated in certain ways. I've had an unusual life because of people swinging between both extremes when it came to their responses to me, and whichever extreme they were at, causing them to totally ignore (or even deny the existence of) the other one. Very few of them realize that when they insist that I have to fit their conceptions of 'gifted' or 'slow', that these conceptions are constructs inside their own minds, not actual facts that exist inside me somewhere.

Gifted as defined by that the general IQ score must be above the 97.9 percentile, yes.

Gifted as defined by traits, a certain world view - probably not.

And, having autism/a pervasive developmental disorder, I don't see how precocious development may apply.

Though that does not generally apply either.

I sucked at school, had to sit through an extra year too. While at 1 of my schools, a kid with the same IQ as me was already in 5th grade and trying to get into 6th grade at the age of 8, whereas children in 6th grade are usually about 12 and 13 years old.

Being gifted is nice at work, as it pays well. But it is not a good thing for trying to deal with friends and family. It only makes me seem that much more different than everyone else.

this may sound absurd to all who read this but i can actually see the future... but only to an extent it has very strict ruling

well, it might be that you have some sort of twisted and wierd dejavu's dont beleve it mind is playing tricks on you its like a hallucination they look real but they arent what i meant with twisted dejavu's is your having teh feeling youv been trough that moment before but then in a dream and those things feel seriusly real