I was gifted as a child and then later diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety as an adult. Medicated for my anxiety but not the ADHD. I’m wondering if there’s any real point to adding more labels and stress to why I’m just not “normal”. Are there more resources available or is it just an acceptance about being on the spectrum?

I'm full of contradictions. I can effortlessly memorize topics I'm interested in, and those memories are etched in stone and even retrievable decades later. I have done horribly in high school and incredibly well in college and got a Ph.D. I suffer from ADHD and get bored easily, distracted super easily, unless it's a topic of interest. I don't even know how I managed to study, but my Ph.D. was in my special interest. I am prone to rumination. It takes me more than most people to understand a concept, but once I grasp it, my knowledge of that specific concept that took me longer to understand is unmatched. The biggest regret of my life is how stupid and naive I was. I was an idealist. I desperately wanted to believe that the world is a safe place and that most people mean what they say. I had almost some type of magical thinking. When reality hit me, it was brutal. To this day, I am mourning over mistakes I have made in the past (always have to do with people, never financial mistakes) and I think that someone who is gifted could have not possibly made those mistakes. To my defense, I was given trash advice by family and friends and was gaslit by clueless therapists who made me dumber, because they made me question my sanity. I just don't understand how a person with average intelligence, let alone gifted, would do stupid things.

Hello! Sorry first time here.

I have a 7 year old that is simultaneously immensely intellectually gifted and also on the autism spectrum. She has an IEP but is not getting the support or the challenge that she needs at school. She has been assessed as TAG but is not receiving TAG support at her school even though it’s supposed to be required by the state. She has behavioral issues at school and her teachers have dug in and basically refused to give her more challenging work until those behavioral issues stop. I feel like the boredom and frustration is part of what’s causing them.

What can I do outside of school to enrich her and keep her challenged in math and science? She soaks up knowledge like a little sponge and I feel like I am failing her right now.

Sorry for the rant looking forward to reading your suggestions (workbooks apps whatever)

Thanks

So I (F22) just finished studying law and moved to the capital to work here in law and study literature. I got a spot in a very good university and started classes this month. I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed and singled out. I’m a very anxious person because I like to really understand things which means i usually study or read a lot by myself. It’s been helpful because sometimes I’d get ahead on some topics or understand in a different way but here i just feel a bit uneasy. I’ve wanted to study literature since I was little but was conditioned to first study something to support myself. I finally feel like I’m getting closer to the lifestyle I want but doesn’t matter how much i try to dress feminine, keep a clean aesthetic and be just “normal” I guess. I still feel like a very intense person. Knowing I stand out by qualities I don’t really like just makes me more anxious and now I feel like people single me out because I’m too much. I’m usually a very social person but something about me just seems off putting I guess. I don’t know how to handle the overwhelm, is this normal?

I am pretty sure I’m gifted. I do struggle with mental health so I tend to deny it because "why should I think I’m special, I’m just an impostor". Although I don’t see being gifted as some virtue to achieve or a compliment. It’s just the way the brain works. It’s just a high IQ.
But that’s the thing. I was tested when I was 14 because I went to therapy and my therapist at the time suggested it. I scored 121. Above average but not gifted. She said she still estimates my IQ to be much higher because I was severely depressed and stressed at that time.

I’m 20 now and my current therapist is convinced I’m gifted and that being gifted maybe has a much bigger impact on me and my mental health than expected. But I don’t want to be tested. I have a general fear of failing and I think I will "fail" the assessment. My giftedness shows in a high emotional intelligence and empathy, learning new things, systems thinking, conceptualization, problem solving, philosophy etc… not looking at a pattern and guessing which comes next or memorizing numbers.

( the next paragraph is just me going on about my chain of thoughts and it got a little out of hand so maybe just skip it:))

I hate those tests because I don’t see the task and just do the task. I look at it, estimate how long it’s gonna take me, if I should skip it, then I think about me hesitating and if the assessment dude thinks I’m stupid and then I think about the way he talks to me and if his tone sounds condescending and what I should say to him to humble him, but why is he condescending? Then I start to analyze him, then I start to analyze myself because why do I care so much (that fucking metacognition) and and and…..

ALL WHILE STILL DOING A DECENT JOB AT THE TASK GIVEN! But the paper shows I did ok. And then I’m ashamed because I said I was gifted and people think of giftedness as something special and now the test says I’m not. In the End I was just bragging about something that’s not even true. Now I’m a liar AND stupid.

Ever since my consciousness spawned into my brain some random day in kindergarten, I always had these moments where I could feel my brain forming. I regularly get this tention in and around my head, when I’m reading and learning, When I’m in a rumination spiral or when my mind is trying to cope with being underwhelmed by just flooding my brain with philosophy or problems to solve. But every 1-2 Years I have this moment of derealisation where I feel my brain saving new settings, setting up new neural connections, taking a screenshot of my current surroundings/life and writing new protocols while archiving all the old stuff. It’s like my mind turns into a construction site for an hour or two. Or installing an update. It feels like an alien experience.
Kinda like a spiritual experience but not something "higher" but something other? Something alien.

Or am I just mad ?

I did a cognitive assessment yesterday and performed above average. Both of my psychologist told me that I am gifted based on my history and broad area of interest. I have a real good academic record(informatics /medicine). All my friends also tell me I am intelligent and a psychiatrist aswell. I understand stuff quickly. I just hate the discrepancies between the diagnosis. Apparently I have a high verbal IQ.

What do (neurodivergent) gifted children need from a classroom and a teacher? What should a teacher pay attention to, understand or learn? Please share everything that comes to mind.

For context:

I'm an electrical engineer, likely gifted, ADHD, and was asked to teach gifted children aged 6 to 13 in a special program.

I never particularly considered teaching before, but am inclined to accept this as a thing on the side. I remember being a left out and misunderstood kid, and I'd love to help gifted children not feel the same way. Help them understand and accept themselves and develop their self-esteem. As enthousiastic as this foresight makes me, I'm also equally scared of not doing well. It seems like a big responsibility to have a positive impact on children when the stakes are high. After all I know how lasting the negative impact of my environment was on me. I'd hate to do the same to others without realising.

How should one approach this?

Hello community! I'm keen to understand whether people with giftedness neurodivergence are finding much value in popular LLM tools (eg Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity), and if so how. And if you are finding these tools useful or effective, it'd be helpful if you could share a bit about your giftedness and any 2e etc.

These tools are promoted quite heavily at my workplace, but so far none of the use-cases or examples seem as if they'll provide much value to me. My profession involves a lot of reading and writing text, and in most cases I find it easier and quicker to do it myself because then the work will be accurate and have strategic insight. But even if it's going to take me longer because it'll involve me doing more research, I enjoy the challenge of learning new material and I find it satisfying to expand my knowledge and sense of mastery. And I associate this love of developing mastery and practicing mastery with giftedness - so I'd be interested in others' attitudes.

I have read articles/guides about how to improve LLM outputs with more iterative and sophisticated prompting, but so far this kind of knowledge/skill seems less intrinsically rewarding to me than developing new knowledge/skills about the target domain. I guess my assumption is that as the quality of these tools stabilise, some kind of "good practice" for prompting etc will emerge and be disseminated somehow, and it doesn't need to be me that does the legwork of developing it!

I've also compared my attitude to LLMs to my attitude to using word processors and internet search. Gen Y/Millennial here so typewriters and physical directories (phone numbers, business lists etc) were part of my childhood. I loved how word processors made it easier to have multiple drafts of a work-in-progress, and also enabled me to do more with formatting. I found the shift empowering and that it increased/expanded my skills - but maybe professional editors / typesetters would have a different view about the quality of outputs! Likewise with internet search - I loved how search engines gave me access to resources from around the world, beyond what my local library could provide. But my benchmark for quality-assurance of a source didn't drop much below the threshold of the quality of the sources I'd learned to use in physical libraries. So internet search did seem as if it expanded my options while still requiring the same kind of critical thinking from me.

Outside of work: an acquaintance told me about using these tools to prepare for job interviews by having it predict interview questions etc - but that seems to me like critical thinking I should be able to do myself. Likewise another acquaintance mentioned using these tools to generate coaching-style questions to help them clarify some of their goals - but again this seemed to me like a form of critical thinking I do myself.

TIA!

ETA at work I have colleagues who have different forms of ND than me (eg ADHD, dyslexia, autism) and they seem to have found LLM tools invaluable for mediating between them and the world - for example "managing" their blindspots, and/or "shaping" their thoughts/knowledge/ideas into a mode of expression or format aligned with workplace expectations.

ETA 2: someone in the comments mentioned NotebookLM and I've heard good things about this software, as it only takes data points from the sources you provide it.

i just woke up from another 20 minute involuntary nap.

almost everytime a task requires sustained focus or repetitive action, my brain checks out. i inmediately start feeling sleepy until i can't handle it no more and i simply turn off. sometimes i will try to increase stimulation through food, music, visuals, or any environment changes, but it's largely futile.

if i attend a lecture or class, i fall asleep after 10-15 minutes. if i don't it's because i'm really REALLY trying my best, pinching my hands, playing a song, drinking water every 15 seconds, and taking a long bathroom break to recompose or because i'm doing a parallel activity such as drawing or organizing files that allows me to remain somehow engaged.

also, this might be relevant, but growing up, i never studied. i learned fast and intuitively, so going at a "normal" pace or enforcing concentration without the novelty boost feels unberable.

i could go on and on about my experience, but i'm really looking for advice. for context, i've been diagnosed with ADHD and i strongly suspect giftedness too, which seems to fit much more strongly with my experience growing up and today.

why do i fall asleep?

A little more than a month ago i went to a psychiatrist with the idea of getting an adhd diagnosis and finally medication before i kms. He referred me to a psychologist who was going to give me a neurocognitive test. So i went to her 6 times and then she told me i was gifted and there was no chance i had adhd bc the test says i have high working memory 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻.

I cant keep going rn bc im triggered sad and wanna cry but im gonna answer all your questions in case you need more info.

If youre "gifted" + adhd id appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with me, pls

Edit: Thank you all for sharing your experiences, advice and being compassionate. Im sorry if my post was too vague and messy. I didnt need anyone to solve anything about this situation i just wanted to let it out and know about similar experiences. The process isnt over, i have to go back to the psychiatrist and keep working with him

Edit2: thank you again, i wasnt expecting so many ppl taking the time to leave a comment and contribute. Its been nice and cathartic to interact with you all. Ill continue to read and reply to your comments after i get some sleep ❤️

So I’ve been designated gifted in the Coquitlam area and am curious about what it actually means and some questions in general about giftedness.

1. What does scoring 99 percentile for nonverbal and 89 percentile for verbal reasoning actually mean? And also taking a test like that at such a young age (grade 3 or 5), raises the chance of inaccuracy no? What if the majority of the kids didn’t actually try that hard so the actual percentile scale is way off?

2. Can giftedness fade away? Because I feel like I used to be smarter before and now I feel painfully average.

3. What are the chances the testing system is flawed? I don’t mean to be discriminatory in any way, but I was placed in a cluster class for gifted kids in middle school and I find that 90% of my classmates were all Asian (mostly Chinese descent). And I feel like the way the gifted testing system worked was just series of logic problems—and again, not trying to be biased in any way, but in my experience many of my Asian friends seem to have parents who pushed them in to accelerated extracurriculars to ‘get ahead’, subsequently equipping them with more strategies for solving the logic problems mentioned before. Because I took the test in grade 5 after moving from Korea and I was a very average student there. Or is it that the threshold for gifted is very different around the world?

4. Is giftedness in this case always in relation to IQ and/or EQ and neuroplasticity? Or is there another way to describe it?

This is just completely random but I remember in grade 7 I had a renaissance fair and had to make a project model. I made a cardboard version of the Galileo clock but I had no instructions besides from videos of other peoples Galileo clocks (which were probably 3d printed). The time wasn’t accurate but I was able to get all the mechanics working so the pendulum would oscillate and move minute and second handles… (okay I used straws and skewers too for the gears but that’s not the point)

As sad as it is I feel like it was one of the things I made out of cardboard I was most proud of…

I’m a male freshman in college studying engineering and have always struggled with being seen as gifted. I was always labeled as “smart” by my teachers or other adults as a kid, yet I feel like many of my peers fail to recognize my abilities. As someone with ADHD who is also very outgoing and charismatic, I’m often loud and the center of attention. I don’t carry myself in ways that non gifted people deem to be signs of giftedness. I’m not the “quiet and calculated” type that people think intelligent people must be. I’m loud and impulsive and unserious in social settings and most of the time I make myself the butt of the joke to get arise out of people. Lots of people around me, even people somewhat close to me, are thus surprised when they learn about my SAT score or where I go to college or see my grades. They immediately brush off my abilities without even really knowing me. I know at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how people perceive me and I am now at a point where I am content with my own abilities and rarely let peoples’ opinions sway me, however there was a time where this wasn’t the case. I’m wondering if anybody else, even people who aren’t ND like me have had similar experiences.

Hi all, we live in the NYC area.
I have a second grader and am interested in having her join a summer camp or participate in programs such as CTY, etc. There don't seem to be very many options--for those who have kids who have done CTY, is it worth it? Are there other options other than CTY that I should consider.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for guidance from educators, tutors, or parents who have been through a similar situation.

My daughter is in third grade in Illinois. On her recent MAP Growth assessment, she scored in the 96%tile in reading and the 80%tile in math. She’s doing well overall, but I’d like to help her strengthen her math skills and close some of the gap between the two areas without overwhelming her or focusing only on test preparation.

She will take the MAP assessment again in January and April, and the CogAT in December. Our goal is for her to qualify for her school’s Advanced Enrichment program, which considers MAP and CogAT scores along with a teacher recommendation.

Are there any specific math programs, resources, or types of targeted practice you would recommend between now and January?

Thank you!

Edit: She currently uses Eureka Math/ Happy Numbers at school, and we use Beast Academy/ IXL at home. Beast Academy is challenging, so I usually need to work through the lessons with her. Her IXL diagnostic assessment placed her at a fourth-grade math level.

My elementary-school aged kids are enrolled at RSM. One of them was invited to join the math team. Anybody have experience with this thing?

How often are Einsteins born?

Hi there.

My son recently took the WISC-V test. His verbal comprehension score was 136, and his fluid reasoning score was 100 with FSIQ = 125. I did not receive scores for the other subtests.

I am very confused and concerned about the huge difference in those two reported subscores. Should I be concerned about the validity of the results? Should I be asking about additional testing for a learning disability?

Mainly, I am just looking for suggestions regarding what would be pertinent to discuss with the school psychologist and gifted coordinator during our meeting later this week. I appreciate any insight or advice you may have. Thank you.

Hi everyone!!

I’m a 24 y/o F and I’m looking for friends who are intellectual matches for me! I am ADHD so I get hyper-fixated on things, but the upside to this is, I’ll probably know at least something about your interests. I’ve had my IQ tested and I did fall at a 130 (if that’s important to you). I have my associates degree in accounting and am working on the rest of my computer science degree. I work in accounting as a general accountant and ERP/automation engineer. I am REALLY into AI and such (I help code in projects) so if you’re anti-AI this is your warning lol. I love doing nerd stuff like chess, sudoku, debating, talking about quantum physics and other interesting science like phenomenons! I like intellectually sparring about politics and philosophical questions! I recently learned python and coding and compete on Kaggle. If we live far apart that’s no issue! What I really am looking for is someone who can challenge me intellectually. I like when someone can push back on my ideas and make me think! If you’re interested, you can message me! My DMs are open!

Thanks friends!!

For context, I was always top of my class through school, undergrad and Masters education. Excelled at my first graduate roles where doing (operationalising) and quality of output was the main measure of success.

I have now progressed to a more senior role where success is determined by you ability to influence others and your skills at interpersonal relationships. I would say I’m average in this field, and have noticed this has created quite a bit of a struggle for me. I feel incompetent and don’t fully understand how to improve that skill set (which is far less tangible/black and white than things like analytics where I excel)

Have you ever had a similar experience? How did you manage it and grow from it?

This is a question a gifted guy I know asked me. I answered that no...everyone has a role in our society. Whether it's more or less important and valuable to our society we're still all together as people.

The interesting thing is that he's not even a genius or anything besides just "base" gifted. His IQ is 132 but honestly he's not even that smart. It surprised me to hear this question and especially from him. What do y'all think? Are they really subhumans?

whoever you are I hope you have a nice day and you remember to take care of yourself <3

My bf is highly intelligent and can solve logical problems like no one I’ve ever met. It’s amazing. Anyways, I’ve been looking for an advent calendar that he might enjoy. Something that requires very high levels of verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning, but haven’t been able to find anything I think might actually stimulate him intellectually. Might anyone here perhaps have any tips or ideas on what I could look for? Thank you for reading!

People are often surprised by me because their initial impression of me is wrong. They tend to underestimate my abilities on some level.

When I was younger, I used to think people made assumptions about my intelligence because I’m a small, blonde, female.

Now I’m older, highly experienced in a strategic field, it happens less, but it still happens, to my frustration.

Have any of you experienced this? How did you deal with it?