#giftedness

‘Stereotypical’ autism exists.

People who flap their hands exist.

People who can’t make any form of eye contact exist.

People with special interests in trains exist.

People with Savant-like mathematical abilities exist.

People who can’t mask exist.

My brain is neurodivergent but in a gifted (and anxiety) way not an autistic or ADHD way and I need representation so bad ;-; but then I feel bad about wanting representation because giftedness isn't seen as neurodivergent a lot because there's no representation for it!!! AGHHHH

I promise you this brain in my head is not neurotypical but I feel like an asshole for saying I'm neurodivergent because the term 'gifted' makes it sound like I'm faking or like I think I'm better than everyone else :(

•Giftedness is not just being smart, it's a neurodivergency that affects the speed of braink links

•Being gifted doesn't mean you're a genius, it means you have an easier time learning and seeing alternative paths

•Most (neurologist approved) IQ tests are not to see how able you are in math or (native language), they're about how you solve problems (social and logical)

•Gifted people experience sensory problems

•Gifted people experience social problems

•Gifted people may experience emotional imbalance (or too rational, or too emotional, can be a mixture of both sometimes)

•People can be gifted in non academic areas (visual arts, sports, music, feelings)

•Gifted people also struggle academically (much like ADHD, giftedness may lead some to a lack of focus on topics they don't find interesting, making it almost impossible to pay attention at all)

•Gifted people need positive stimuli in order to function, or else they won't be able to enjoy and make the fullest out of their abilities and special interest

•Gifted people need as much help in school as other neurodivergent kids, but not necessarily in the same way

•You can't be a "former gifted kid", it'd be like saying you're a "former autistic kid", you're born with it and you'll die with it

• Being gifted =/= being smart, being gifted==being creative and having an easier time then most with specific topics

• Not all gifted kids are nerds

•BEING GIFTED IS NOT BEING A GENIUS

•Gifted people NEED help with certain things, but do not get them due to "being more able than others"

•Gifted people ARE shamed and mocked for being gifted, being called things like "know-it-all" and "nerd", getting mocked by getting overly excited about a few topics or being bullied for being socially awkward

•Gifted people are very likely to hide their giftedness in order to be socially accepted, and that is alarmingly common with girls (who get called bossy or argumentative for talking about things they like or taking the leader position on situations)

•(Most) Gifted people have a hard time with senseless hierarchies and have a strong sense of justice.

On the one hand, I think the name "gifted" in itself is too hierarchical both for my liking and for the phenomenon it describes to be taken as anything more than "people trying to be special". Like, with a name like "gifted", yeah, I see where people draw that conclusion.

On the other hand, the phenomenon the term describes is very much real. It's part of mine and many other peoples' lived experiences - a heightened inquisitiveness and awareness of/preference for complexity. Gifted/multi-exceptional spaces are some of the only in which I feel like my true experiences and needs are reflected and affirmed. If it's all just "privileged nonsense" (which it isn't - many people who have these traits are often underprivileged in many ways and will have a very different, usually negative experience with these traits as opposed to people who have the same traits but are better-off, better-liked, and tick fewer minority boxes), then all my feelings and needs and those of thousands of other people are, what, nothing? That is an incredibly ignorant stance, and if you hold it, I hope my words can make you reconsider.