#twice exceptional

Wammy's has houses now! And students!

What you see is a snapshot of december 2003.

Refresher:

Zimt boarding school Wammy's for twice exceptional kids has a capacity of ~60 kids. These are not all of 'em but I ran out of breath at 39 (they have 52 kids at the time, so 13 to go yippee).

They take in kids who tested 130+ in an official IQ test. Kids over 150 are invited for a private talk with L and given a special assignment. Here's the 150+ kids at the time:

Twice exceptional is when some is considered academically gifted and has a learning disability (or any other neurodivergence) - and someone in my comments said if you have two neurodivergence it's called thrice exceptional (*vomit emoji*).

This ranks intelligence and implies a higher IQ is better

This implies people with learning disabilities and other neurodivergence cannot/do not normally have high IQs (which is positioned as a negative) and only certain people are (quote unquote) "exceptional".

Not a gifted kid myself, but knowing what I’ve heard from my gifted friends, I agree (all of them hate the gt program)

—

Hello, Mod Sovereign snipe editing later! I was identified as a gifted kid at school and was in the GATE program. I think it’s not necessarily always ableism that leads to GT kid burnout, but a lack of support that stems FROM ableism.

I was educated in an online school, so I had a lot more support in terms of my physical needs (not to mention that I was at home) compared to being in a traditional GATE program. If I didn’t have that support, I’d probably not be in GATE, and then mentally understimulated.

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.

In her case, twice exceptional meaning she has a developmental disorder (autism) but is also intellectually gifted.

Can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier…🤔

Some signs:

• She didn’t cry as a baby.

• She was a quiet, calm child.

• Her parents thought she was strange.

• She didn’t play with other children.

• She preferred solitude over relationships.

• The way she played with her toys was “wrong.”

• She followed the same routines.

• She doesn’t fit into social norms.

• She easily recognizes patterns most are unable to connect.

• She has hyperlexia. She is fascinated by letters and numbers, loves rearranging them.

• She can hyperfocus on one thing for hours without a break. Even delaying sex to finish her job! 😂 Poor Dmitry.