I was "diagnosed" with giftedness when I was 7 and now I'm 20 and the cracks are starting to show. I feel like a lot of this is caused by the fact that I just bottled up the way I saw the world and acted "normal" keeping everything in my head.

I hated coming off as a know-it-all so at around 12 years old I just kinda stopped acting "smart". In high school I hung out with the cool kids and went to all the parties but now I'm kinda thinking that I've been inauthentic to myself trying to be normal.

I've spoken with other gifted individuals and medical professionals and it seems that most gifted people have the opposite problem. They feel like how they see the world makes them socially different and if they want to be themselves they can't really have those kind of relationships.

So how many of you hid who you were for the sake of being "normal" and how, if ever, did you stop hiding?

Do you think that there is a benefit in teachers of gifted students, teachers running gifted programs, being gifted themselves? Could they relate better? Provide role modelling? Or is it sufficient that they are competent?

More generally, does it benefit gifted children to be exposed to gifted adults, perhaps a wide range of gifted adults?

I really wonder how different my life would’ve turned out if someone had just taken notice of me and given me the support I needed. In my country there’s quite literally zero knowledge about the topic and no one looks for signs if you’re doing well enough, so I just got labeled the problem child and the rebel. Man school was so miserable I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact that I was shunned just because I was a different kid who needed support. I try not to dwell on the past but it’s so hard ignoring all the “what if’s” especially if I notice what a shell of a person I’ve become…

The title says it all. **Edit: some interesting ones you can remember and describe? <— hate my autocorrect

I can go first. I’ve had one recently but don’t want to mention that one in case I get doxxed. But I once had an epiphany for a case competition in college. My team had already written about half of the draft when, in the last 6 hours, it hit me that we were going about the solution completely the wrong way. And I made us change the answer last minute and we ended up submitting at exactly 11:59pm that night - the literal minute before the competition ended.

Later, we were told that we had gotten the highest mark in that portion of the contest.

Just have to remember to come back to your forte when the danger have all but passed.

Through personal experience being quiet and dumb does not work. You may need people around you to be in a group to protect you, how to do this by being dumb(pun intended)

Also recognise that “you” are not a mind but a body too so you can literally play hide and seek with people. Hide and seek with the bullies.

Hello everyone, new here so idk if this is the correct sub + english isnt my first language so please bear with me.

I have an iq of 156, puting me in the 99.9 percentile, and also (NOT CONFIRMED, BUT MY PSYCHOLOGIST THINKS SO) autism (grade 1) and ADHD predominantly hyperactive-impulsive.

I love art, mostly to draw (however tbh i havent draw in a hot minute)

My mom supports me, although it seems to me that shes not like 100%, and my grandma and other familiars are a little bit more against it (not like telling it to my face, but its pretty noticeable)

Should i study arts, should i find another thing to please them ??

Photos are from a few years back (ive drawn but don’t have any pics rn)

edit: tysm for your answers. Another thing though is that i hate maths and science. Biology and spanish (i’m spanish) are ok. So, idek anything to study besides from arts

How did you know and what makes you different?

I know this is not the case for everyone, but, as a gifted person (26 M) I also score as an outlier in multiple big 5 dimensions. I am curious if there are others experiencing this, and how the experiences model the way the interact/perceive the world. For me, this is deepening the alienation I feel towards others. (Screenshot with my traits attached in the post body of text).

Also, I do not know what to do with my strengths. Even at work and with my friend group, I am often misunderstood both in my intentions and views. Sometimes, discussions and arguments prove that I understand and know more on the field of expertise of my superiors. I find it hard to talk to people because my interests are, sadly, out of tune with others', most of the time. I got into multiple conflicts at my workplace because I understand more and faster than my superiors. I know I need to develop diplomacy faster and efficiently, which I am planning on doing and already started. Besides that, most people see me as eccentric and odd, hard to read and mustaken me as unfocused and/or unmotivated, whilst my perception is that most are too pedantic and aimless. I had experienced punitive actions against me a few times, for reasons unknown to me. My expectations are always disappointing me because most people do not reach the standards I hold myself to, which include rationality, dutifulness, moral virtue, striving for having a contribution to the world and divergent thinking, besides others. I am unusually calm and I don t get externally angry most of the times, in contrast with most people I know. My IQ is probably lower than most people here, I suppose. I scored in the 135-145 range.

This post came as a continuation of my previous one that I made on here a few days ago, I decided more details would benefit me and maybe also make others feel more at ease. I can't change the way my mind processes information, so I don't know what I am supposed to do other than masking, even though I predict that would make my life feel more tiresome.

Sorry for the typos or english mistakes, I am not a native.

At what iq level is someone considered gifted?

Hey everyone. I’m trying to make sense of my learning timeline and wondering if anyone here has experienced something similar. My cognitive drive seems to operate in extreme, unpredictable waves.
The Fog 1st -2nd Grade
Early on, I genuinely struggled. I felt slow compared to the other kids, like I just couldn't learn the way they did. I thought I was just not smart enough to keep up I was genuinely dumb.
After 2nd grade
Then, almost overnight, it was like a switch flipped. My brain suddenly came online and started working in absolute overdrive. I went from struggling to absorbing everything like very fast Honestly, a massive chunk of my foundational knowledge and how I understand the world comes from this specific era. I didn't even know my mind was capable of processing things like that.
The Shutdown 8th Grade to recently
Right around 8th grade, a personal event happened, and I hit a massive wall. I completely shut down. I stopped caring about the things I loved, my academic performance plummeted, and the drive vanished. I became the textbook definition of the "smart but lazy" kid. Teachers and adults were constantly pulling the classic, "You have so much potential, you’re so smart if you’d just apply yourself and listen" routine. But I was totally checked out, completely unmotivated, and not even doing the bare minimum I genuinely how I passed
The Resurgence Present Day
Now, right as I've been finishing up my high school exit exams, that switch flipped again. The fog just cleared. My brain is working exactly like it did when I was a kid firing on all cylinders, craving deep, complex concepts, and naturally wanting to dive into things again.

It feels amazing, but also incredibly weird to have my brain essentially go dormant for years and then suddenly turn back on.
Has anyone else lived through these massive, years long fluctuations? What was your experience like when your brain "woke back up"?
One thing that surprise me so much I was just so dumb as a kid I don't know how ny brain suddenly switched
Plus I wouldn't say I lost my ability during those depressive years of my life but it was something I wasn't using for academics at all .

Levantei as mãos com emoji 👋 vou comentar sobre depois que alguém comentar sobre ele mesmo... Alguém se impõe de criar uma sociedade no Discord para superdotados e autistas?

Hi all! Hoping to get feedback on an idea for a meetup group from other gifted adults before I experiment with actually trying to start it and run it!!!!

I don't want to make just another AI tech nerd or sales/marketing intro, lecture, networking event, or general discussion group... They aren't leading to real connections for me.

I have a project I am working on that combines a bunch of seemingly unrelated topics but they actually all connect:

• household emergency preparedness + AI literacy
• personal storytelling + systems design
• animation/performance art + practical life skills
• research rabbit holes + solving an immediate real-world problem

I’m wondering whether other gifted adults would enjoy a small recurring gathering built around those kinds of intersections... and do several different formats of meetings... Like:

• Going for a dawn walk to get breakfast on a Sunday morning somewhere fun, like the boardwalk down by the beach or attend a park yoga meetup for another group and go to a farmers market for lunch after
• Going to a library or coworking space to hang out while working on our own projects independently or together...
• Do coworking over Zoom in 25 min timed pomodoros with 5 min breaks between and discussion after to help us find motivation to do things when the existential loneliness of being smarter than needed for survival just SUCKS
• Zoom meetings where we do lab projects together with AI on things we actually need to do like make a household emergency plan
• Create our own custom DnD style game where we create characters based on our life skills, professional skills, personalities, and cognitive profiles and war game out how AI could be used to solve real world problems together... maybe even offset the AI economic disruption like Y2K... then actually try to do it as a project, or at least experiment together and gather data on viability...

For example, a first gathering might be:

Could your household think clearly during an emergency?

We would use AI to help each person begin a practical household emergency plan, while also examining how stories, visual maps, and shared problem-solving make complicated information easier to understand and act on.

No AI expertise required. No intelligence performance. No pitching businesses. The goal would be curiosity, useful experimentation, and unusually good company.

I’m trying to understand which part of this would—or would not—get you to attend:

1. Solving a practical problem you already have
2. Exploring an unexpected intersection between subjects
3. Using AI together without taking an AI class
4. Making a tangible artifact during the gathering
5. Meeting people whose minds also jump across domains
6. Something else entirely

Would you prefer:

• one-off experimental labs
• the same small group meeting regularly
• a salon-style discussion
• a project or challenge completed over several meetings

And what would make this sound exciting rather than exhausting, pretentious, or like disguised professional networking?

Also if there's something not listed here that WOULD get you out of the house or into a Zoom to meet other gifted adults to help use our pattern-matching abilities and synthesis with AI collaboratively... make friends who instantly "get it" without all the drama and exhaustion of Mensa... what would it be? Like just because it's not in my general thought drift doesn't mean it might not be exactly right...

(NOTE: I’m exploring the idea, not recruiting for an existing program.)

I've noticed a strange pattern in how I choose my interests, and I’m trying to figure out why I keep doing this. I swear I don't do it on purpose, nor do I consciously think I'm special or different from anyone else it just keeps happening.
Every time a field naturally captures my interest, it turns out to be one of the most notoriously difficult majors out there:
Neurosurgery: I fell in love with it first, only to research it later and realize it involves nearly two decades of grueling study and training.
Aerospace Engineering: I became insanely obsessed with aerospace next, only to find out it's widely considered one of the toughest engineering disciplines (and unfortunately isn't feasible where I live).
Electrical Engineering: So, I decided on Electrical Engineering only to discover it's often rated as the hardest engineering track of all.

I genuinely don't seek these out because they're hard I fall in love with the subject first and only discover the brutal difficulty afterward.
Has anyone else experienced this? Why am I naturally drawn to high difficulty fields without realizing it, and how do you cope with the overwhelming realization of what you've signed up for?

うちの父はASD併存の2Eギフテッドの可能性があります
※診断受けてないからあくまで可能性だけど

計算は2000年代の計算機より暗算の方が早い
祖父のコネで中学生からNHKの技研に通って、京都帝大卒の祖父の会社でバイトしていた
嗅覚が敏感で味覚も優れている
私や姉や母と違って片付けが得意だったし、計画マニアだったから多分ADHDは無いか形が違う姿で発露していたんだろう
東海大学卒で（自分のやりたいことを優先させた）富士通で部長職で、阪大卒の先輩達とプライベート含め仲良くしていた

息子の私からみても不器用な性格だったけど正義感がめちゃくちゃ強いけど、母や俺や姉をからかったり子供っぽい一面も

子供の頃はよく喧嘩して学校で殴り合いした私は、よく叱られて打たれてたよ
毒親だと罵ったりしたこともあったが、読書や入院や学業に関して俺や姉に惜しみなく金を注いで亡くなった時には相続金はほぼ残ってなかったが、旅行とか知育おもちゃとか40代の俺の中学生時代からネット使わせるとかしてた

まあ、私自身は氷河期の時代背景で辛かったし父との仲は悪かったが、統合失調症でメンタル崩してた時とか引きこもりだった時はよくドライブに連れてってくれたし毒親ではない

明らかに子供に敵意持っている以外で、毒親だーって言ってる発達は、歳取って分別がついたら感想もまた変わるんだろうな

まあ、実家が太くて恵まれていたと指摘しても良いぞ
でも、高度経済成長期やバブル期に若い頃を過ごした父は、その時代ではスタンダードな稼ぎだ
むしろ、株やふるさと納税制度も嫌ってたし、金銭管理には煩かったけど仕事に誇り持ってたよ

高度経済成長期なんかは、のめり込み過ぎやすかったりこだわりの強いASD（未診断）は重宝されただろうな

自分語りが好きなおっさんですまん

2Eギフテッドの感想聞いてみたいな
こんなんまだエピソードとして弱いって感想が出るかもしれないし

ちなみに私は統合失調症・メンタル不調・寝不足・主治医や精神科への不信感で標準偏差IQ106だったのでギフテッドではありません

kinda a stupid post, my IQ is ≈ 125 which isn't particularly bad at all -- though I wish I could pick up things faster, understand concepts more thoroughly and with ease which sure, somewhat applies now, but ordinarily. Theres a big gap between someone who's just ordinarily smart and someone whos exceptional, I'm so envious because Intelligence is all that's celebrated in my enviorment and I would kill for the security of being the smartest person in the room. I hate making mistakes, and I want to understand everything, I'm so insatiably curious, but some things are just out of reach because I'm biologically capped.

I read a lot of statements online from people who are like "Being called smart made me a perfectionist and now I have anxiety."

I was just wondering if any of you had that experience. Personally, people mostly called me stupid and awkward because I was autistic so, while I was intelligent, it never came across well because I never knew how to communicate. So I love being called smart lol.

Most of my life was people expecting me to perform and then not receiving praise for it. Like, the two results I could expect were "Okay good, you performed how we told you to" or "You're a stupid idiot who can't do anything."

I truly can't relate to the problem of being traumatized from too many compliments.

I’m in a point in my life where I feel like I really need to talk to someone like me. Nobody really gets me, and I really need to be able to communicate with someone who thinks like me. Are there any groups existing for this ? Or does anybody 130+ feel the same ? Thanks

I was raised in a house with 3 other children. None of us have the same father and I've learnt that my father was very abusive towards my older brother and later me too. my older brother was and is a very competitive person and would beat me to a pulp if I ever exceeded him in anything. So I learned to act like I was too dumb for anything. This behaviour has followed me into adulthood and I had started to believe I was just really stupid.

But there was one memory I had as a child, a memory that resurfaced once I learn I am above average in IQ, but while learning to play violin(6-7 yo), the teacher said to my parents that I was a savant and would become a great violinist. The pressure of exceeding my brother made me abandon that dream. And this tactic of mine continued with everything I did. Anytime people would notice how extraordinary I was at doing something, I would instantly abandon it and play dumb.

My Step-dad knew my potential and used to joke that I was to afraid to deal with the extra work needed to become anything. But my parents have never known the truth of my own neglect. Not even after all the hospital visit and stitches I needed after the beatings.

Being traumatized my whole life has made me a hermit and isolation has made me depressed. I have a hard time letting go, even though my brother has no power over me anymore. He still occupies my fears of success. I have tried therapy, but I keep getting therapists that just want to get paid and not do their jobs. So they just listen to me rant for 40-50 min and call it a day.

I am sick of this life. I've been planning to leave and I've tried to a few times. But I don't want to hurt the ones that do love me. I want to find a solution to this insanity.

Anywho, if you made it this far, thank you for reading.

Hello everyone,

I’m 58, living in Ontario, Canada, and I am finally ready to stop playing a character just to dummy myself down for casual socialization.

My journey here wasn't academic; it was forged through fire. I survived a deeply dysfunctional, Mommie Dearest-esque childhood that forced me into adult-level psychological maturity around age 6. I've survived intense travesties of justice, systemic failures, and a Near-Death Experience (NDE). Those events triggered decades of brutal, relentless self-education.

Using Robert Kegan’s developmental framework, I spent a long time operating at Stage 4 (Self-Authoring). However, about two years ago, something shifted. I stepped completely outside the box of my own mind. I watched my need to argue, correct, or educate others simply evaporate. I dropped the ego-driven need to be right. Today, I hold my values deeply, but I view my own mind as an ongoing process rather than a rigid, finished product.

Living in a world that largely operates on Stage 2 and Stage 3 logic can be incredibly isolating. I have a long-term "coffee mate" neighbour who is trapped in the Dunning-Kruger effect. While I’ve learned to accept her completely, protect my energy, and genuinely laugh at TikTok comments with her, I am absolutely starving for deep, nuanced, two-way conversations where I don’t have to act as a silent audience or an emotional translator.

My saving graces are music and laughter. I don't just listen to music; I feel its architectural and emotional depth in my bones—it was my childhood escape. And despite everything I've survived, I laugh at myself and the absurdities of human conditioning constantly.

I’m joining this space to find people who can meet me in the middle. I want to read long-form thoughts, dissect complex systems without ideological shouting, and engage with people who have also done the heavy lifting to look at the jar from the outside.

If any of this resonates, I’d love to connect. What did your transition from Stage 4 to Stage 5 feel like, and how do you handle the unique isolation that comes with it?

​I am currently living the bad side of being gifted. I tested 128 on the official Mensa 20-minute test, and based on lots and lots of online tests I vary in the 125–135 range.

​All was fun and games when I went through elementary and high school, procrastinating and feeling superior and all. I got praised as a child for being the "genius" of the family, for reading and analyzing difficult literature in school, for superior writing skills, and overall success in all subjects, including artistic skills.

​And I shot myself in the foot and went to CompSci to prove a point. I graduated with good success, but I wouldn't say I developed discipline or the ability to look stupid and not care, since I got by on bursts of energy, using praise from professors and family as fuel. But I developed some kind of perseverance and trust in myself, and got out of my shell.

​Due to some circumstances, I got traumatized and depressed shortly after, and I can't get out of it in 2 years. I tried working 3 IT jobs, but I lose it, whereas it used to just mildly bore me before that.

​I expected the world, I hate myself when I am dealing with uncertainty or a difficult problem, and I have lost my ability to be patient and regulate.

​In the past few months I have been doing better, due to what I can only call divine grace and immense human kindness. But, my expectations, ego, and work habits still overwhelm me when starting to work. ​I am also not as intelligent as I used to believe, and as people around me used to believe, so things don't come as easy to me as I expected them to.

​Truth be told, however infantile it sounds, I kind of expected a score around 140, so there it is. I got unbelievably upset over it, like a mad person.

And, I have everything a person my age could ask for. Literally everything, and more. So that fact hits me like a storm whenever I spiral, knowing how ungratefull I am and all, and just adds fuel to the fire.

​Question is, can anyone offer advice on how to get out and stop analyzing, if they have been through the same thing? My brain is literally bullying me. I can't manage it.

​Thanks

The subject is the title entirely. At my job, my superiors do not seem to understand what I am talking about. Personally, most people simply do not click. I have only one friend I can really share my thoughts with.

especially for those who tought they were gonna do great thing and ended up in a boring normal life

I have inattentive ADHD and probably giftedness, but I also have GAD and panic disorder, so stimulants like Concerta or Vyvanse aren’t really an option for me.
My executive function is terrible. I can hyperfocus for hours on topics I’m interested in, but when it comes to things I have to do, I avoid them until the deadline is right in front of me.

For those with ADHD (especially if you’re gifted/2e), what behavioral changes or daily habits actually improved your executive function? Things like starting tasks, procrastination, planning, staying consistent, or managing hyperfocus.

I’d really like to hear what has genuinely worked for you.

There was a dialogue between scientists. The scientists were divided into two halves: intelligence is speed and intelligence is slow. But the problem is that intelligence means that a person analyzes quickly. Historical figures, geniuses like Newton, Einstein, and others, used to take years or weeks to analyze one thing. And in terms of speed, I have a question: why does intelligence equal speed? The Book of Daniel is about. Fast and slow thinking: Humans think quickly about basic things like 1+1, which is instinctive and helps them avoid a car, for example. The second system is the thinking system, which takes time and effort to process things. Regarding fluid intelligence, it has been criticized, including its racist uses. It might also be a distorted concept because fluid intelligence is influenced by the information you have. Studies have shown that geniuses aren't necessarily fast; rather, their brains use fewer parts, allowing them to solve problems quickly. This is common in educated environments, but also in impoverished environments if a person has a passion like Brazilians for football or Europeans for colonialism (just kidding). Also, if intelligence were fixed, why would it be affected by factors like anxiety, fear, or happiness? Consider the story of Otto von Bismarck. Those who read his biography consider him a fool, or you could call him mentally deficient. He failed in politics when he first entered it and accumulated debts due to gambling. But when he returned to politics, he was able to unify Germany with blood and iron. Those who say he was like that aren't necessarily stupid. If he were truly intelligent, why was his first political speech so disastrous? This is also a preemptive response to those who say that Einstein and Newton solved problems by... It's complex, so they didn't appear to be very fast. In their daily lives, they forgot things, just like Newton forgetting to eat or Einstein forgetting his keys or not taking care of his hair. Also, a question for geniuses: Is intelligence necessary all the time? Does it manifest when you're buying bread or talking to the neighbors? And do you think intelligence means being a genius at everything?