i wish there was more awareness for giftedness
there is a lot more research on giftedness (hoogbegaafdheid) in the netherlands than there is in the united states so i, a dutch gifted person, will say some things about it because it bothers me that it is so unrecognised in the united states and many other countries
i'll just give a basic translated summary of the dutch wikipedia page on giftedness and some thoughts of my own
giftedness isn't just a label slapped onto you as a kid, it is its own neurodivergent thing that isn't just misdiagnosed or undiagnosed autism or ad(h)d - many symptoms are the same though
maybe it should be called differently because of the negative association with it, but i'll use the term giftedness for now - just keep in mind that this might be different than what you associate with "gifted"
many gifted people get misdiagnosed as autistic and in turn don't get the treatment they need
giftedness is generally described as a combination of exceptionally high intelligence, creativity, and perseverance
symptoms include:
high curiosity
ability to multitask
good memory
wide range of interests
peculiar sense of humour
high empathy
thinking about the meaning of life at a young age (around 3 y.o.)
doing a lot of reading and gathering information (i personally think this might have a corrolation with developing hyperfixations)
remarkable use of langauge (at a young age)
ability to concentrate very well
perfectionism and high expectations of oneself (which can lead to performance anxiety)
(sometimes) high sensitivity
a lot of the symptoms stand out as a kid, and they're good at noticing how they "should" behave, so they conform to the norm - which is why it goes unrecognised a lot; they are sensitive to how others behave and how they should behave, and they're good at adapting (i would call it masking)
following research, a discription of a gifted person is: a curious, sensitive and emotional person. they're a quick and clever thinker, who can take on complex matters. they are autonomous, motivated/persistent and intensly living. they enjoy creating.
gifted people often don't see themselves as being different than the rest, and then they're confused on why others see them as different. which can be the cause they experience difficulty fitting in
i mentioned that gifted people need different treatment than autistic people. stimulation and challenge is important for gifted people, because understimulation has a very negative effect on their mental health. not enough challenge can lead to losing motivation. so giftedness doesn't automatically mean getting high grades
because gifted people generally didn't need to study much before high school because of their good memory, they don't know how to study properly which can lead to challenges in high school (i still don't know how to study properly and i got through high school by just always paying attention in class). or they developed a studying method that worked before, but doesn't anymore
only about 2% of the population (i think they mean the dutch population but it could also apply to different countries) is gifted, and resources to help them are (in the netherlands) only provided to children in school
i am in college and struggle more and more with the symptoms i experience and i don't know what to do, because i am not 10 anymore and (this) college isn't regular education
which is why i want more awareness, and also because other people on this website might relate. giftedness is more than high intelligence
questions/suggestions/corrections are very welcome!!
disclaimer: i have done some research and have experience with the topic. the previous is mainly what wikipedia says, which i mostly relate to. do your own research if you think you might be gifted. i do not speak for every gifted person. i do not mean to invalidate autistic people or people with add or adhd. remember that this is just a tumblr post. i wrote this instead of doing my homework.
