This question is for GIFTED people...?

Question

What Gift abilities were you born with...at what age did you figure out...or were told...you were Gifted...I know you may not want to mention it on here...you can contact me at my address and I'll keep it confidential ([e-mail])...no I'm not the gov...I'm just a person like you...and was wondering if there is other people with the same Gifts...I was born with...!

Being Gifted when I was young...was not accepted...so kids made fun of me because I thought differently about things...and could do things they couldn't do...it was good thing that we moved a couple of time when I was little...I was taught to just be like normal kids... and told not to do all the things...that I could do...I was told that later on in life...I'd understand better...But at the ages of 2...through 12...that's all I heard...don't stand out...be like other kids...and I'm going to tell you...that's hard...not to do the things you know you can do...or answer the questions you know you can answer...!

Answer 1

Nice to meet you! You can contact me any time through my Y!A email link on my profile page.

Because those of us that are gifted focus so strongly on our areas of gift, we often fail to observe and learn social cueing.

For me, language is "woven" into images very rapidly... I don't even really perceive the words... just the phrases, sequential progression is obvious, categorization is simple even with "advanced" concepts, etc. I use these skills for diagnostic planning for my Learning Disabled students, with excellent results.

I work with Gifted students (Elementary K-5) for one hour each day, and a small, "hidden curriculum" part of the program is re-direction to observation of social cueing, body language, etc. for many of them. Not all of them need it, but many do.

I also have a Learning Disability (digit span, visual patterning), so I'm a wierd mix of rapid processing, sequencing, language, music, and long-term memory skills, and total idiocy when it comes to remembering people's names, or even telling them apart. If two people have similar features, I confuse them easily. It both amuses and annoys my colleagues. My students (both Gifted and Resource) love it. For my Resource students, they know that I'm dealing with a learning disability, and it helps them connect with what I'm saying to them about coping skills, etc. To cope with my poor working memory, I use a calculator, write lists, and keep two calendars. For my own education, everything I need to keep, I drill into long-term memory.

Yes, I was pretty much alone as a kid.

I can also "feel" the electromagnetic fields around objects and people (or... ahem... psychic... sigh... too many fake weirdoes out there claiming impossibilities). It helps me tell when people are lying, determining injuries and ways to help them heal for my family (I have Reiki training), and "feeling" what my students need in order to gain understanding of a concept. I also know when massive earthquakes and similar natural energy fluxes are going to happen... but since no one would dream of listening to someone like me, I just pray for the future dead and go on with my life. Sigh.

I can remember all the way back to before I could roll over. I started to read shortly after my 1st birthday. I play 4 musical instruments, and have studied different languages (although my vocabulary recall is poor due to lack of usage... no one to talk with in those languages). I was considered "smart but lazy" all through elementary school, and formally "diagnosed" gifted when I was 14 (when I started college classes). However, even with it staring them in the face, my disability issues (LD and mood disorder) were not addressed, even though they DID affect my educational performance (underachieving, even many grades below A's, and some F's when I shut down completely).

I went through 10 years of counseling on my own as an adult, and took those same test scores to the colleges Office for Students with Disabilities (who immediately identified and confirmed the LD and gave me waivers for extra time and calculators for math classes).

I choose to be a teacher, driven both by my enjoyment of working with students, and the fact that I was totally screwed over by my public education experience. I am glad for my career choice, in spite of NCLB and the lack of public awareness or understanding about what it takes to be a teacher, or what we do. I have a Master's Degree.

I'm writing two books, and am a published poet. I enjoy painting and needlework. Swimming is pretty cool too, and I love horseback riding. I hold intermediate belts in two different martial arts.

I'm a Mom, and a Wife.... and we share the chores, thank you very much!!! This is OUR house, not MY house, so we can ALL be equally embarrassed by the lack of cleanliness if we have guests and someone didn't do their part of the chores! So there!

The number one skill those of us that are "gifted" have to learn is to pretend to be someone we're not. We have to fake "average" thoughts and behaviors, because if we talked to most people the way we think, they would be confused and dislike us.

For example, the list of interests and minimal, basic life history I just wrote above, would be seen by a fellow gifted person as just that. A list of interests. To the "average" person, I'm bragging.

The only exception to this is once we've finally been accepted in our specialty field(s) as "the expert." Then we can act truly normal from our perspective ... and viewed as necessary yet "uppity" and "hard to work with."

I still sometimes get away from it when I shouldn't... and those closest to me let me know when I'm talking above people's heads, being socially blind during a single-track hyper-focused problem-solving binge, etc.

Conflict between individual ability and potential (derived from specialization evolution), and the overall human survival strategy of community (derived from predation avoidance evolution). Yippee.

Answer 2

I don't hear gifts talking. I hear want-to-be-someone-important. People with real gifts have little need to talk about them. They do things with them. And, yes, I'm sure I understand what you seem to be saying.

Answer 3

A Variegated Plastisized Marble Marshmallow What Else Is There In Life ???? Eggnog Away

Answer 4

1

Answer 5

Don't sweat it! you can show off your new Jaguar at the school reunion. I am not kidding.

Answer 6

I see the future. I'm being serious i do.

Answer 7

i cannot die...
i'm 547 years old now.
the only way for me to die is some one to cut my head off...
am i different?