Does giftedness often co-occur with Aspergers?

[Jojo_LB]

I'm with the "no" camp on this one.

According to my neuropsych's, I performed perfectly on Raven's Matrices. He gave me a shortened version. I think I went through 30-36 matrices. So apparently, I have extremely high fluid intelligence (didn't even know what crystallized and fluid intelligence were until then) based on that, and this other test that involved a card game in which he made up his own rules, but he wasn't allowed to tell me what they were. I had to infer the rules myself based on his telling me 'yes' or 'no' after I'd put a card down on one of the piles.

I'd never even heard of "giftedness levels" before this thread. According to the description of levels graciously provided by Sarah, I'm level 3 or 4. I was definitely a 4 as a kid. PDA, mental illness, ADHD, processing issues, lifelong struggle with internalization and unlearning of harmful societal and cultural norms, and much more, assure that I will forever be a scatterbrained, wayward mess, if not properly medicated. If my environment is not "just so" by my very rigid standards, I am a bumbling, fumbling mess.

In all seriousness though, I think I may need assistance in the form of someone being present to hold me accountable so I can actually accomplish three important tasks every day. Alarms, reminders, calendars.. None of them work.

I'm about to graduate with honors with a bachelor in physics and minor in chemistry. If someone told me in 2002 (the year I dropped out of college the first time) I'd be where I am today, I would've laughed right in their face. And then shoved them lol

Being labeled gifted was more of a curse to me than an advantage. As someone who perfectly fits the PDA profile, this label actually really hurt me. I was expected to move mountains with my amazing potential. All I wanted to do was read, write, daydream, run around aimlessly, have some sort of animal sanctuary.

I wish we'd do away with traditional IQ tests. I wish my parents never made me and my older sister take them. I wouldn't have wasted years of my life being tortured by the thought that I was a worthless dysfunctional piece of crap who could barely do simple tasks when I was supposed to be some brilliant innovator and whatever. I just want extreme simplicity. And a cat sanctuary!

 

[HidinginPlainSight]

I believe the best way to fail an intelligence test is to have the arrogance to believe that you can assign a quantitative number to intelligence.

 

[Tom]

I think I got the same amount of gifts at Christmas as my other siblings, NT and ASD. So I guess it depends on the parents, guardians, etc. I was always the one who made sure we left out a beer for Santa however, so maybe there is some connection. (We were told our local Santa was allergic to cookies)

 

[Fino]

"Gift" in German means "poison"

That is some life-changing information right there!

 

[Joshua the Writer]

I'd say so. I feel I am very gifted. Not to be mean to my amazing brother and sister, but I find that I'm more gifted than them in some aspects. However, I feel like I'm equally gifted as my non-autistic siblings, but my brain has a different way of doing so than theirs.

 

[Monachopia]

While I have nothing really to add, except agree with the others that being on the spectrum doesn't necessarily mean any kind of "giftedness". It's a bonus for just about anyone, ASD or NT.

This discussion however reminded me of this documentary on a young Math genius on the spectrum. There are difficulties in being labelled as 'gifted' due to constant expectation to perform well which can be a hard burden to bear. Be good to yourself @LiquidPvnk and stay healthy

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I think I'm kinda smart on a couple sciencey subjects. Like to the point of being so self educated about it, that it's almost like being sort of intuitive about it.

Other stuff, I'm like early elementary school level. Or completely disabled on some.

 

[Autistamatic]

I've known people like Sheldon.

They're more common than you might think

Having lived for many years in a city with 2 large universities and always having mixed in academic circles (when I can be bothered to mix ) I've met plenty of people who, on the surface at least, are Sheldons, but they differ in one key area which is why I find him so unrealistic. It's not about him, it's about the other character's relationships with him.

Such people, usually men, are most often loners who couldn't make meaningful bonds with anyone. They're too far up their own wazoos, too full of their own self importance, too convinced of their intellectual superiority for anyone to be willing to put up with them for long.
Such people very rarely have the close, supportive relationships that Sheldon does. Sheldon dumps on his friends, disrespects them to the point of constant insult and treats them with almost as much contempt as he does his rivals. His character has grown over the 11 years we've watched him, but not by much.

Don't get me wrong, I love Sheldon to bits as a character in a sitcom, but in real life I would find him a difficult person to tolerate and I find him a difficult "poster boy" for autism.

 

[Autistamatic]

I'd say so. I feel I am very gifted. Not to be mean to my amazing brother and sister, but I find that I'm more gifted than them in some aspects. However, I feel like I'm equally gifted as my non-autistic siblings, but my brain has a different way of doing so than theirs.

Two words:

Spiky profiles.

'nuff said.

 

[Pinkie B]

I was reading about intelligence in extreme autism cases and I was blown away by the stories on http://idoinautismland.com/ about people who everyone thought were "retards" but were actually just having a physical problem controlling their mouths and were "trapped" inside their bodies.

 

[Lysander]

I wouldn't credit your giftedness to AS, even indirectly. Most people who have asperger's syndrome (or a diagnostic equivalent to AS) do not fall under the gifted category.

Don't take it for granted that you have talent. No one is a jack of all trades - we all have greater or lesser abilities depending on the subject. You will be served well by using your talent in order to live a happy and fulfilled life.

 

[Joshua the Writer]

Two words:

Spiky profiles.

'nuff said.

IDK what this means. Care to explain?

 

[tducey]

I think so if you consider our obsession and expertise with certain things.

 

[tlc]

Being labeled as gifted isn't just more difficult for kids. I once was referred to a job opening by my friend's dad (who I later learned described me as this gifted person). They wanted me bad and took me to dinner for an interview. But there was no way I could live up to the way I was described.

 

[Autistamatic]

IDK what this means. Care to explain?

 

[Crossbreed]

Being labelled as "gifted" can be a terrible thing for a child.

Being identified as "gifted" can bring closure in the same way that being identified as "autistic" can. Most (if not all) intellectual giftedness is another form of neuro-diversity.

 

[GrownupGirl]

A lot of people have told me I'm very talented when it comes to my arts and crafts. But I really don't know anymore. I would post photos of them on Facebook and if I got one or two likes at all I'd be lucky. But other people post some stupid fan art of anime girls with gigantic breasts in string bikinis and they get about a million likes.

 

[Juliettaa]

My Aspie special gift is putting my foot in it. Often times, I put both feet in. Or my gift can be described as 'foot in mouth', not to be confused with 'foot and mouth disease'

Great gifts that serve me well, especially at work with senior management. Not.

 

[Crossbreed]

But other people post some stupid fan art of anime girls with gigantic breasts in string bikinis and they get about a million likes.

Most guys have an autonomous typing mechanism that hits "like" to that kind of content

without any thinking involved. It isn't a reliable standard by which to judge you own art. Maybe, if you offered it in a different venue...?

 

[aspieoutlaw89]

my gift is neat writing & hand writing,noticed by my old high school teacher,then it expanded to a few people in my adult day-care center.