Were you a gifted child? How are you seen as adult?

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I was considered gifted as a child because of my IQ. The consensus of my family was that I would probably be a doctor, a surgeon perhaps. But, I had little interest in things outside of my special interests. So, in their version of the world I am a failure because I am a janitor in an office building. In my view: I enjoyed my job because it gave me the time to concentrate on things I felt were more important.

As an adult I have been seen as intelligent, strange, quirky, eccentric and spooky depending on who you ask.

I was looked at askance by my "peers" [for want of a better word] because I spoke to my teachers like adults rather than in the standard manner of an adolescent student.

What's gifted? Not interacting with anyone? Sick. As an undiagnosed autistic you're incompetent but deemed to be normal. No way out.

Gifted, but serious behavior problems from an early age. I was fully expelled more than once. I got to college very behind but caught up quickly and did good with a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from a top University. I am now a technical 'architect', a director level position for the call centers of the largest companies and government entities in the world. I know I cannot work in an office so get to do my work at home with my husband and kids. Since most interaction is on the phone or computer, I can get away with my disabilities.

I think I was troubled because I had a horrible, chaotic, rootless environment at home. My oldest son is just like me in every way, but not at all aggressive or disturbed. My NT son is so crazy opposite with a very high social and emotional intelligence level. I think they will have similar lives believe it or not.

So I think environment plays the biggest role.

I was tested for giftedness, but did not rate, lol. I had trouble caring about the actual test (though I did care about the result) and just wanted to go have lunch.
As an adult I work as a chef/cook and while I have an immense knowledge of much that is food related (which is occasionally highly regarded, but is mostly doubted) I am poorly suited toto the management side of things which is the only real progression in a commercial kitchen.

It is interesting to read that there are a lot of autists that are artistic, but disqualifying their efforts as being "only copying" a photo or reference, I started painting only a year ago and I am quite good, I only use references, usually from photos that I or my wife take and I don't regard this as a lessening of my art at all, as I simply am utilizing a technology that aids me in areas which I struggle with.
And really, I am not sure that I believe in creativity anyway, I think that it just seems so mystical and magical a process for NT'S because their processing is unconscious and instinctive instead of conscious and deliberate, but my wife tells me that I only think that because I have no creativity and am autistic, lol.

As a child, it depended on who you asked. Most teachers thought I was either mentally challenged or gifted. I was extremely literal, echolaliac, and very bad at math (they didn't diagnose or even test for dyscalcilia in the 90's).

As an adult, people see my art and think I am some kind of genius. A lot of people think I am one of those "savants". Uh, lady/dude, I didn't come out of the womb knowing how to do this. I started finger painting just like everyone else and have three decades worth of practice....and the fact most people supported me and were positive about the artsy side of things kinda helped too.

Well, I started this thread a few years back, but it would be interesting to hear current members experiencs.

Thanks magicmeerkat.

outside of music, i was in special ed. music was my one area of brightness that could be discerned at that time.

I was seen as a "special" or "ret*d" child. I struggled with lots of things in skewl due to dyslexia & other related learning disabilities. As an adult I'm probably seen as a loser or bum for being disabled & on benefits & not having my sh!t together with life.

As a child my IQ was noticed to be slightly above average and I started speaking early. Around 5th and 6th grade I was said to have a talent for languages.

Haven't heard or seen any signs of any of these as an adult. The only thing that has made anyone call me talented in my adulthood was when I worked at a recyicling center's shop (that sold all kinds of used stuff except clothes) and was arranging stuff on the shelves as I pleased. I was told, by several different people on several different arrangements, that I had a really good eye for those things. I don't want to brag, but I agree with them.

When I first started out with art I had a lot of ideas but I lacked form. I know quite a considerable amount of people who focused on structure first and now struggle coming up with a narrative for their visuals. Others are talented coders but struggle to design a visual interface for websites and apps. People start out differently. I predominately focused on writing stories as a kid. Drawing was more of a secondary interest in comparison, yet as an adult most of my work showcases visual designs.

I certainly have days where I struggle to be creative despite being known for my creativity. When I was a kid I used to play with a computer program designed to teach children how to spell. In that game there were simplistic alien creatures that caught my interest. For a while I used to draw them and I'd make random alterations such as adding wings or a tail. They ended up looking quite different from how they originally started. I drew them obsessively over the years tweaking them despite not having a plan for what I wanted to do with these designs. Just thinking about how such traits might have developed and how these creatures would live was enough to keep me entertained. They became a part of my paracosm. Eventually I included them in a university project. It felt nice to finally use them for something.

Admittedly I sometimes wish that I'd started out focusing on technical form first and developed my creative ideas later. Personally, I find it easier to draw something if I am fascinated with the topic it relates to. This is why I found it easier to draw animals since I was already intrigued with the way animals behave and their physical traits. I started out drawing in a linear 2D fashion and preferred to focus on details rather than the entirety of an object. This put me at a disadvantage when I did art at GCSE level. I got B's and C's in my coursework but my work lacked variation. So I often felt like the weakest link in that class. I ended up failing overall since I did poorly in my final exam. Perhaps if I'd had more time to work on my art and if I hadn't been depressed I would've done better. My depressed state sometimes made it difficult to be creative.

I was definitely slow at maths. This was evident very early on. It was clear that there was something going on with me but sometimes I wasn't believed because overall I was considered intelligent. So my failings were often incorrectly attributed to laziness. There were a few educators who assumed I was a moron though. I remember my second school counsellor used to make me look at illustrations and would ask what I could see. There was one of a market place and she pointed to a cat that was walking past a group of people in the market then proceeded to spell out the word. I was 9 or 10, I knew how to spell the word cat. What on Earth the point of that exercise was I've no idea. I mostly remarked on the stalls and the people.

Despite being good at English I failed three times. I just couldn't get the timings on each question in exams right, which is why I'd get A's and B's in my coursework but would flunk my exams. Eventually I got the timing right and got the equivalent of a B+. I was placed into a creative writing workshop and my teacher offered to write a letter of recommendation for a creative writing University course because she was impressed with my work. However, I'd already received an unconditional offer with another University. I decided to go into digital visual work and productions. That way I could combine three of my favourite subjects; art, IT and English (creating interactive storybooks, writing scripts for videos etc).

I can relate to feeling like a fraud or an impostor. Admittedly I have a fear of being mediocre; forever working on things but never progressing. I've had moments where I've looked at the work of my peers and thought "Wow, my work is absolute garbage". Not too long ago I had a conversation with a friend about what I wanted to do after University. I remarked "I don't know, I'm pretty terrible at most things".

My friend replied "Well that can't be true, otherwise you wouldn't have made it to your second year. Besides, you're getting good grades so far so you must be doing something right".

I was tempted to respond yes, and that's still a mystery to me. However, I decided not to. I realised that she had a point.

I was not a gifted child.Now as a adult for many yrs real close to averg.